Disclaimer: The Russian Military is present within this chapter. My depiction of them in this story is not indicative of my opinions or views on current events regarding the Russian Military. This is a fictional story set within a fictional futuristic setting.
It all felt strange for Nathan.
How the day started and progressed was routine, as much as being with Overwatch would allow. He didn't remember how many days it's been. It couldn't have been that long, right?
He recounted what happened in the morning: the briefing about the contents of the retrieved intel, the implications of what it meant for those it concerned, and the suggestions of the next course of action. And at the end of the early morning meeting, a decision had to be made by the Wasters.
A decision that, in due time, the Courier felt came too quickly.
Nathan sat silently at the lounging booth of the Orca ship. Resting in his ranger armor without a duster, with his helmet staring up at him from the table. The Lindholms jury-rigged a fix for the mouthpiece of his helmet by welding some new armor plating to not have his mouth exposed. They couldn't do anything about the radio transmitter. He wasn't too bothered by that, not nearly as much as the mismatching coloration of the patchwork plate being a distinct silverish teal. It didn't look right.
His ears perked to laughter on his right, looking over at Veronica and Brigitte. Veronica shaking her head with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess that's a universal truth," the ex-Scribe said. "People don't learn to appreciate engineers until we're gone."
At that moment, Veronica locked eyes with Nathan, the smile quickly fading as they held a second longer than needed. She flashed another quick, quaint smile, before rejoining her conversation with Brigitte. Nathan held.
"What's with the long face, dude?" Nathan looked to his immediate left to Hana, sitting next to him in the booth. She was looking up from the portable game device in her hands.
"Nothing," he rebuffed, laying his head back against the seat.
"Doesn't seem like nothing."
"Well, it is. Don't worry about it."
She frowned, rolling her eyes before getting back to her game. "Whatever."
Nathan wasn't sure how much longer it would take until they reached their destination. Couldn't sleep the night before, of course, but he could hardly attribute that to anticipation or restlessness. He almost considered visiting Maria to alleviate that and himself, but those visits were becoming more of an indictment with each knock on her door.
"Sooooo… Is it true?" He heard Hana pipe up, again.
"What?"
"Is it true?" She stopped looking at her game. "That this is it? That you finally found a way to get back home?"
Nathan's mouth hung open to speak. She wasn't being her usual brash, young self. The expression she wore tried to betray the unheard-of melancholy in her tone. It almost shocked him to see; she was sad.
"Probably," Nathan said, not much more certain than her.
She narrowed her eyes, just a little, at him. With a pout, she slumped back into her seat and leaned against Nathan's side.
"I hope not. Still haven't taught you how to play Hearthstone…" she grumbled, going back to her device.
"Figured you couldn't wait for me to be gone," Nathan thought aloud.
She snickered for a moment, before continuing on with playing her game without another word. Nathan looked at her for a second, expecting a quip. But there wasn't.
They sat together, only the sounds of the Orca, her game, and other passengers accompanying them. Eventually, Athena's voice summoned him to the cockpit. He got up from his seat and picked up his helmet before heading to the front. Hana adjusted herself, a little miffed after losing him as support.
With his patchwork helm in the nook of his arm, he climbed the steps up to the cockpit. He met Winston and Angela crowded around Lena in the pilot seat, talking to the other Orca on comms. Winston was the first to notice Nathan.
"Brin's here, we'll tell him what you told us," Winston spoke towards the console.
"Solid copy, Team Two," Morrison's voice came through the speaker. "Team One, out."
Once their comms blinked off, Winston and Angela turned to Nathan.
"What's up?" Brin started.
"We're approaching the LZ, so now should be the time to get your people ready."
"Can do. Anything else?"
"Yes, the Russians have already gotten into the facility. They didn't encounter much resistance, but they've got caught up in an interesting… impasse. They've encountered what they think is an entrance that leads deeper into the facility. It's sealed, and all attempts so far at opening it haven't worked."
Catch came sooner than Nathan expected.
"Now, there still might be a way to get inside and we might find it once we get there. We haven't gone through all our options, yet."
Nathan wiped his hand across his face, the lack of sleep getting to him. "I hope so… I'll let my people know. Thanks."
Without another word, Nathan turned around to walk back down the steps to the rest of the ship. Winston turned back to the front of the cockpit, but Angela watched as the Courier went down the stairs. Her eyes stayed on him until he disappeared from her sight. She thought to say something but decided against it and turned back to the pilot seat.
Nathan got to the bottom of the steps and scanned the deck. Hana, Veronica, and Brigitte were still where he last saw them. The sound of clanging drew his attention to his left where Boone and Parmley were next to the Wastelanders' pair of Power Armor suits, watching as Torbjörn made some last-minute checks. Or probably taking notes.
"Everything good here?" Nathan asked.
"As far as I can tell…" the Engineer replied. "I'm still iffy about the, uh, fusion cores you have on these things. Don't know how you're getting that much power out of those puny things."
