Winston didn't think much when the dropship opened up again. It has been like that for the past couple of hours. Tracer, by this point, was dosing herself away. Her light snores were only made noticeable just an hour or two ago.
Onmics would come in occasionally to check the status of his fellow taskforce members and then leave, never uttering a single word.
He gave a slight glance as something was moving inside the dropship. From beyond the frosted light wall, he could see decently sized boxes or crates glided into the middle of the ship, with no distinction that any onmic accompanied it.
The scientist gave one final glimpse before he looked away and sighed. His attention and thoughts were spent thinking about the what-ifs and buts they could have taken to prevent such a cockup of a mission like this from ever happening again.
Right now, his mind wasn't interested in those crates.
Until he heard a creak from the outside.
He diverted his eyes again back to the frosted light wall, trying to adjust his spectacles by using his shoulders to ensure he wasn't missing out on anything. He knows that he couldn't see much, but from the looks of it, something is coming out from what was moved into the dropship.
It doesn't look like it was onmic—more human.
Winston couldn't believe his eyes.
For the first time after being captured, he had felt hope.
And that hope grew when he heard hushed voices outside speaking.
Despite being bonded by stiff, light ropes, he shuffled into position right next to the light wall separating him from his cell and freedom.
With his face just nanometres away from the wall, he squinted his eyes as he tried to look right through.
Out of nowhere, a hand appeared.
Then, two hands appeared. And whoever this person was, they were doing the same thing as he was—trying to peer through.
With an eager and silent grunt, it was time to introduce himself.
"I really, really, really hate crates now." John nearly stumbling out of the weapons crate, emphasising his displeasure. "I will destroy every damn crate if I have to ever step in one again." He angrily whispered to Vale.
"Yeah, well. You could make a very convincing robot if you got yourself a cardboard box, some markers and paint." Vale emerged from her temporary tomb.
John and Vale looked around the dropship that had supposedly imprisoned the taskforce. Aside from being more significant than the earlier dropship they got onto to sneak aboard, the only thing worth the attention was the wall of light inside the ship. Two light walls ran parallel to the aisle from the apron to the cockpit's stairs. And despite being light, it appeared to be made of translucent glass.
John walked up to the light structure while Vale made mental notes of the ship as she walked about.
Vale had always talked to John about taking care during their mission, especially regarding stealth work like this. Her partner seemed to need to pay more attention to her talk or just had other ideas, as he immediately, but carefully, laid his hands on the light wall, putting a bit of pressure on it. He obviously had never seen nor touched something like this, but when an opportunity like this comes, he best takes it before it goes away.
This, though, had an unexpected effect.
"H-hello? Is anyone out there"?! A voice spoke, instantly scaring the living hell out of him. He got so spooked that he nearly felt his spine bend over backwards. Tumbling backwards, he lost his footing and landed right back onto the weapons crate—the same weapons crate he had just gotten out of moments ago.
"Argh! Maldita sea esta caja estúpida!"
While he mutterly cursed in his half-native tongue, Vale rushed back to him, ensuring he was okay. John squinted his eyes after dusting himself free and getting out of the crate. The realisation hit him as he remembered the voice that spoke to him. Then, John approached the wall again. He needed some confirmation.
"Winston? Is that you?" John whispered to the gorilla on the other side.
"John? Vale? W-what are you doing here?" Winston was shocked by their former apprehended companions. They were the last people that didn't expect to see or hear in this case.
"We went window shopping. We got lost when we made a wrong turn in Libson," Vale ironically said, trying to joke around while they still could, which made the scientist smile.
"Do try to quieten down both of you. The hangar outside is still surrounded by onmic guards, and last I checked back on the terminal, this particular dropship is not fitted with sound-deadening," Eve advised the two.
"Alright, alright. Let's focus." Vale muttered to John and herself.
"Hmm. I don't see any control panel of these light walls anywhere." John noted. He looked down the ship's length, from the front to the ramp at the back, and there was no access panel anywhere that could deactivate the light walls.
Like John, Vale looked around at the other side and did a sweeping look from front to rear, but with the same inconclusive results as her partner. With no other way, there was only one place left.
"The cockpit." Vale turned and saw the closed door leading to the dropship's controls.
