'Can you hear me?'
Explosions and gunfire. Shouts of orders, screams of pain. The thunderous impact of a metal something hitting the ground near her. She dove to the ground as the metal pod burst open, a purple highlighted Omnic shooting wildly at anyone close.
It was met with three miniature rockets, coming from the grim-faced Commander Morrison.
'Please, Archer, are you alright?'
Lena fumbled her dive as an explosion hit above her, the large airship having fired into the Overwatch building. Reinhardt, clad in his blue Overwatch power armor, roared as he charged. Faster than anyone his size had any right to be, he had his barrier pointed upward as large pieces of debris fell against it.
"Gah!"
It made him an easy target as five more Omnics - five more Null Sector insurgents - came running towards them. Their rifles found their mark as they unloaded on the crusader. Lena dashed in, Blinking her way towards the five and emptying her pulse pistols.
She only got three of them when the other two trained their weapons on her.
Lena had already leaned back, preparing herself to Rewind, before the Omnics' chests cracked open. Shuriken, three on each chest. Like puppets, the two dropped.
"Oxton!" Genji called out in warning as she turned towards him. She saw the cyborg with his katana out, dashing towards her. Instinctively, she ducked, just in time as a drone dive bombed towards her. WIth seemingly no trouble, he sliced through the metal body.
"What do you think you're doing?" The Shimada's eyes glared at her, "Focus! This is no time for daydreaming!"
"I-"
She was cut off as Morrison barked out in their direction, "Oxton, Shimada, front and center!"
With reflexes born from Reyes' brutal training, she snapped to attention, despite the chaos still surrounding them. Beside her, she saw the cyborg do the same. In less than a few seconds, they found themselves standing in front of their Commander.
"Trooper!" The warning was punctuated by the sound of an explosion. Morrison didn't waste time, already shooting before Lena could turn around.
"You two are joining Lieutenant Wilhelm," The Commander didn't break his stride as he spoke, "With assisting our northern flank. The escape tunnels are flooding with Null Sector, so we'll have to evacuate topside."
"Sir!" Lena saluted in response. Genji beside her gave a small nod. The both of them sped off in the direction of the crusader.
'Archer, if you can hear me, at least tell me you're alright.'
"Can't talk, busy."
She inhaled sharply as the clipped response finally came through.
'Alright. Good luck.' She had full faith in the man's abilities. He hadn't failed yet, but if he needed to focus, then she would gladly oblige. She herself would probably need to focus on the situation as well, considering her task.
"Reinhardt!"
"Northern flank, I know!" The man slammed his hammer down, its boosters lighting up. The ground shook and shattered as he did so, the Omnics in front of him falling down helplessly. The rocket strapped on Reinhardt's armor revved up as he charged forward. As a unit, they circled around the Overwatch facility, cutting down any hapless Null Sector unit they came across.
Soon enough, they made it to the northern section.
"Stick behind me!" He deployed his shield as explosions started popping up beside them. Genji and Lena took no time to find what was responsible. Bipedal Omnics, with what looked like shoulder mounted cannons were firing incessantly at them.
"Eradicator units." Reinhardt spoke up above the noise, "Their backs should have their energy cores exposed, can you two destroy it while I distract them."
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Ha!" The armored man grinned as he stared down three Eradicators, "Stick to calling me Reinhardt, Lena! You're making me feel like an old man!" He started rushing forward with a yell, shield still up.
Genji dashed into one of them the moment they turned for Reinhardt. Three shuriken found their way into the glowing red core. Similarly, Lena Blinked forward, until she was within arms reach of one.
Trailing her aim on the core, she fired. Just a second later, the entire thing fizzled, the Omnic stuttering and collapsing. The third Eradicator turned to them, only to be met by the Lieutenant's hammer crushing its entire body.
"Good." With a nod, Reinhardt smiled at the two of them. It wasn't one of his usual happy-go-lucky smiles though. It was a grim smile, one that didn't belong on the normally happy man's features, "Now, we get to do that again."