"I'm sure Veronica would know."
Nathan then turned his attention to Parmley.
"How're you feeling, ranger?"
"Better now, sir. Thanks."
"That vodka really knocked you on your ass. At least you missed the shit we dealt with in Paris."
"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. I wish I could've been there to help y'all."
"Don't worry about it. We did fine." Nathan shook his head. "Anyways, get ready. We're landing soon."
The young ranger nodded and started to psych himself up to get back in the Power Armor. Nathan looked at Boone who only responded with a simple nod. With the men squared away, the Courier looked to the other side and gave a brief pause before walking over.
Brigitte and Veronica were finishing another engineering-related conversation when Nathan walked up to them, drawing their attention. Brigitte patted Veronica's arm before speaking, "I have to go prep some gear with my dad."
"Oh! Sure. See you around."
The tall redhead parted from her with a smile and gave Nathan a quick nod, to which he returned. Both Veronica and Nathan watched as Brigitte made her way to the other side of the ship's bay before they addressed each other. The Courier was the one to speak first.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. Had some trouble sleeping last night, but really, I'm fine."
"Yeah… Listen, I- The way I was talking to you in Paris. I didn't mean-"
"I know. I know you didn't."
The ex-Scribe's arms were crossed over her chest, tapping one finger against her bicep. Her gaze was directed to the floor.
"I know you didn't mean it. It's just that I'm not exactly used to you… Acting like that."
That gave Nathan another pause, his hand tightening around the mouth of his helmet under his arm.
"What do you mean?"
Veronica looked up at him, that cheery expression she usually wore absent.
"I dunno, Nathan, but… What I saw last night scared me."
The Courier's hands tightened more. But he let her speak more, and she did so in a hushed tone as to not let the other occupants hear.
"I know it's been years since we've last seen each other, but- Nathan, I'm worried. Not just from how you talked to me, but from the way you fight to how you almost executed someone who was knocked out. I mean, even the mere fact that you're smoking now is concerning. I don't remember you touching a single cigarette once back in the Mojave."
"Noticed that, huh?"
"Yeah. I've also seen the times you took sips from that Vault-Tec Canteen and drink from it in a way that definitely doesn't seem like water… So yeah, I've noticed."
She raised her voice, not enough to alert the rest of the dropship or to be demeaning to one of her best friends. She cared about him and wanted to help, he knew that. Hell, he knew that second she crossed into another dimension to come look for him.
"Yeah…" Nathan said, a gruff, low chuckling coming from him. He looked down at Veronica, with eyes that were exhausted beyond his age. "A lot of things have happened."
This, she had no idea.
"I know," she responded, the Follower in her coming out. "Well, if we get back home, I wanna see if I can get you some help. Just like you did for me. And if nothing works there, maybe we can come back here! They've got a lot of neat stuff, maybe something to help you get back on a better path."
The Courier thought, for a moment, that she was getting a bit ahead of herself. But of course she would, it was Veronica. He could only be thankful he had someone like her.
"Until then," Nathan grabbed his helmet from under his arm and placed it onto his head. "Let's get ready for this mission and see if we can really get back home."
"Sure thing." She smirked at him before going to the set of T-51b Power Armor. But for a moment she looked back at him. "Just remember you owe me that, okay?"
Nathan nodded, then stood next to the bay door to get ready.
Dr. Ziegler walked up beside him. The first thing he noticed about her was that courteous look of concern. He already felt a bit more at ease.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, her eyes switching between him and the other side of the room.
"Just fine, doc," Nathan responded. "How about you? You're probably gonna be down a patient if all this pans out."
"But I've grown fond of our conversations." Angela smirked as she shoved him lightly. "Almost makes patching you up all the time worth it."
"Almost?"
"Yeah, almost."
They laughed, drawing Veronica's attention for a moment, watching how her friend interacted with Angela. She smiled before climbing into the T-51b and having the shell close around her.
A group of Russian soldiers stood watch over a clearing in the Siberian wilderness. The winter storms had let up for the moment and the sky was clear enough for them to spot the large body of the Orca as it flew towards them. They watched as Overwatch landed in the clearing dozens of meters away from them, the group uttering a few curses from the snow being kicked up. They watched as the bay doors opened and the second Overwatch team stepped onto the snow. From the group of Russians, the tallest among them stepped forth and met the team.
"Privyet," Zarya greeted the Overwatch team, Winston the first to meet her.
"Sergeant Zaryanova," Winston responded with his team in tow. "Thanks for securing the site before we got here."
"Not yet. Still one more level to go. You brought someone that could get us in, yes?"
"We've brought some people with excellent technical expertise, yes."
"Good. Come with me, then."
Zarya lead them to the entrance of the facility, guarded by several more Russian soldiers. But among these soldiers was a man in a red poncho, nearly finished with a cigar.
"McCree?" Nathan said aloud, stopping in his tracks.