The duo quickly scampered their way towards the cockpit door. They slowly opened it in case there was onmic still within the ship.
Thankfully, the cockpit was void of any droids.
Vale sat on the left pilot's seat while John took the right co-pilot's seat. The two looked around the futuristic dashboard of the aircraft. Aircraft from John and Vale's era used digital dials and displays, replacing the analogue ones from yesteryear. Those digital dials and displays were outdated because the cockpit's dashboard was minimalist. Only when left idle, will the holographic dashboard come to life, showing all the readouts, feedback, and conditions of the aircraft that the pilots would only know.
John and Vale looked around the holographic dashboard. They had little to no experience flying an aircraft, let alone something of this magnitude.
John snooped underneath the cockpit while Vale pointed to each control, whispering to herself which panel was which.
"Found a port!" John fiddled and touched every cockpit surface that couldn't be seen in daylight. His hand ran over something that might resemble a connection to the ship.
Vale tossed him the ship's cable and immediately plugged Eve into the vessel, which she got to work instantly.
"Well, it looks like our work just got more complicated." Eve read off the files of the ship. "The light walls that contain the taskforce in this aircraft are linked to the mothership, meaning if we deactivate it now, it will alert everyone to this hangar."
John and Vale looked at each other worried. "Is there any other way?"
"This ship is connected to the command ship by transmission. If we can get this craft away from the mothership, the Eye can't do anything but watch as we free the taskforce." Eve told the two.
"Well, let's get ready for takeoff then. Wait for Hammond to show up with the bomb, and we'll be off." John suggested, feeling a bit pressured considering what's at stake here.
"That's where our next problem comes in. While the mothership does not restrict this aircraft, it is physically connected to it. A claw is attached to the top of this ship, meant to prevent the craft from sliding about. You need to disengage that and the hangar doors, which are shut."
The two looked over the cockpit and saw that the AI was right. In front of them was a vast light barrier covering the entire opening of the hangar, similar to the ones inside the ship, except this one was coloured like the ambient lighting inside the hangar, ominous red. They could attempt and forcefully fly out of there, but at the expense of damaging the aircraft.
"Is there any way to release this ship and open the hangar doors?" Vale asked.
"There's a control room above the hangar. The controls for the retaining claw and the hangar's barrier should be there."
John and Vale peered out the cockpit window and saw an opening in the control room that overlooked the hangar. The only issue is that the only way to access it was through the hangar door right below the control room, protected by one of the many onmic guards.
"Ugh, there's no way we're going to get there without being spotted," Vale noted the entrance and the surroundings.
"I think there is a way." John saw that there was a substantial movable beam that ran overhead and above the ship. Its broad flanges are big enough to support an entire aircraft and the hangar itself, and it is in place right above the unglazed window of the ship.
"The overhead beam is nicely positioned to access the control room."
"That's most likely where the overhead claw that holds this ship in place," Eve stated. "You could sneak into the control room by getting onto the flanges and swing yourself in."
"Um, how do I get to the outside first?" John kept looking at the beam. He could have been more confident with heights, but as long as he had safety gear on. But nothing was preventing him from death between freeing the taskforce and 50 metres of an unharnessed tightrope walk.
"There's an emergency hatch above the cockpit. Use it to get up there." John faced upwards and saw a small hatch right above the two pilot seats.
"Be careful, John." Vale grabbed his hand before he proceeded any further. John gave a big toothy grin and a wink. Then he grabbed the red emergency handle, twisting it as the hatch unlatched itself, the rubber seals creaking as it did.
Stepping on the middle console and Vale assisting him with his steps, John hoisted himself up and onto the top of the dropship. He took his time getting onto the overhead crane and to the control booth, and he did this for a good reason.
An aircraft's surface is meant to be aerodynamic, which is why all flying vehicles have smooth and slippery surfaces to reduce drag. Unfortunately, this quirk had its downsides, as John found out the second he tried to get his footing on the surface.
Despite wearing the best combat boots the world has to offer, they could have been better against this sleek metal, especially when stepping on the ship's curved surfaces.
John had to get down low so that his centre of gravity wouldn't send him over the edge and to his death or the onmic guards, whichever came first. He also wanted to avoid being seen by the onmic guards, even though they were only positioned at the back of the hangar and were entirely out of sight.
