Hey there gang, hope y'all are having a great day. Not much else to say but hope you guys are enjoying the story and hope I do this chapter good. So, sit back, relax with a drink and I hope you enjoy.
I do not own any characters or locations within this story, only original characters. Overwatch is owned by Blizzard Entertainment.
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Chapter 6: Binary
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Location: Northern Sweden
Date: Unknown
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The moonlight cascaded above the water, illuminating the dock of the local Swedish village. A young man and his girlfriend were sneaking out under the cover a darkness, the young lady taking the lead.
"They're going to come looking for us." The young man warned as his girlfriend pulled him into a large tree.
Alice, the young woman shook her head before resting her hands on her boyfriend's back. "Don't worry so much, Liam. Live a little!" She told him, excitement in her voice. Liam smirked before embracing his girlfriend in a deep kiss.
Suddenly the sound of bushes rustling startled the couple, the two looking in the direction of the noise. "What was that?" Alice asked clutching her boyfriend tightly.
"See, this was a bad idea." Liam stated, his voice slightly shaking.
The bushes rustle more before something emerges, getting a yelp from Alice. Fortunately for them, it was merely a golden feathered bird flying out of the foliage. The two sighed in relief and chuckled for the fear they were having. "It was just a bird." Alice chuckled along with Liam. However, their laughter was put to an end as the sound of metal clanking came from behind, causing the two to look over and see the source of the noise.
The source was from a robot with a rust-covered beige body, green limbs, a gun for an arm, a large turret mounted on its back, and a singular optic sensor making up its eye.
"A BASTION!" The couple shrieked before fleeing away from the robot, never looking back to see if the mechanical menace was following them.
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The following morning, the citizens of the village gather inside of their town hall. The village speaker, a middle-aged man in a tailored suit with a ponytail walks up to the stand, opening several screens showcasing multiple reports of Bastion sightings.
"Ladies and gentlemen, last night we had another Bastion sighting near our village, and it would appear that still the military has refused to take our plight seriously." The speaker states getting a gasp from the crowd.
"But are we to do!?" An older man asks getting murmurs from the crowd.
"Why won't the military help us!? Can't they see that this Bastion unit can get people killed!?" A woman chimed.
The speaker shakes his head before holding his hand up to calm everyone in the building down. "The military is dragging their feet. They think these reports are merely a hoax. We don't need their help to handle this monster. We have rifles, we can take them ourselves and track down the Bastion!" He exclaims, getting a cheer from the crowd.
"Death to the Bastion!" A man cheered getting the crowd riled. However, the cheering stopped as laughter can be heard.
"Rifles? Bah! Might as well throw rocks at the thing!" The voice exclaimed through the laughter.
The speaker searched the room, puzzled by the new voice. "Who said that?" He asked.
"That would be me." The voice said, getting the speaker's attention. The voice is coming from an individual whose appearance can only be described as taking the aesthetic of a fantasy dwarf. His massive, bushy beard was a brilliant golden blonde, and on his shoulder, he bared a tattoo of a gear. He had an eye patch incased in metal, and one of his arms was replaced with a mechanical claw-like appendage. "The one who's going to take care of this beast for you." The man said with a smirk on his face, walking up to the speaker.
"And who are you, stranger?" The speaker asked, giving the man a puzzled look.
"The name's Torbjorn." He stated before pointing to the image of the mechanical menace. "And this is an SST Laboratories E54 Bastion unit. A real nasty piece of work." Torbjorn explained getting a gasp from the crowd. "During the Omnic Crisis, even the best militaries in the world had trouble dealing with them."
The speaker scoffed, giving the shorter man a side-eyed glare. "So, what makes you think you can beat it?" The speaker questions, pointing a finger at the stranger.
Torbjorn gives the man a similar stare before pushing the speaker's finger aside. "I know these things, inside and out." He states bluntly.
"You've fought them before?" The speaker questions.
"Something like that." Torbjorn grumbles. He takes a deep breath before pointing at the image again. "This Bastion has been sighted numerous times, but it hasn't attacked anyone yet. That means its damaged, which probably means that its self-repair function is busted as well." He explains to the crowd, getting a quizzical look from the speaker.
"And you truly think you can deal with this thing?" He asks Torbjorn.
"I can handle a broken bot; all I need is a few days and you'll have your Bastion." Torbjorn answers before making his way to the exit. "The rest of you stay here, where it's safe." He adds before making his leave.
As the door closes and the citizens continue to talk amongst themselves, the speaker looks over to his assistant, beckoning her over. "Find out whatever you can about our new visitor." He orders, getting a nod from the girl.