The Cowboy looked up from under his hat and smiled. "Howdy, partner. Fancy seein' you here."
"How the hell did you get here so fast?"
"I get around," McCree smirked. "Got word about this place and came here as soon as I could. Cleared it out with some help."
Zarya let out a tut after he said that. McCree kept smirking as he pulled from his cigar, the tip burning brightly against the Siberian cold. Nathan sniffed the alluring smoke through his helmet.
"Anyways," Jesse said, tossing the used-up cigar into the snow. "Let's see if this place is all it's cracked up to be."
"Yeah. Let's."
The exterior of the Talon facility was modest compared to the vast expanse of the wilderness it hid in. It had metal barriers that didn't measure more than a couple dozen meters in length, creating a box perimeter that would barely be suitable as a base. If it wasn't for the Russian soldiers guarding in and around the perimeter, one would assume this wasn't even a Talon facility or that this was wrestled from their control. Not even a vehicle or landing pad for aircraft was present for a place in the middle of nowhere, which begged the question…
"Where're all the Talon personnel?" Winston asked aloud. "I thought you guys cleared this place out?"
"We did," Zarya said, keep her eyes forward. "But not humans. They ran."
"Ran?"
"Yep. Gone," McCree joined in, clarifying. "I actually got here a bit earlier than the Russians to scope this place out. Outer area was barren. Any personnel either left or were never here to begin with."
"Then what was the resistance we heard about over comms?"
"You'll see…"
Zarya led Overwatch to the largest of the few structures that were within the perimeter. It looked like a hangar, but too small to accommodate any worthwhile military craft. Zarya spoke to the guards in Russian, and a moment later one of them stepped aside to press a switch. The large, thick metal door slowly receded into the ground only to reveal empty space and another, smaller set of doors at the far end with another set of guards at the door. And several dead omnics strewn about the concrete floor. Veronica instantly recognized them from their time back at Big Mountain.
"Wait… Are those-?"
"Combat drones, yes," Zarya answered what she thought was the question. "Were all we found in this facility."
Veronica didn't speak any further.
"We fought more of them in the lower levels," Zarya continued.
They got to the second set of doors when Zarya pressed a button on the wall. An orange light blinked above the doors and flickered for several moments until the doors split open and receded into the floor and ceiling. They revealed a large lift both tall and wide. There were bullet holes and shell casings also strewn about the lift interior.
"Come, rest of your friends are below," Zarya told them, leading them all inside the lift.
The lift was very spacious, able to accommodate all of them with some room to spare, even with Hana's mech. Once the doors had closed, the lift began to descend with noticeable speed. A few seconds passed with only the velocity of their descent the only sensation they had.
"How deep does this facility go?" Brigitte asked, listening closely to the whirring, and not hearing it change speed since they descended.
"At least a hundred meters. Enough ground above us to interfere with communications to the surface," Zarya responded, silent for a few more moments until she looked over her shoulder at the Overwatch team. "Do you know what they are building here?"
Winston responded. "We have some ideas. We just need to confirm them."
Zarya stared at him for a moment before giving a quick nod. Nathan and the other Wasters exchanged a few knowing glances.
Suddenly, the seemingly endless elevator ride began to slow-down and the occupants felt the lift come to a somewhat abrupt stop. The lift made a noise before the doors parted and showed they were in the true beginnings of this mysterious facility. Zarya beckoned them to follow her, and they did, but not before Nathan put a hand in front of Winston and they hung back in the lift.
"This is what we think it is, right?" Nathan asked the scientist, wanting to confirm his hopes.
"From the intel you've recovered and the cross-referencing we conducted with Maximilien… It's been a match, so far."
"Hmph, let's hope we're right about one thing, for once."
They heard Zarya call out to them. "What is the hold up?"
They both looked at her and each other for a moment before rejoining the rest.
There were in a single, metal hall in signature Talon colors that stretched for a few dozen meters before a corner made them turn onto another, single, metal hall. There wasn't much evidence of life in this long hallway aside from a few Russian soldiers that were either standing guard or investigating the facility. But there was another group of those omnics lined up on their backs and neatly arranged in a row with their weapons next to them. Their bodies riddled with bullets holes and missing chunks of metal as one Russian stood over them to take photos for evidence. Veronica tried not to stare as they walked past them, her eyes scanning over every mechanical detail.
Zarya said some words to the soldier taking photos, who gave a quick response and nodded.
"What did you say to him?" Veronica asked, her voice modulated by her helmet.
"Why do you care, metal-woman?" Zarya asked back, eyeing the strange armor.
"Just curious. I didn't mean anything by it."
"I told him to not take photo of us as we pass. Overwatch is not supposed to be here."
"Right, thanks. Oh, and I am a real woman, by the way. Got the parts and personality if you were wondering."
"Hmph."
The group turned another corner and instead of another long, empty hallway they were met with another, large, security door. With the first team of Overwatch already trying to get it open with some Russian technicians.
Morrison and the younger Amari were speaking with one of the Russian officers, Lúcio and Genji were standing to the side, and Vaswani was the one working trying to crack open the door, with some assistance from a Russian technician. Morrison and Amari noticed the second Overwatch team's arrival.
"You're here, finally," Morrison said, gesturing to the Russian officer. "We've got a hangup."
"I can see that," Winston responded, looking at the door. "Specifics?"
"Talon set up some kind of security measure with this door. It's locked up tight, and we've been unable to get it open either mechanically or electronically. Vaswani's seeing what she can do, but she's not having any luck."
"Have you tried blowing it apart, yet?" Lindholm Sr. piped up, earning a groan from Satya at the door.
"They have," Morrison gestured to the Russian officer standing next to him, affirmatively nodding. "Haven't had much luck either. Good news is they haven't detected any traps."
"For now," Torbjörn gestured to his daughter and the two quickly got to work in getting this open. "Let's have a crack at it, shall we?"
As the Lindholms got situated next to Vaswani, Veronica's armored form stood next to Nathan.
"Think I should have a go at it, too?"
Nathan looked to the massive door, noting its over-engineered construction and vault-like stature. Watching the team of technical experts with varied sets of expertise working on this behemoth. Employing technology that the ex-Scribe would only be slightly familiar with given how long she's been here.
"Knock yourself out," Nathan suggested.
"I'll give it my best shot."
Veronica walked over to the wall to park the T-51b suit, the back opening outwards to let her out. Some of the Russians present were startled for a moment by the sudden mechanical noise and whirring that emanated from the strange suit. When she clambered down, she flicked some hair away from her face and immediately went over to the door. Taking Brigitte's side.
"As for the rest of you," Winston started, grabbing their attention. "Sit tight. We might be here awhile."
"Hopefully not long," Nathan muttered, finding himself a spot to sit down.
Winston bowed his head in understanding.
Nathan wasted no time in throwing his pack down, unslinging his multi-rifle holster, and planting his ass onto the metal floor. He didn't bother taking off his helmet when he leaned his head back against the metal wall. Boone and Parmley situating themselves opposite Nathan. Others stood around and either watched the technicians work or chatted amongst themselves.
Minutes passed by without much incident or progress from the door. The air hung still in the dim, underground hallway that would be eerily quiet if it weren't for all the people occupying it. Even with that, Nathan wanted to get a few more minutes of rest. But he didn't feel tired enough. He then heard a voice hang over him.
"Hey, man. Mind if I take this spot?"
Nathan opened his eyes to see Lúcio standing over him, pointing to the empty spot next to him.
"Go ahead," Nathan said, not really concerned about the man's choice of sitting mate.
"Thanks."
The DJ took his spot next to the larger man, his glowing skates illuminating the cold metal around them. Nathan could hear muffled music coming from his headphones. They occupied each other's silence for several moments before Lúcio decided to break it.
"Hey, I heard you guys went on a mission the other day and that it got a bit hairy. You okay, man?"
Nathan looked at him, helmet hiding how tired he was.
"Could be better," he responded. "Word get around that fast?"
"Well, me and Hana were just talking earlier, and I heard some things. Sorry, if I shouldn't be bringing this up."
"Don't worry about it. Besides, the kid talks a lot. You shouldn't hang on to every word she says."
"If you say so. It's just…" Lúcio looked over at Hana, who was out of earshot from them. He turned back to Nathan to speak in a hushed tone. "She seems kinda sad, now. Like she doesn't want to be on this mission. There's nothing wrong, right?"
The helmet hid Nathan's expression. "There shouldn't be. Have you tried asking her about it?"
"Yeah, but she didn't really wanna say anything, either. Just that it's something to do with what we'll find in this mission. Is that true?"
"… I don't know. I think we'll just have to wait and see."
"I guess. Just hope everything's okay in the end."
Nathan hummed in agreement.
They sat together in silence for a couple more minutes until Nathan looked up and towards the group of technical experts trying to break through the door. He wasn't sure what he could do to help, but that didn't stop him from getting up and walking towards them.
He watched as they tried to get the door open. The Russians, Lindholms, Vaswani, Winston, and others trying to find a way through this impregnable door. That was when Veronica walked up to him, swishing a loose strand of hair from her forehead.
"How are we looking so far?" he asked the ex-Scribe.
"Nothing happened yet, which is a good or bad thing depending on your outlook," she admitted. "This door is as thick as a Vault's. And we don't see any mechanism for getting it open other than that pad to the side."
She pointed to an opaque rectangle that didn't match the color of the wall it was embedded into.
"It has no visible controls and seems to be a scanner of some kind. Problem is, we don't what to use as a key."
"Can't break your way through?"
"Russians already tried with no luck. And the others would rather they not try again in case there's some kind of security system in place. Doesn't seem like they can hack it, either."