Once he could stabilise himself, he made his way towards the retaining claw attached to the roof of the dropship.
The vast metal claw holding the ship in place reminded him of how someone would have held a pet by the scruff, except now that it was bigger than expected.
Unfazed by the sheer size, John hopped onto the claw and quickly ascended to the overhead beam that held the claw in place.
Back in the cockpit, Vale needed to make progress. Besides the technical issues that Eve was facing, there was nothing much she could do but watch her partner tightwalk the thin seam along the beam towards the control booth.
John, meanwhile, was not trying to have a panic attack and a heart attack all at once. As mentioned before, he wasn't keen on heights. His mind told him to focus more on the opening than the hard, cold metal ground.
After what seemed to be an eternity, John finally reached the end of the beam. Feeling relieved, John quickly tackled the following issue: trying to climb into the control room by the window.
Or rather, swing towards the opening.
John made one miscalculation: the overhead beam was not perfectly aligned with the control room. It was off-centre and much closer to the edge of the control room's opening, meaning just climbing down to the room was not so straightforward.
Another problem was the slight height difference between the overhead beam and the opening, which meant that getting into the control room required precise movement.
John looked at the small window frame ledge below him. Give or take, he needed at least 5cm or less to get his footing there. Then, after the small ledge, he could see the floor of the hangar and the lone onmic guard securing the only way into the control room.
So, nailing the gap was all up to him now. No screwups or takebacks.
This was between the fate of the taskforce and the utter destruction of the taskforce's world.
John took a couple of deep breaths, still trying to keep his fear of heights out of his mind. Then, grabbing the seam of the beam, he hung onto it as he got ready to swing and drop down to the small ledge.
Vale watched from the cockpit; nervousness and anxiousness kicked in as she knew what was at stake.
With the onmic guards looking away, clueless and oblivious to what was happening, John took one swing, slowly moving backwards and forwards.
Then, another swing; this time, he could feel the momentum growing as his swings became more powerful.
One last swing, and John put all of his efforts into it.
With a grand yet mute heave, John released his grip from the seam and got ready to grip the window frame.
For Vale, everything was in slow motion. She watched in suspense as she saw her partner going for the gap.
Then, it happened.
John managed to grab onto the small ledge.
Great.
Except thanks to his momentum from his earlier swings, his resulting velocity meant he had to put in more force to grip the ledge.
This resulted in him losing his left hand on the ledge while the right one still hung on precariously.
Vale nearly felt her heart drop to the floor. She anticipated something like this would happen but never prepared herself for the aftermath. What would happen if he fell? Will that height kill him? And if he lives, the whole damn ship will right after them.
The first thing she instantly did was to pray to whoever was up there, the countless Gods and Goddesses from the various religions she learnt in her early childhood. Despite being in Britain nearly her whole life, she would never forget her heritage from her native country, Singapore. There, she would learn about all the different beliefs the various locals grew up with. And while she did appreciate their beliefs, she never really understood why there were thousands of Gods and Goddesses.
Regardless of how many immortal beings the everyday folk pray to, she was now hoping that her prayers of John making it into the control room would be answered.
As if the gods had responded, John managed to regain his grip with his left hand and stabilise himself on the ledge.
Carefully not to screw up this chance, he hoisted his legs over the ledge. His right leg tried to hug the wall, and he lifted his left leg into the room. And in good time, too. The lone onmic guard thought it heard a noise from above and saw nothing.
Once he made it in, John was more than grateful that he got into the control room. He knew that he needed to be in better shape. A bit plum, it was a miracle that he passed his fitness and health tests, even though it was just by a hairline.
Vale gave a massive sigh of relief. She reminded herself to thank the gods and goddesses up there for saving John's soul. She could see him giving her a dumb yet lovable smile with a thumbs-up, telling her he was okay.
And her day just got even better.
"Vale, I'm getting reports of an anomaly within the mothership. Not in this hangar, but somewhere else in the mothership. Hammond must have found the bomb and caused a distraction, meaning he should be here now." Eve reported.
"That's good news, then. Prep the ship for departure. All we need now is to wait for Hammond and John, and then we can leave," Vale said.