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A few hours later
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Torbjorn continues to hammer away at a turret he had deployed, setting it behind a large amount of shrubbery and tossing a small metal ball out into the open. Suddenly he hears a noise coming from behind him and quickly readies his gun to fire at the intruder, only to lower his gun when he finds the speaker was the intruder.
"I thought I told you to stay in town with the others." Torbjorn grumbles before looking back at the trap. "I don't need a sitter." He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'm here to make sure that the job gets done." He states before readying his assault rifle. "By the book." He emphasizes.
Torbjorn gives the man a side-eyed look, and a slightly annoyed smirk. "Heh, you don't trust me?" He asks, knowing the answer.
The speaker scoffs. "I did some digging into you, Torbjorn Lindholm. You helped create these Bastions, back before the war." He states a sneer across his face.
Torbjorn sighs, before pulling the speaker into the bushes. The speaker gives a yelp before Torbjorn puts his index finger over his lips to shush the man. "If you're going to stick around, shut yer yap. Turret's up and the bait's been set."
"What's that for?" The speaker asks before the sound of metal clanking ominously approaches the duo.
"It's coming." Was all Torbjorn said.
The duo stared at a large patch of shrubbery, waiting for the mechanical beast to show itself. The clanking and rattling of metal continued to echo throughout the forest. Soon the sounds die, and everything is silent, their breaths held in anticipation. Out from the shadows, a large robotic creature begins to slowly make its way out of the brush, stopping behind a bush to look out at the trap. It makes a couple of beeping sounds, curious of the little device.
"Come on, you piece of scrap." Torbjorn growled, anticipation in his voice. "Just a little closer."
Suddenly a small yellow bird flew into sight, circling around the trap, getting a puzzled look from the two men.
"What's that bird doing?" Torbjorn asked watching the bird land on the device. "So much for the bait." He whispered before suddenly jolting up to the sound of gunfire. The speaker had fired his assault rifle at the Bastion unit, causing the machine to begin to flee back into the forest, the yellow bird following behind it.
"Hah! Scared it off." The speaker barked. "So much for an unstoppable killing machine." he said with a smirk.
Torbjorn scoffed, shaking his head before picking up the trap he had set up. "Impossible, Bastions don't run."
"Maybe it's adapting, getting smarter with each encounter our people have with it. Even more reason to round up the police force we have and finish the job." The speaker states, making his way back to the village.
"If you go after that thing, the only thing you'll be doing is digging your own grave." Torbjorn warned, but the speaker continued to walk leaving Torbjorn all alone. He spits onto the ground before noticing footprints the machine has left behind. "No choice but to follow." He says to himself before following the trail into the brush.
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The Village
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The speaker arrives back at the village, walking into the town hall to meet with his assistant.
"What of the engineer sir?" She asks before the speaker holds his hand up.
"Never mind him, he's still out there hunting the beast." He states. "Gather all the officers we have; this Bastion dies today."
"Understood sir." She states before pulling her phone out and dialing a number.
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The Forest
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Torbjorn continued to follow the Bastion's footprints, passing under trees and over rocks, going deeper into the forest. He gets a puzzled look as he continues to follow the trail.
"Never heard of a rust bucket running. They're programmed to fight any odds until they get shut down. Something isn't right." He thought to himself before stumbling over a rock. "Dammit, got to be more careful." he said, picking himself up. Suddenly his ears perked up, hearing a chirping sound coming from behind a bush. He peers over the bush, seeing his target in sight, hunched over in a stream. "Only a matter of time before it's protocol kicks in and it kills someone." He reaches behind to grab one of his portable turrets, only to stop and grab the bait from before. "Can't risk scaring it away with a turret, gonna have to try something else." He thinks to himself, readying to set the trap.
Suddenly the sound of wood snapping took Torbjorn from his thoughts, cocking his head to his left. "What was that?" He asked himself before seeing a family of beavers setting wood down to build a dam. The Bastion approached the mammals and placed a bundle of sticks into the pile. Torbjorn scoffed before approaching the Bastion unit. "Whatever you're up to isn't going to fool me." He grunts, tossing the metal ball to the side.
The Bastion looks at Torbjorn, puzzled at the new strange little creature, it cocks its head, seeing the little metal device before making a soft booping sound.
"I know what you are. I know what you're capable of, the destruction you can cause." Torbjorn calls, cautiously approaching the machine.
The Bastion makes another booping sound, this time sounding confused yet interested of the little man. Suddenly the little man holds out a red device, most likely a detonator in his hand and fury in his eyes.
"COME ON! TAKE A SHOT! FOLLOW YOUR PROGRAMMING YOU BUCKET OF BOLTS!" Torbjorn roared into the Bastion's face.
The Bastion looks confused at the man screaming towards it, it cocks its head once more before giving the man a couple of sticks. It made soft whirling sounds, unafraid of the man.
Torbjorn's fury subsided, looking at the sticks, then to the Bastion. He took the sticks from the Bastion and got a cheerful booping noise from the machine. "Something's different about you." Torbjorn said to the Bastion unit. The little bird made a chirping sound, getting a sound from the Bastion unit.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire and explosions blasted behind the two, Torbjorn dived to safety while the Bastion ran off into the distance. Disoriented, Torbjorn shook his head before noticing the speaker and a group of armed security officers blasting in his direction. He held his hands up and called out to them. "STOP SHOOTING! STOP SHOOTING!"
The speaker stopped seeing the man walking towards them. "Where did it go?" he asked as Torbjorn approached them.
"You idiots trying to kill me!? You could've blown me and the rest of this forest to pieces!"" Torbjorn barked into the speaker's face.
The speaker spat. "That Bastion had you dead to rights. You should be thanking me and my men for saving your life." He barked.
"It wasn't going to attack me. This Bastion…it's…" Torbjorn tried to explain, trying to fine the words to say. "Listen to me, you have to call off the hunt."
"So it can come into our town and kill our families!? Are you insane!?" The speaker questioned pointing a finger at Torbjorn.
"I'm asking you, as someone who's spent so many long years fighting these things, losing so many friends in the process. This Bastion is different, and if it can change…" Torbjorn stated before looking at the man. "Call of the hunt. I'm not going to ask you again."
"You really have lost it. If you're going to continue to get in our way, then we'll have to take care of you and that Bastion." The speaker warned. "Restrain him."
The guards began to circle around Torbjorn, aiming their guns at the man to keep him in place. Then the silence was broken with a single button clicking. Suddenly the ball that Torbjorn had set for the Bastion burst open, unleashing metal wires that began to constrict the speaker and his men, tying them up to the trees. The speaker struggled in place before watching Torbjorn walk away.
"Idiot! You've doomed us all!" The speaker roared. "Don't you have enough blood on your hands!?"
Torbjorn stopped in his tracks, thinking about everything he lost fighting, his arm, his friends, even many of his former engineering associates lost their lives fighting these things. But then the thoughts of his teammates came to mind, his wife, his children. He held back a tear and continued to walk on. "Enough for a lifetime." He grunted, leaving the men restrained to the trees.
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In an open field
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The Bastion unit picked a flower, curiously looking at it. Suddenly its bird companion gave out a loud squawking sound getting the robot to look in the direction the bird faced, seeing the same strange little clawed man approaching them, arms out to show peace.
"Easy now, I'm not here to hurt you. I already dealt with the men who were after you." Torbjorn explained getting up close to the Bastion unit.
The Bastion looked at the man, silent for a moment before holding the flower out to the man. Torbjorn looked confused for a moment before gingerly taking the flower and holding it in his palm. Bastion makes a cheerful chirping sound as the man takes the flower. Torbjorn looks up at the machine and gives it a nod.
"Most people won't exactly be keen on having your around, but I can tell that you're different." Torbjorn stated before shaking his head and giving the robot a stern look. "If you want to survive, you follow my rules. Got it?" Torbjorn said pointing his claw at Bastion. The machine looked confused but gave the man a booping sound and nodded.
"First we're not friends, the moment you point that gun at me, I'm turning you to scrap." He warned and began to walk off, the Bastion unit following behind. "Second, no stopping to play with the animals or any of that nonsense." Torbjorn added before looking back to see Bastion playing with a squirrel in its hand. The man gives a sigh of annoyance while Bastion just gives the man a playful chirp as the unlikely duo begin their journey.
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And at last, this chapter comes to a close. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as I did writing it. Originally this was going to be a chapter focusing on Genji and Zenyatta, but ultimately changed it because I wasn't liking how it was coming out and wanted to save it for later. For those of you who have been following Overwatch: Invasion will be releasing in about two weeks, unless plans change before then. This will be our first chance to really dive into the new story missions that they have to offer, and I'll most likely be using events from those missions to play into my story going forward. And most likely the event will be taking up a good portion of my time trying to get every bit of detail and information I can for this tale. With that said, I want to thank everyone again for giving my story a read and to thank you all for your patience with this chapter, I know it was a bit of a wait, but I hope it was worth it. You guys stay safe, and I'll see you all in the next chapter of this Overwatch Retelling.
-Kris ;)