Nathan didn't encounter many roadblocks he couldn't simply stroll, or shoot, his way around. He doubted this would be one of those.
"Maybe you'll think of something," he said.
"I wouldn't put that much faith in me," she wryly remarked, before stopping for a moment. "Uh, for this at least."
Nathan huffed.
"Might need to get back in the power armor and pry it open," Veronica thought to herself aloud. "If anything happens, you'll be the first to know."
She turned away from him to get back to the door. Nathan reached up to his head and took off his helmet, red tint disappearing from his vision. He breathed in the recycled, underground air, as stale as it was. Watching Veronica work with the others in trying to pry this door open, he felt a bit of pride well up inside of him. It was good to see Veronica doing well after all these years. But the pride he felt subsided when his thoughts went back to the mission before, of the word she said to him.
Bloodthirsty.
He lingered before realizing he was in everyone else's way. He looked back to where he sat with Lúcio until a golden shimmer caught his eye. He saw Angela leaning against the wall, her staff resting in the nook of her arm as she was looking down into a small book. He thought for a second not to bother her, but he knew by now that she wouldn't mind. He went for it.
Angela wasn't engrossed enough in her book to not notice Nathan walking up to her, looking up at him and smiling.
"Nathan, hey!" she greeted.
"Hey," he bounced back, then gesturing to a crate next to her. "Mind if I sit here?"
"Of course! Wanted to continue where we left off in the dropship?"
"Maybe."
Nathan sat on the crate, groaning all the while. Getting comfortable, he looked up at Angela and his eyes were drawn to the little book in her hands. He saw another shimmer of gold on the cover.
"Is that a bible?" Nathan asked, genuinely surprised.
"Oh, yes, it is," Angela responded, flipping the pocket-sized book over to show more of the cover. The amount of wear on the cover and the pages showed that this was quite a well-used book. "You sound surprised."
"To be honest, I didn't peg you for the religious type. I don't remember ever seeing you with that."
"Well, I don't bring it out often. It usually stays in my office, but there are times where I want to take a peek at some passages. And I'm not sure I would call myself religious either."
"Really? Even while wearing an Angel suit?"
"Yes, really."
They laughed.
"Heh, okay. What would you call yourself then?" Nathan asked. "Your bible looks old, so you must've had it for some time."
"It was my father's. I've had it since he died," Angela admitted, before leaning against the wall to face him. "I guess you could call me agnostic. I'd like to believe in miracles but my career as a doctor can make that very hard sometimes –you could certainly guess why."
He shrugged in agreement.
She continued, "What about you? I don't know if we've ever discussed what having a faith is like… Back home."
"In that case, I wouldn't know much either. My tribe- Family… had beliefs of their own. But my mom wasn't really interested in teaching it, aside from some stories. So, I don't have a lot of experience being religious."
Angela cocked an eyebrow.
"What about your bible?"
"My what?"
"Your bible – I remember that being one of the items we found amongst your belongings when we… Met."
"Oh… I forgot about that. It was a gift from a holy man I met in a place called Zion. Never did much with it, other than read a passage or two from time-to-time. Like you."
"You sound regretful."
Nathan looked up at Angela, then at the ground as he thought about the scripture.
"In a way," he admitted. "You know, this holy man he was… Quite the character. Made one hell of a first impression when I first met him, but I would always see him read that book by a fire. And when he did he would always look so… Calm. So calm that you would forget that he had a reputation for being one of the meanest bastards in the wastes."
"That doesn't sound 'holy' of him."
"But he was, I shit you not. By that point he was only fighting and killing to protect those he cared about, but with a fury that he called 'righteous' and deservedly so. That was until… Until it started getting out of hand."
Nathan fell into a silence he didn't realize, until Angela spoke up.
"Out of hand? What happened?"
Nathan looked up again at Angela, seeing her as engrossed into his story as he was. Feeling those blue eyes pierce into him in the dim, dark hallway. He looked down to the floor again as he remembered one of his last encounters with Graham.
"He was going to do something that didn't need to happen, and I think he would've never forgiven himself for, if I didn't talk him down."
"Sounds like you helped him make a better decision? That should something to be proud of."
"Sure," Nathan hung his head. "I just wonder if…" He trailed off again, creating another long moment of silence.
"Wonder what?"
He didn't look up at her as he deliberated with himself, letting out a deep sigh.
"Wonder if I even believe what I said."
Angela looked down at him, before standing up from the wall and stepping away.
"Nathan." She moved to the other side of him and sat on the crate next to his. That pocket bible still in hand. "You've done so much since you've been here. Done things that defied a lot of people's expectations – even mine, I'll admit."
She reached out and placed a hand on his arm.
"But I think you forgot that you're not the only one here. And from the mere fact that your friends are here, you have people willing to help. As am I."
Nathan took in what she said, analyzing each word as if there was some kind of hidden meaning behind them.
"I suppose. But it's always going to fall on me, won't it?"
"Of course. I don't think we can ever expect anything else, but maybe being here will be the first step towards that."
Nathan looked at Angela's hand on his arm, before reaching up and placing his hand on hers.
"Here's hoping," he smiled.
Suddenly, a loud clang and several Swedish curses interrupted their moment, Dr. Ziegler rocketing up to her feet. Nathan following suit.
They walked over to the large door and the group of would-be lockpickers, who were crowded around a certain dwarf. Brigitte helped her dad up to his feet as he grumbled underneath his welding mask. Next to him were a set of tools that were snapped in half.
"Ugh, can cross out trying to pry this apart," the Engineer remarked as he flipped up his mask. "Whatever they have behind this door, they did a pretty damn good job of locking it up."
"Yes, and much more advanced than I anticipated," Vaswani added on, her hand hovering over the door as it emitted a light. "The technology they employed is highly resistant to anything we can employ. Even my hard-light."
Brigitte piped up this time as she helped her father, "But how? Not to give Talon too much credit, but even their most advanced security systems aren't as robust as this…"
As Angela and the others tended to Torbjörn, Nathan got closer to examine the giant door. It was similar to a vault door because it looked like a giant slab of metal placed into a tightly fitting wall. There was no crack or break within the door small enough to even allow air it seemed. As Nathan examined it, Veronica was there at his side once again.
"What do you think?" the ex-Scribe asked.
"I think a plasma caster probably could've cut through this by now," he answered.
"Yeah, and probably set off a dozen or so booby traps and security measures in the process."
"So, I'm told."
Nathan took a step closer to the large door to inspect it, not really hoping to see something that the others wouldn't have. His eyes were then drawn to the opaque square situated next to the door, waiting for something to be waved over it. He touched it with his right hand and knocked on it a few times. Unsurprisingly, nothing.
He turned around with his back to the vault door.
"Hey, Veronica, are you sure there's nothing we can do about this pad?" he asked, about to speak more until he heard a low hum come from his left.
He looked and saw the opaque square was now a warm orange, slowly strobing on and off. "Wait, what?" he said as he reached towards it with his left hand.
Without even touching it, the pad turned to solid green and emitted a high-pitched whine. Just a second after, the ground beneath them rumbled as the large door's mechanism began to unwind itself and move. Everyone at the door stood back and watched as giant pieces of metal were slowly moved out of the way to reveal a dark, long hallway.
Nathan looked at his left arm, at his Pip-Boy.
They all stood at the foot of the door, some with weapons at the ready, as a series of lights along the ceiling began to slowly shutter on. The soldiers and agents all gave each other apprehensive glances. Nathan looked back at Veronica, who already had her power fist on. Angela then approached them, carrying Nathan's helmet. He took it and placed it back on his head.
The Russians and Overwatch decided to split some of their forces to scout out the hallways in case of hidden dangers. The Russians who had to scout the rest of the facility were ordered to do so, but the ones from Overwatch simply volunteered to go first. Nathan was one of them, along with Fareeha, Jack, and Veronica in her T-51b.
The group were silent as they cautiously skulked through the unknown hallways, wary of any threats that hid in the smooth and dark architecture of this facility. Even with the lights built into this place, it was too dim in some corners they had to cross. Alert as they pressed further into the halls that did not seem to end.
"Couldn't these Talon guys make this place any less creepy?" Veronica thought to herself aloud, the spotlight on her helmet lighting up the hall. Her comment earned a small chuckle from Morrison.
Nathan at this moment reached up to turn on the lowlight vision in his helmet, but upon flicking the switch the red lights in his eyes started to flicker and shutter off. He promptly hit his helmet and flicked the switch on the lowlight module several more times. The eyes in his helmet went dead.
"Son of a bitch…" He grumbled.
"What's wrong?" Veronica asked. "Is it your helmet?"
"Yeah."
"Want me to take a look at it?"
"Not now. I'll make do."
Nathan then flipped a switch on his Pip-Boy to turn on the amber light, casting a warm glow onto the stark hallway.
Then, they heard a noise at the end of the hallway, a metallic thumping. Everyone raised their muzzles to the noise and waited with anticipation until they saw DVa's pink mech come into view.
"…Were you guys going to shoot me?" Hana asked. Lúcio, Satya, and McCree then popped in behind her.
"If it wasn't you, yes," Morrison answered, easing his stance. "You find anything, yet?"
The other half of Overwatch brought them to another door, one more reasonable in size than the last one. When it opened, those taking point immediately stormed with their weapons at the ready. They only found a deserted laboratory, with equipment haphazardly strewn about.
"So they did leave in a hurry," McCree observed, lowering his revolver.
"Yeah… What were they doing here, though?" Lúcio asked as he looked around.
They cautiously scoured the lab, trying to make sense of what they saw. Strange equipment and unfamiliar blueprints littered the tables and even floors.