Back to her partner, he managed to step onto the hangar controls when he tried to enter the booth. This made him extra careful not to step on any obnoxious buttons that screamed alarm, security, or self-destruction.
Getting down from the controls, John had to connect Tom to deactivate the retaining claw and light hangar barrier.
Once he was plugged in, Tom was in the hangar's mainframe.
"Vale, Tom's in the controls of the hangar. What's the game from here on?" John asked Vale through his AI.
"We wait for Hammond to come with the bomb first. Then deactivate the retaining claw and the hangar barrier and fly out of here. If we open the claw and hangar barrier first, we may alert the onmic guards to our location rather than Hammond's." Vale instructed her partner. John watched her talk to him from the control room.
John now had second thoughts about the plan. "Maybe we should have waited for Hammond to come first. I don't like being alone here."
Vale wanted to rebuke, but he did have a point. They had only planned to send John to deactivate the hangar's claw and light barrier, but they had not thought of how to get him out of the control room.
She and John never planned things out, preferring to plan on the fly. Why waste time planning things out when you know they will never go according to plan anyway?
She then remembered the other times she and John never planned things through. The escape from Lisbon was one of them. After getting their intel from the United Nations meeting, they didn't plan where to go. And here they were, in enemy territory, completely inept and clueless on how to get a simple retaining claw and hangar shield down without her partner being torn to shreds by the enemy.
Vale wanted to hit herself in the head. Planning on the fly could have been better in the long run.
She thought for a moment. She fell back to the co-pilot's seat, swivelling it as her mind went wildly for any idea would come to mind.
As she was mindlessly twirling in her seat, she ended up facing towards the open doorway. The cockpit door showed her the back of the dropship, where she was greeted with the same weapons crates that she and John sneaked into the ship with. She also remembers that they still had the two hacked escort onmics.
Then, a plan came to fruition.
The activity within the prisoner dropship was beginning to lighten up.
The cells were quiet just after John and Vale left for the cockpit. They must have heard the two's conversation with Winston.
"Hmm. Winston." He heard his old, goody two shoes of a partner, Tracer. "I heard people talking. What's going on?"
Winston thought about it and decided to give her the good news.
"We're getting out of here, Lena. John and Vale are helping us, along with Hammond."
When they first heard about John and Vale, Tracer could not stop talking about them. They were young, hip, and, from the looks of it, eager to fight. She had multiple theories about the two. Space Shifters, People from another Dimension, magic and all that hocus-pocus stuff, all the things you can learn in Dungeons and Dragons and all the early 21st-century sci-fi movies you can binge-watch.
Winston must ask Emily to help Lena lay off the movie night's selection.
Anyway, Tracer talked and sometimes begged Winston if they could join the team. After all, they did escape from them after their run-in in the Netherlands, and so far, they have been good at keeping themselves out of sight and out of mind.
Winston didn't like the idea. Already having former Talon agents, the chaotic junkers and petty ex-criminals in their midst was already spelling trouble in the air; he didn't want to risk another confrontation like how it brought down the original Overwatch taskforce.
But something in his mind kept telling him that Tracer was right. A lot of questions still need to be answered.
What were those two doing in the Netherlands?
More importantly, how did they get there? Onmics surrounded the base. No one should be able to get past them. Also, they were not in the base before the invasion. General Alldic and his staff have confirmed this.
What if they are another threat?
What if we mistook them for another threat?
And if they were not a threat to the taskforce, would they contribute and be good agents on the field?
These desperate and unanswered questions were discussed with the more experienced taskforce members, but none came back with a definitive cause.
But for now, he needed to pursue these two before anything could be done.
Now that those thoughts came back to mind, he couldn't help but think about them.
First, they escape from their grasp with the prototype bomb. Then, they surrender peacefully without a fight.
But they escaped again, only this time, bringing his agents into the crossfire of the onmics.
Now, here they are, helping them escape from The Eye.
What was it with these two?
"I knew it! Those two are on our side. I told you, Winston! Once we are out of here, we will give those onmics a taste of their own medicine!" Tracer cheered, forgetting the sad state she was in hours earlier when they got captured.
Her cheers were all that Winston needed. He waited with anticipation as hope ignited within him again. He sat up straight, already jumpy and ready to spring into action.