Lena turned around. More Eradicators. More Troopers. Constructs that looked like massive bombs. Bastion units. OR14 units. There were dozens of them. Lena could feel her heart in her throat. As confident as she was in Genji and Reinhardt, this was still too much.
A whistling sound. Then another. Then ten. Then twenty. Lena knew what they were, and instinctively looked towards the Omnics.
Something hit them head on. Holes punctured through them, as arrows the size of spears smoked from the impact.
'Thanks, Archer.'
"Thank me by getting everyone out, preferably now. That said, check your left."
As the rest of the Overwatch personnel looked at the destruction from an unseen source, Lena followed Archer's words. There, she could spot a large group. For a moment, she tensed, thinking it was more combatants. A second glance, however, showed the complete opposite.
"Civilians!" She called out even as she ran towards them. It was hard, after all, not to recognize both the mayor of London, and Tekhartha Mondatta himself. The mayor was limping, leaning on another Shambali monk as they slowly made their way towards the Overwatch base.
Her shout shook everyone from their reverie, and in a short moment, more personnel moved out as they ushered the civilians inside.
A large crash, not on the ground, but up above, distracted them all. Near them was a tower, one that was still under construction. Large explosions could be heard, followed by more crashing sounds. Reinhardt cursed as he called out, "Are the convoys ready?"
"We still need to get the new batch on, give us two more minutes!"
"Hurry up!" Nobody said why they needed to hurry up. Not when the building they were all watching creaked eerily.
"Shit! It saw you, Oxton! Get out of there!"
"Firing."
The sudden boom from the airship above chilled Lena. She watched as its cannons - all of them - turned in their direction.
She could feel the sweat drip on her forehead as energy built up. Her hand clutched at her engagement ring. Near her, she could see the others fall to their knees, and cry out. There was no way they could defend against that.
Their defenses were already in tatters. Their anti-air defenses were up and running, sure, but the sheer number of guns trained on them would overwhelm even those.
'Archer, please, do me a favor. Please, tell Emily I'm sorry.'
"Tell her that yourself. I am the bone of my sword."
Lena's head was assaulted by a massive headache. The words that Archer used were weird. It felt like her head was being stabbed by countless tiny needles, all while it was trying to do the worm. The words themselves were 'spoken' in a completely different accent, as if Archer wasn't talking English, despite clearly doing so.
Her head cleared as quickly as the pain came, just in time to watch swords appear out of nowhere. Swords were the word she used, yet that was a disservice to what she saw. Hulking pieces of metal would be closer.
Blades the length and width of a school bus formed in the distance. Even from here, she could see the intricate details, belying just how huge they were. They shot at a speed that would put an F1 car to shame, intercepting the shots that would've killed them all. Bright, blue light, as the swords faded into nothing, their jobs done.
"Oxton. I had to disengage to do that. Be careful, it's coming."
Her head was still somewhat swimming when what it was became apparent. A large figure crashed right in front of them, next to the fallen Omnics.
"Hm. So this is what that man was protecting?" A robotic voice called out from the smoke. Lena prepared her pistols. Genji had a hand on his katana. Reinhardt held his hammer in both hands. The rest of the Overwatch operatives had their guns trained on the shadowed figure.
"A shame. I would have thought someone like him would've been doing something worthwhile." The smoke cleared. It was an Omnic, but of a model that Lena had never seen. Sleek, smooth surfaces. Red eyes, a hulking figure. He wore a cloak not too dissimilar to the ones that the Shambali wore, albeit the symbols she could spot were entirely foreign.
In his hand, he held a staff. The staff was odd, having a pulsating, purple orb suspended in mid-air. Lena didn't know what it was, but just looking at it gave a sense of trepidation.
She heard Reinhardt as he let out a sharp breath, before she heard him speak to him comms, "Commander Morrison, Code Black. There is a Ravager unit on the northern flank."
["...Say that again, Lieutenant. A Ravager unit?"]
"Yes sir."
["Do not engage. I'm on my way."]
"I think it's too late for that, sir."
They watched as the Omnic, a Ravager according to Reinhardt, knelt beside one of the fallen Omnics, inspecting the hole in its chassis, "You would flee from our duel to protect these pitiful creatures? For shame." He spoke aloud, its voice carrying well into the battlefield.