Nathan spoke up, at the far end of the lab, looking at something at the wall. "I think I have an idea."
Curious, some of the others went to where Nathan was and looked at what he was shining his light on. It looked like the schematics of a handheld device that was stripped apart and examined down to the smallest piece. To Overwatch they weren't sure what they were looking at, but to the Wasters…
"We're in the right place," the Courier stated.
Suddenly, they got radio comms from Zaryanova. Everyone but Nathan tuned into their devices and listened to what the Russian was telling them. Once her transmission ended, Morrison turned to Nathan.
"Seems we are."
Overwatch quickly made their way through the halls to link up with the Russian element and some of their own, their footsteps echoing across the maze. Eventually, they came across another large doorway, but open and leading to a large chamber where the Russians and the rest of Overwatch were.
Nathan was the first to cross into the chamber, followed by Veronica, after stepping out of her power armor. The latter instantly saw the similarity to what she saw in Nevada. Except even bigger.
"Holy…" McCree let out, right behind them.
"Yeah," Nathan agreed.
In the chamber were Boone, Parmley, Zarya, Genji, and Mercy. As Nathan walked inside, Boone would pass by him back to the doorway and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Almost there," was all he said before stepping out of the chamber.
As others filed into the room to look at the reason why they were there, some were not as satisfied with the answer hanging above them. It only raised more questions.
"What is that?" Lúcio asked, in awe of the height and size of the spire.
"That is a good question," Zarya concurred, looking at the other members of Overwatch with slight suspicion. "What is this device?"
Winston cleared this throat, catching himself staring at the spire. "That is going to take some time to explain, Sergeant."
She narrowed her eyes at him, before rolling them. "Whatever. It is your business. I only hope it was worth it."
Nathan and Veronica stood side-by-side, beholden to the spire of technology that hung above them into a cavernous ceiling. It was lifeless, but complete. For all they knew, it was only one flip-of-a-switch away from casting them back to where they belonged. And it was right in front of them.
Veronica had to restrain the ex-Scribe in her from immediately scrutinizing every detail in this unfamiliar technology. She just wanted to relish the moment. It wasn't the end, but they were near it. She never had much trust in herself a lot of the time, but she never felt so relieved.
Veronica looked over at the tall man next to her, who seemed equally fixated on the spire as he stared at it. Even beneath that helmet.
"So, I guess this is it, then," Veronica said, looking up at him with a subdued smirk. "We finally did it."
The Courier broke his gaze to look down at her. Silent as his expression hung on to her, unmoving. He looked back to the spire.
Veronica frowned, a bit annoyed at how he kept the helmet on almost the entire time they were there. Then, he looked at her again as if he was about to say something. But she would never hear it as the chamber doors suddenly slammed shut behind them, trapping them and several others.
"What?!" Mercy exclaimed, speaking for everybody in that room, her eyes going wide.
Veronica didn't respond as she watched Nathan immediately bolt to the door and look for a way to open it. His hand trying to scan for an opening or a weak point in the large, steel barrier. The Courier was quickly joined by Parmley, still in his APA, and Zarya, setting down her particle cannon on the ground. Satya also quickly joins them, trying to use her hardlight technology to break through the door.
As they try to break though, Veronica looks at the control room window and sees Winston at the consoles, hurriedly scanning the controls in front of him. She calls out to him, but he doesn't register her behind the thick glass. She lifts a finger up to her ear and radios him.
"Winston, what's happening?!"
The Scientist hears her and looks up, immediately seeing her through the glass. He lifts a finger up to his ear.
"I-I don't know! No one touched the controls!"
"Are you saying the door closed by itself?"
"It would seem that way, yes!"
Veronica could see the Lindholms and Morrison run into the control room behind Winston, witnessing what was unfolding in front of them. Brigitte ran up to the console with Winston, while her father ran back outside and towards the other side of the door. Morrison took to the comms, this time.
"Status! Is there any way you can get out?"
"Uh, I'm not sure! Some of us are working on it."
"Copy. Hang tight, we'll try to get you out there!"
The Old Soldier ran out of the room, leaving Winston and Brigitte to scramble over the control room and find a way to open the door. As they did so, the ones inside made their own attempt of brute forcing their way out with Nathan, Zarya, and Parmley all trying to lift the door up from the bottom. Even with Olympian strength and Enclave technology, the door refused to part.
Suddenly, the lights in the chamber turned on, making everyone pause for a moment to look up at the newly illuminated ceiling. Veronica looked back at Winston and Brigitte, their expressions confirming that they weren't responsible for that either.
Zarya growled before picking up her cannon and pointing it at the chamber door, then looking at Nathan.
"Shoot me."
The Courier didn't respond as he pulled out his AK and turned the safety off.
Zarya shielded herself in purple energy and Nathan immediately dumped an entire magazine onto her in full-auto. Once her bubble burst, the coil on her back glowed liked the sun in a brilliant purple-pink hue. The power in her suit surged to her cannon, which she let rip as a thick beam of energy unto the door and instantly started heating up the metal. It didn't immediately melt it, but that didn't stop Parmley and Satya from doing the same thing with their energy weapons to speed up the process.
Veronica then began to hear a whirring noise emanating from the spire hanging above them and could see little blue dots light up along its side. She then watched as Genji and Hana went up to the window of the control room and instantly tried to break through the window, after telling the ones inside to back off to safety. Unfortunately, the second Genji drove his blade into the glass, a blue shield of energy instantly materialized and took half his blade with it. A similar shield of energy appeared at the chamber door, making everyone stop in surprise as a monotone, mechanical voice erupted above them.
"Unexpected interior damage detected. Secondary protective measures employed."
"Ye-bat'!" Zarya yelled, unleashing another surge on the door to no avail.
Finally, as the spire's whirring came to a crescendo, the tip shot a bolt of lightning to the floor directly below and created cloud of pulsating energy that hovered slightly above the floor. Everyone in the chamber watched as the cloud of energy harmlessly floated in the middle of the room, their eyes drawn to brownish hue it emitted. The longer they stared at the cloud, the more they realized that there was an image being cast from it in a brown-orange shade that danced across the walls. They could make out on the other side what looked like… A desert.
The Courier's eyes went wide.
Sparking and more Russian swearing drew Nathan's attention to his right and saw Zarya suddenly struggling with her cannon. Noticing the strange purplish glow enveloping it.
"What happened?" he questioned.
"Nyet… My gun… It's-!"
Her cannon violently shot out a black ball of energy towards the translucent cloud in the middle of the chamber. The black ball was swallowed up by the cloud. Everyone was silent as they watched the cloud, the black ball seemingly having no effect on it with the air hanging still.
Then, the air began to get sucked out from the middle.
Nearly everyone lost their footing as the cloud became a vortex trying to swallow them whole. Nathan was pulled forward and fell on his face before being dragged on the ground for a few feet towards the center. Narrowly grabbing the raised edge of the middle platform. His luck proving better than the red blur that rolled helplessly towards the cloud.
"Jesse!" Angela called out, reaching out helplessly from the other side of the room as the Gunslinger was practically flung across the room. The man screaming before being engulfed by the vortex.
"No!" Nathan yelled as he watched, before looking around to find something more solid to hold. That was when he noticed Veronica right next to him, holding on to the same edge he was.
Without thinking, Nathan reached to his knife, straining under the intense winds, before stabbing it into the metal floor in front of Veronica with all his might. The blade almost fully-embedded into the floor, Veronica quickly grabbing onto it for more support.
Another blur flew through the room, then another, as both Lúcio and Satya were sent tumbling to the black hole and were quickly swallowed up in a flash of light.
Nathan then watched as Hana, still in her mech, was literally flying away from the black hole as her thruster spat out flames to resist the suction. Ahead of her was Zarya and Parmley, the former trying to prevent a suit of Advanced Power Armor from being sucked into the void. Even the Olympian struggled to hold onto metal paneling with one hand and Parmley with the other, and before she could realize, her hand slipped and they both were sent tumbling back. They collided with Hana before she could have a chance to react, sending all three into the black hole.
The chamber was getting emptier, and the black hole was not letting up. Nathan braced himself against the wind harder and looked ahead to see Genji and Angela were ahead of them, Genji also using a blade to stay put as he held on to Angela. But the Doctor's wings gave her too much drag, and she too, slipped out of his grasp.
"Angela!" Genji called out as she flew towards the center.
Thankfully, just before reaching the horizon of the void, Nathan grabbed her hand and caught her.
"I got you!" Nathan yelled through gritted teeth as he held on as tightly as he could to both the ledge and the Doctor. She looked up at him and smiled, as much as she could in this situation. However, this small victory was short lived as Nathan felt the flooring he held onto suddenly shift and looked up to see it peeling off from the foundation. He looked back at Angela to see she had the same realization on her face.
"Veronica!" Nathan yelled, catching her attention over the blowing winds. "On three, I'm going to pass Angela to you!"
"What?!" Veronica responded, looking at both of them with extreme worry.
"Just do it! I don't know how much longer we got!"
He felt the floor beneath him start to give even more, so he began.
"One!"
Veronica reaffirmed her grip on his knife.
"Two!"
Angela looked back at the cloud, her feet mere inches from it.
"Three!"
With a strong heave, Nathan lifted Angela up to Veronica where she narrowly grabbed the Doctor's hand. Just in time, as the floor beneath finally gave out and he was sucked towards the void. They both yelled out to him, and they were the last things he saw before he was enveloped in a bright, blinding light.
AN: Couldn't end the holidays without giving something. This will be the shortest chapter in the Ending Series. Expect the ones after this to be long.
Thanks for reading and here's to a New Year!