Her cheers had a profound effect on him, though. They also echoed around the ship, alerting and awakening her fellow teammates in their cells.
But Winston didn't mind. All he and his taskforce needed to do was get out of these light shackles and leave these light-wall-encased cells.
The only issue is that he hasn't heard from John or Vale. Nor Hammond, for that matter.
Just then, a figure emerged from the cockpit.
"John? Vale? You there?" Winston asked as the blurry figure went by.
"Hi Winston, yeah, it's me, Vale." She responded. Her mind was not so much focusing on the scientist.
"You're freeing us, right?" Tracer's lively and squeaky voice spoke.
"We're getting to that. Right now, these light cells are controlled by the command ship. We plan to escape from here since the command ship can't control this aircraft if it's not in the hangar, meaning we can't free you till then." Vale explained, shifting some weapon crates from the pile onto the floor. "In the meantime, Hammond is returning with the bomb, so we are waiting for him."
Winston was interrupted by Sojourn before he could speak. "Soujourn here, and why should we trust you?."
"Hello, Sojourn, and what do you mean, ma'am?" Vale stopped her work and squinted at another cell, where a blurred, dark figure with distinctive white hair stood.
"You mean it's no coincidence that The Eye magically shows up in Libson when you and your partner get detained by us?" Questioned the ex-Candian Armed Forces captain.
"With all due respect, ma'am, that was not our doing. How The Eye managed to find us is beyond me or John's." Vale tried to reason with Sojourn, but the former wanted more than Vale's answer.
"That is not a solid explanation of all that has happened. From the Netherlands to Germany and Portugal. Not only that, but everything you two have done has made no sense. Like Sombra said, you two have no records, history, or birthdays, and we have nothing on you. And unless you're telling me that General Alddic has an evil experimental lab back at his base, we can't be certain if we can even trust you. What is your true ambition here?"
Vale stiffened up, completely lost for words. She didn't know what to say.
"You're not from here, are you, love?" Tracer decided to chime in.
Despite her training not to let out information, she knew the game was up.
"Yes. We're not from here."
Tracer opened her mouth to say more, but she was overshadowed by more negative remarks, not from Soujourn but from everyone around her.
"Are you here to cause more trouble in our world?"
"Planning an invasion of some sort?"
"Are you just helping us just for some personal gain?"
Vale's training as an officer reminded her to be level-headed and have a clear mind when tackling any situation, no matter how dire or stressful.
But all the negativity was starting to get to her.
"Guys, enough!" Vale's voice echoed throughout the ship. She was careful not to be too loud that it could be heard outside the ship.
"I'm sorry that this was all our doing. We are trying our very best to rectify our faults and mistakes." Vale said out loud. "It is clear that you don't need us afterwards. We will take out leave once this is all over."
With that said and done, and with her preparations done, she headed back into the cockpit.
"Miss Vale, please. Just tell us something, anything that has some relation to these events. Just let us help." Winston persuaded the Brit.
But it was too little, too late.
"Sorry guys, I have nothing else to share."
Vale slowly returned to the cockpit, leaving the two leaders disgruntled with their conversation with her.
John, meanwhile, was starting to feel bored in the control room. He was waiting for Vale to tell him her plan to get him out once Hammond came back to them with the bomb.
The problem was that her idea took a while to dish out.
In the meantime, he was on the floor, slouching his back against the metal wall. He was talking to Tom about facts about the other worlds and realms.
"How many alternate realities and universes are out there, Tom? There's got to be some number."
"There is a number, sir. But that number is so huge that it's normally expressed as infinite, given the many chances and circumstances that can change throughout the universe's history." Tom explained. "That's why most scientists and astronomers call it the infinite universe."
"Huh, and to think that we could start labelling the different universes each time we visit one."
John always marvelled at how big the universe is. As Tom suggested, seeing yourself on another timeline or in another reality is possible.
But as John was wondering about the distant cosmos, Tom did drop a bombshell.
"That's why there may be no way home, too."
That snapped John out of his thoughts.
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"Not to offend you, sir, but given the millions and millions of other worlds out there. There is a slight chance we may end up in another if we don't program the machine properly." The AI explained. "That's in theory anyway. Not strictly proven yet."
"Well, do you know how to build the realm's machine? Or have a blueprint?" John questioned, thankful that it was just a speculation. "But I was still slightly worried about the offset chance of being unable to come home."
"Yes sir, I do. Eve and I have the machine's blueprints and parts as a failsafe in case we can't return to our world."
"I hope it's correct," John said. I need to do some things back home. I hope I can straighten things out with my parents."
Contemplating about his relatives, his mind was brought back when Vale's voice came through by Tom.
"John, I plan to get you out of there once Hammond comes."
John stood up and stretched. He was not the type who would sit around and do nothing. At least now, there was something that he could do.
"It's coming your way." She added dully.
John looked over the control booth and into the hangar, careful not to be spotted by the onmic guards. He then saw something coming out of the prisoner dropship.
It was the exact hacked Slicer escort, but this time, it led to a single pallet containing only a lone weapon crate.
The sight alone was enough to get a frustrated sigh out of him.
"Really? Do I need to fit myself back into that box?" John groaned.
Already upset with the recent exchange with Winston and Sojourn, Vale was not in the mood for John's displeasure.
"That's the only idea I have, okay?! Just be thankful that I have something planned out!" Vale lashed at her partner.
John was utterly stunned at her outburst. He had never seen nor heard her raise her voice at him, so it was shocking.
"Okay, okay." John tried to calm her down. "I know I should have dropped the weapon crate thing. I'm sorry."
Vale, releasing her mistake, immediately felt guilty for snapping at John. She slumped back into the co-pilot's seat, forgetting the onmic escort.
"No, no. I'm sorry." Vale tried to make amends. "It's not you. It's what happened earlier."
This got John's attention. "Oh? ¿Qué Pasa?"
"It's just that I talked with Winston and Sojourn, one of Winston's advisors. They felt they tried to talk us smoothly, like we're the bad guys and don't belong here." Vale explained.
"Are you sure they said those things?"
Vale kept eerily quiet, which was something foreign to John. He knew she wasn't the type to lash out, so something must have gone wrong with her chat with the Overwatch taskforce.
"Do you want to talk about it? It's not good to hold it in, you know." He leaned over Tom, getting ready to listen.
Vale thought about it briefly and decided to share it with John. "I admitted to them that we are not part of this world. I didn't tell them about Vanguard Company or anything related to Project Adventurer, but I felt that the questions they asked me feel that we are not doing anything that could help change our world for the better."
She continued her rant. "It made me feel like we are failures, John. We followed the procedures and protocols we had learned when we got here and adapted to them. But so far, it felt like it was doing more harm than good."
John contemplated what Vale had just told him, giving him time to decide what to say to her.
"I think that you ignore them, Vale. They may be dishing out negativity because of how they got captured by the Eye. But even if it was our fault, we should be proud that we are trying to right the wrongs that we did here. And be proud of ourselves for even getting this far. I mean, look at us. We nearly got ourselves killed in this world."
Vale's downcast face slowly contorted into a small smile. Like how she comforted John when she was doing her work solo, he was comforting her about personal issues.
"And I'm glad that I have gone through this with you. Whatever you are feeling, I feel it too. You're never alone in this. That's what you told me, remember?"
Vale's smile grew. He was right. If they accused her of being a petty crime against the taskforce, she and John would be guilty of the same offence.
"Besides, we can go home once we are done with this world. Forget that we even came here in here in the first place. Plus, a good chance to tie the knot if you catch my drift." John wiggled his eyebrows towards his holoprojector as if he were talking to her.
Vale chuckled. Her thoughts of her previous conversation were made utterly redundant. "Okay, okay. I get it. Thanks, John, you made me feel a lot better."
John stood back up, triumphant. "No worries. If it makes you feel any better, I'm the one getting the harsh physical treatment." He was joking about stuffing himself back in the weapons crate once again.
"At least my situation can't get any worse." He groaned, watching the onmic and pallet enter the doorway below them.
"Halt." A deep, anonymous, robotic voice spoke.
John immediately froze. He steadily turned himself around and saw two onmics at the entrance of the control room, their guns readied and aimed at him. They were not the same onmics that Eve hacked and controlled.
He raised his arms in surrender.
"Well, it's official. My situation has gotten a lot worse."