"Stand down, you are outnumbered." Reinhardt stepped in front of them, face firm and his rocket hammer ready. The Ravager didn't pay him any attention, looking past him and into the civilians. His head perked up.
"Ah. Mondatta, I can see you are here. Fraternizing with the enemy, I presume?"
"R-Ramattra-a?" The leader of the Shambali's voice sounded staticy. The culprit was quickly seen, the Omnic having a small opening near his speech regulator, "Wh-Wha-t have you d-one, brother? This ma-dn-ess has to e-e-nd."
"I am ending it, brother." The Ravager, Ramattra, opened his arms out wide, "Behold, the end of human supremacy. The end of human madness. You understand, don't you? Look at what they've done to our kind, like lambs to the slaughter."
Ramattra gestured down to the Omnics that had been skewered by Archer. Mondatta shook his head, pulling away from the crowd of civilians despite protests. He stepped in front of everyone, staring down the hulking Omnic.
"Th-ey are defen-ding the-ms-elves fr-om you, old fr-iend. You ha-ve inv-oked thi-s insan-ity. So, ple-ase, cease this. For both yo-ur sake, and you-r follow-ers. Thi-s is not a war y-ou can win."
"You would have me abandon my cause just like that?" The Null Sector leader - because who else would this be - scoffed to the side, "Do you not see, Mondatta? These humans, they haven't shot me. In their heart of hearts, they know that my cause is just. That my righteous vengeance against their species is the only path left."
"Really?"
Another figure dropped from the sky. This one made no noise, landing gently beside Mondatta. Lena let out a gasp as Archer stood face to face against the Omnic. He wore the same clothes that he wore when they first met, on that strange hill of swords.
His features were morphed into a sardonic smirk, his arms crossed as he leisurely walked forward. Ramattra tilted his head in recognition, "Ah, I'd wondered where'd you went. To think, you of all things would actively protect these humans."
"It can't be helped." Archer shrugged, "That said, do you really believe yourself right now? They're not shooting you because they think they should die?" The dark-skinned man snorted, "For all you know, they've just run out of ammo."
The Omnic actually snorted at that.
"Oxton, get the fuck out of here. And get everyone else to follow."
'Archer, what the fuck is going on?'
"This is not the time to argue. This isn't an opponent you can deal with."
"Irregardless of what these humans think, I will not abandon my cause." He once more threw his hands wide, "Look and behold, Mondatta, the sacrifices that we are willing to make. Can the humans say the same?"
"I wo-uld hope that the-y never ha-ve to."
["ETA in twenty seconds."]
"Then it's a shame that they will. War cannot be won without sacrifices, Mondatta. Sometimes, our sacrifices will be in vain, I admit. With me, though, no sacrifice will be in vain. Even you, old friend."
With a visceral stab downward, Ramattra shoved his hand through the fallen Bastion. Mondatta's cries of despair morphed into horror as its body broke down. Silver flowed from the pulsating orb in his staff, flowing almost like a liquid. It encompassed the Bastion, before it surrounded every inch of it.
Lena was thrown out of her observations when Archer threw Mondatta in her arms, "Run!" He barked out in a no nonsense tone. He turned around, and in his hands, Lena could see two swords form. One white, one black. He rushed at Ramattra, moving faster than she could blink.
Archer swung his swords down.
Ramattra caught them.
The sheer force that Archer had brought down caused a shockwave that nearly knocked her over.
With wide eyes, she watched as the silver that had covered the Bastion flowed back into the Null Sector leader, leaving nothing of the Bastion behind. It flowed into and around the Omnic, making its way onto his shoulder. She could see it take shape, mounting itself onto Ramattra's shoulder, until an entire minigun sat pointed at Archer.
More tendrils of silver flowed from the staff, going around and encompassing the other dead Omnics, before flowing back into Ramattra.
"Shall we continue our battle, Counter Guardian?"
A/N: Altered Emblem chapter will be uploaded tomorrow, and Something Wicked on the day after that. If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
Thanks to my newest patron: Matterstain.
And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo.