Fandom Overwatch: Talon's Grip

[Noivian]

Bird watched him go. The sound of gunshots coming from the inside of the conference center worried her greatly. What would happen to the others in there? She shuffled her feet, feeling guilty for not doing anything. As the crowds of people rushing out of the theater started to thin out to a trickle, and the sounds of sirens in the distance could be heard, Bird realized she had come to a crossroads in her life. Stand on the sidelines and watch the world, or plunge headfirst into history. The former choice sounded much like her life at the monastery, one that she quickly grew tired of. The latter, however, would get her killed in the end, without a doubt. She looked to the crowds gathering on the streets, the good radius of clear pavement starting to form between the conference building and the bystanders, and finally to the building itself.

She knew her choice. Her legs unfroze from their position, and carried her in swift strides into the building. Instead of heading right for the main stage room, however, she hung a sharp right and charged down the hall, checking other rooms and generally keeping at least a wall between herself and the battle going on in the main presentation room. "Hello?" she called out. "Anyone still in here?" The first priority was to evacuate every bystander. Though Bird doubted there'd be anyone left inside with all this commotion, she wouldn't put it past some kid to be separated from their parents in the panic, and huddled up in a corner somewhere. The small omnic chased the thought away from her processors, focusing on her auditory and visual receptors, pushing them to the max to pick up any sound of injured or otherwise trapped convention goers.

Otakuyaki

 

[DanDanDan]

At the sound of Reaper's staple ultimate attack, Sago's first instinct was to duck behind some of the front-end chairs and hope that nothing hit him. However he knew that unarmored Angela would be left vulnerable, so he climbed the low stage to reach the doctor and used his mutant arm as a shield. While it didn't properly soak up bullets like a traditional shield, at least Angela wouldn't be severely injured. Sago recognized it as probably not the best move when he felt stinging pain from the rain of bullets pelting the arm. "Yahhhh..." He seethed in pain. Yeah, bullets hurt. Apparently he didn't think of that. [ Otakuyaki ]

 

[Assailant]

It seemed Shade had the same idea as Sago. As the shots went off, Shade raised his shield and ran back to reach the first-row chairs. He went to pull Dr. Ziegler behind the chairs with him, but he saw Sago covering her, so he let them be as he crouched behind the chairs. His shield lowered moments later.

 

[FireMaiden]

The didn't respond to her. A little rude, but okay. She didn't dwell on it however, as the sounds of rapid gunfire filled the air. She couldn't exactly tell how far away or close it was, but she knew that it wasn't good. The woman sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the three others on the roof. "We need to hurry. Someone pissing bullets is never a good sign." Her voice was quiet, but held a certain sharp urgency. "Shall we get mobing or wait from whoevee that is to kill? If thamey havent already of course." Otakuyaki

 

[LoneSniper87]

Ryan's eyes widened as those spiteful words were uttered and Reaper spun around repeatedly. His first few seconds of shock left him exposed, but after seeing everyone spring to action he did as well, running to Dr. Cartagena and his mother, though he took a few hits and dove, groaning in pain as his armor was penetrated. "Damn you..." He muttered, glancing around as he kept going. "Dr. Cartagena, are you alright?" He asked, seeing as he was protecting both him and his mother now from the onslaught.

 

[Otakuyaki]

Illios, Greece
2020, 30 August 2077

"Ugh!" one bullet after another roared through the air, sinking through the heads of local omnics cleanly. Widowmaker grappled to another edge to remain out of reach of the omnics, only to find another, slowly but surely, finding their way towards her, "Merde!" a beep on her left wrist glowed red; her venom mine had been destroyed. She was surrounded by a number of omnics, and Sombra was still nowhere to be found. Where could she be--

"Augh!" Widowmaker fell off the rooftop, plummeting onto a balcony after taking a hit to the head from an omnic below. This was bad, the omnics could surely surround her on this ledge, and she needed to get out now. Her grappling hook had yet to recoil for function, and her next venom mine was only half full of toxin. That brat was always a smartass, "Not so clever now, huh?" Widowmaker looked on at the well, where she had last seen the hacker, before pressing a button in her gauntlet. The sound of a shuttle whirring in the air hung overhead at the behest of her emergency signal.

****

The bullets stopped as abruptly as they had began. Reaper threw away the shotguns, ready to pull out two new ones when a yellow flash suddenly flew across the scene. A sleep dart had nailed him with medical precision, and pressed into the neck, the temporary sedative immediately set to work. Reaper's vision began to blur as rockets suddenly flew from a corner of the room.

"Shit... Reaper, get up!" Zachary continued watching from the slightest opening in a window. What could he do right now?

"Activating visor... now!" all of a sudden, a man in a blue and white sweater jumped out of cover, his holographic visor activated. In a matter of seconds, the Talon operatives were shot down one after another, leaving only the Reaper, paralysed on the ground. This is bad... Zachary pulled his fingers together, weaving a shape before a beep abruptly sounded from his transmitter. Things had only gotten worse: the mission in Illios had just gone to shit, and now, they both needed to duck outta there too.

"Looks like we've finally got you." Jack walked up to the Reaper, rifle ready to shoot.

****

"Oh..." Angela sighed in relief as Reaper was tranquilised, "It's alright... I've got you covered." Angela directed the staff at her son first, mending his wounds, before attending to Dr. Cartagena quickly.

"Looks like we've finally got you." Angela perked up at Jack's words, and she watched as he angled his rifle at the unconscious terrorist.

"Wait! He's knocked out! This is our chance to contain him!" Angela spoke out, not realising it was Jack, "We don't need to do that..." Jack turned to look at Angela. Her pacifism never failed to surprise him, but the Reaper was not a man who could be contained, "Wai--"

There was a Bang! And a moment of silence. Something astounding had miraculously protected the Reaper from a volley of helix rockets. A bubble, made of light, protected the Reaper, appearing almost spherical despite being composed of geometric shapes. Jack stepped backwards out of reflex from the sudden appearance of the bubble, and right he was to do so. In just three seconds, the bubble burst in a bright blue flash, pushing Jack away while the light seemed to suffuse into Reaper's being. Hacking, the Reaper woke up, feeling quite disoriented from waking up so abruptly, but he knew this familiar glow. Jack and Ana reacted quickly, aiming their guns at Reaper, but not quick enough.

"I've got ya!" an indian figure suddenly threw herself through the window, landing right beside Reaper as she twirled her hand. A device suddenly materialised out of light, creating a hard-light barrier that was more than hard... it was solid! The mobile barrier ate both Jack and Ana's bullets as it hurtled towards them, shoving them away as it made their way past them and broke in contact with the opposite wall, "Reaps... we gotta get outta here... quickly!" the figure showed a beeping transmitter, and the Reaper could only moan, "Teleporter, online!" the figure worked quickly, summoning a teleporter as Jack and Ana's bullets seemed to gravitate towards her.

 

[DanDanDan]

"I'm... okay." Sago said through clenched teeth. His mutant arm had been thick enough to stop the bullets in their tracks, but he was still acutely aware of their presence in his flesh. It wasn't the best feeling. [ LoneSniper87 ]

"Thank you, doctor," Sago said as felt himself heal. Peering up at Reaper and the rest of the mysterious strangers begin their getaway, he determined that Angela was probably not of their concern anymore. Still, he knew that getting her out of the convention center was of utmost importance. Feeling rejuvenated, it occurred to him that they could use his arm as cover to get out of here. He voiced this to both Angela and Ryan to get their opinion. [ LoneSniper87 Otakuyaki ]

 

[Noivian]

Finding no one left in the convention center, Bird began scouting the security rooms and similar rooms, hoping to find a weapon or something. While the little omnic hadn't found any weapons or anything that could be used like a weapon, she had found a first aid kit. It was a human first aid kit - most omnics did at least the smallest amount of self-healing, so having an omnic first aid kit was kinda pointless. Had Bird knew that the healing was almost entirely taken care of, she probably would have taken this time to exit the convention center. Instead, she grabbed the first aid kit and mentally started to plan out her approach to the battle.

The doors to the main show room were more or less stuck open at this point, from the rain of bullets as well as the rush of people leaving earlier. Crouching low, Bird snuck her way inside the room, taking in the scene around her. There was a group in the middle of the floor, surrounded by - Bird would have puked if she had the stomach - a slew of dead bodies. So there were either hostages, or the people in the front hadn't made it out in time. She clutched the bottom part of her face plate, a gesture that she had picked up from watching human television to help keep her silent. For some omnics, it was merely a gesture, but Bird's vocals were located where one would expect a mouth on a human, so the pressure on her face plate actually helped her keep silent.

Keeping to the walls, she tried to keep to the shadows and made her way towards the back of the stage. Bird spotted the guy with the Frankenstein arm from earlier, perhaps shielding the two behind him? But where was the girl who had ran into her? Did she just use the moment to get out of paying for Bird's repairs? Anger boiled through her circuits, but she suppressed the feeling for now. Anger wouldn't help anyone.

DanDanDan Otakuyaki

 

[FireMaiden]

Ailani had given up, and started to make her way to the convention, following the sound of gunfire. Maybe two rooftops away, she saw an opening. A window which had already been broken, she could jump across and through. So, taking a good few steps back to have a running start, she sprinted towards the edge of the roof she was on, and leaped across. Her landing was a bit sloppy, but it worked nontheless. She had ended up on a catwalk almost, with a nice view of what was going on down below. She immediately recognized a few people. That Indian person from the roof outside, the vigilante Solider 76, and Angela. Those were the only ones she immediately recognized. There was a man who was trying to hard to be edgy (probably the Reaper), an old woman who looked familiar, like weirdly familiar, and then a few other people who she wasn't sure about. Never mind that though, the mystery assailant and The Reaper were gonna try to escape. Ailani quickly took aim, her crosshairs trailing on the Indian person, before she quickly let off a shot. Otakuyaki

 

[Otakuyaki]

Finding no one left in the convention center, Bird began scouting the security rooms and similar rooms, hoping to find a weapon or something. While the little omnic hadn't found any weapons or anything that could be used like a weapon, she had found a first aid kit. It was a human first aid kit - most omnics did at least the smallest amount of self-healing, so having an omnic first aid kit was kinda pointless. Had Bird knew that the healing was almost entirely taken care of, she probably would have taken this time to exit the convention center. Instead, she grabbed the first aid kit and mentally started to plan out her approach to the battle.

The doors to the main show room were more or less stuck open at this point, from the rain of bullets as well as the rush of people leaving earlier. Crouching low, Bird snuck her way inside the room, taking in the scene around her. There was a group in the middle of the floor, surrounded by - Bird would have puked if she had the stomach - a slew of dead bodies. So there were either hostages, or the people in the front hadn't made it out in time. She clutched the bottom part of her face plate, a gesture that she had picked up from watching human television to help keep her silent. For some omnics, it was merely a gesture, but Bird's vocals were located where one would expect a mouth on a human, so the pressure on her face plate actually helped her keep silent.

Keeping to the walls, she tried to keep to the shadows and made her way towards the back of the stage. Bird spotted the guy with the Frankenstein arm from earlier, perhaps shielding the two behind him? But where was the girl who had ran into her? Did she just use the moment to get out of paying for Bird's repairs? Anger boiled through her circuits, but she suppressed the feeling for now. Anger wouldn't help anyone.

DanDanDan Otakuyaki

Ailani had given up, and started to make her way to the convention, following the sound of gunfire. Maybe two rooftops away, she saw an opening. A window which had already been broken, she could jump across and through. So, taking a good few steps back to have a running start, she sprinted towards the edge of the roof she was on, and leaped across. Her landing was a bit sloppy, but it worked nontheless. She had ended up on a catwalk almost, with a nice view of what was going on down below. She immediately recognized a few people. That Indian person from the roof outside, the vigilante Solider 76, and Angela. Those were the only ones she immediately recognized. There was a man who was trying to hard to be edgy (probably the Reaper), an old woman who looked familiar, like weirdly familiar, and then a few other people who she wasn't sure about. Never mind that though, the mystery assailant and The Reaper were gonna try to escape. Ailani quickly took aim, her crosshairs trailing on the Indian person, before she quickly let off a shot. Otakuyaki

What was that? The indian figure had just created some sort of device out of thin air, but she couldn't make heads or tails of what it was at all. Doesn't matter! The figure clad in black like a giant leather bird was right below her, and now was the time to strike!

"You're done for, Reaper!" out of the blue, Serena retracted the plasma blades that had etched themselves into the ceiling silently. Without anything to grip, Serena's body began to fall down upon the Reaper as she fired up the blades again, which now roared dangerously as she hurtled towards him, "Sneak attack!" with a war cry, Serena's arms suddenly bloated before swelling to a humongous size. Arms as wide as tree trunks swung down the chainsaw towards the Reaper, yet, the indian figure ducked right under her. Was she suicidal?

Spoiler: Sneak attack

"Get down, Reaps!" with a flick of her hand, the indian figure summoned a blue, hard-light barrier, similar to the barriers that the crusaders wielded! As if that could stop a melee attack, those only worked against bulle--

"OOF!" with a sudden outcry of pain, Serena had crashed into the barrier, rattling it with cracks. Yet, the force of her impact barely stunted its movement forward, and shocked from its hardness, Serena went limp as she rolled off its convex front onto the floor, groaning.

****

"Pfft." Zachary stifled a chuckle at Serena's dumb debut, but it was just for a moment.

"Aaaagh!" Zachary recoiled in shock as a loud sound of glass shattering split the air. Blue shields around his body made themselves blatantly known as they stopped the bullet in their tracks, albeit leaving the barrier cracked. The shields however, took a second before they began regenerating. The bullet was pushed out of the hole it had dug in the barrier as it regenerated, and the large sniper round fell to the floor as the cracks continued to seal themselves. The Reaper's head swivelled, trying to find the source of the bullet, but the indian figure put his hands on his shoulders to stop him, "It's getting too dangerous. Mission over, we're done with the goose chase. Let's just go!" with a more than forceful shove, Zachary pushed the Reaper into the teleporter, and his body disappeared in its blue outlines in an instant, "Now then..." the indian looked at the direction that his shield had been cracked, discovering the sniper on the catwalk. This was the second time he had been shot at. Was it safe to assume that she was the one who had also shot at him earlier? It didn't matter, but considering their positions, this was a really bad match up for him... There was no way he could hope to damage her right now with her attention on him. Was it time to ru--"Ack!"

It was all so sudden, but something large, heavy, and metallic had suddenly swung at him. The impact had sent him staggering back several feet, and his shields lit up brightly as the point of impact glowed a bright blue. Serena had gotten back up, and she was standing between him and the teleporter.

"You let him get away..." with a click, Serena's plasma chainsaw lit up brilliantly, "Who are you?" Zachary glanced from Serena, to the sniper, to the others in the room who had been facing Reaper. There was no way to win this, and the path to the teleporter was cut off, meaning that there was only one way out of this.

"You don't need to know." Zachary smiled wryly as he clicked something, and a bright sphere around him glowed a bright blue. The shields that protected him blinked briefly, before they disappeared, and Serena took a step back.

"Those were the shields that protected you from my swing?" Serena growled, "What are you playing at, turning them off?" Zachary looked from her, to the sniper, to the others in the room, his smile widening as he was slowly overcome by a maniacal laughter.

"Who knows?"

 

[LoneSniper87]

"Thanks..." He murmured as his mother healed him. "And good to know that you are alright, Doctor." He added, sitting up. Everything happened in such a blur hemdidn't really do anything but watch the events unfold, eventually his senses came back to him and he stood, shooting a hard stare towards the Indian who was left behind. "You just up and let your shield dissipate? With aa many weapons turned on you as this? Makes sense, you and the rest of Talon have no sense of sanity anyway." He said, raising his revolver to aim at him. There were other unknowns in the area, but the one he aimed at he knew was an enemy.

DanDanDan Otakuyaki FireMaiden Noivian Assailant

 

[FireMaiden]

This was her chance to take him/her out. The Reaper went through yhe teleported, their sheids dropped, and Ailani's crosshairs were still on the Indian's head. Though she knew what they wanted. There really was only one way out, and Ailani was more than happy to provided it. With a quickly glance at the charge she had for the bullet she was about to fire, she pulled the trigger. Otakuyaki DanDanDan Noivian

 

[DanDanDan]

Hearing the maniacal laughter, Sago not for one second believed the battle was truly over. Not concerning himself with stopping someone who was clearly out-matched and most certainly out of his mind, Sago lifted his arm up as defensive cover. "Come on, we have to get out of here," Sago said while gently goading her toward the stage stairs. Judging from the cartoonishly evil villain, this whole place probably set to explode in some dramatic flair and Sago ain't got no time for that. With most civilians out of the convention center, all that was left were the equally-cartoonish looking Overwatch members he recognized. Mentally shrugging, he entered GTFO mode and kept his arm up to help whoever that was with him get toward the exit.

 

[Noivian]

Well, color her impressed. Giant girl wasn't skimping out, she was planning the most epic intro ever. If only it hadn't been thwarted so easily by that barrier... From a tactical point of view, it was a pretty flawed plan of approach, but Bird had very little experience in how combat worked, so to her, Giant girl's plan was almost fool proof. Almost. Despite the failure, the larger lady had earned serious brownie points in Bird's book.

Watching the people disappear thought what Bird assumed to be a teleporter, the small omnic started to move more swiftly towards the stage, where Frankenstein-arm was with two other people who looked vaguely similar - relatives perhaps? Giant lady was confronting the man who stepped out of his armor, and there was still a teleporter as well as an old man with odd red goggles and a woman with a rifle. Bird had a feeling there were more people outside that would be coming in to help them, so why the man stepped out of his armor when he was clearly an enemy was beyond the omnic.

Reaching the edge of the stage, Bird poked her head up to see Frankenstein-arm starting to make his way towards her. "Psst!" she whispered as loudly as she dared, almost a stage whisper.

DanDanDan LoneSniper87 Otakuyaki

 

[Otakuyaki]

"Thanks..." He murmured as his mother healed him. "And good to know that you are alright, Doctor." He added, sitting up. Everything happened in such a blur hemdidn't really do anything but watch the events unfold, eventually his senses came back to him and he stood, shooting a hard stare towards the Indian who was left behind. "You just up and let your shield dissipate? With aa many weapons turned on you as this? Makes sense, you and the rest of Talon have no sense of sanity anyway." He said, raising his revolver to aim at him. There were other unknowns in the area, but the one he aimed at he knew was an enemy.

DanDanDan Otakuyaki FireMaiden Noivian Assailant

This was her chance to take him/her out. The Reaper went through yhe teleported, their sheids dropped, and Ailani's crosshairs were still on the Indian's head. Though she knew what they wanted. There really was only one way out, and Ailani was more than happy to provided it. With a quickly glance at the charge she had for the bullet she was about to fire, she pulled the trigger. Otakuyaki DanDanDan Noivian

"Don't get me wrong. I fully intend to esca--" her words were cut off with the roar of Ailani's gun. A sniper round had solidly landed itself in her head, and there was a gaping hole where the bullet had sunk in. A mixture of fluid dripped to the floor as the female figure stumbled. For a moment, it was like she had been killed, but regaining her footing immediately dispelled any onlooker's ideas about her death. The blue neural transmitters that were woven into the indian lady's long, silver hair suddenly began beeping violently. Zachary was losing feeling in his body, and quickly... in fact, he was losing his body entirely! The body was beginning to glow a slight blue as he shot a glare at Ailani, "You're a dangerous one, aren't ya?" he laughed as he put a finger in the hole where Ailani had shot the body. He could feel the warm flesh and bone where it had been broken, in contrast to the cold and ruthless bullet that laid snug inside, "Well, I'm sorry Miss Fatty--" the figure watched Serena suddenly grow red, before growling while her chainsaw roared with anger, "But I'll be going now." in a bright flash of blue, the female figure and her teleporter both dematerialised into light, disappearing as fast as they had come onto the scene. And before Serena, Jack, or Ana knew what had happened, she was gone.

****

Washington, America
1323, 30 August 2077

"Hooooh..." two blocks away, in an unwatched corner of Washington, a stasis tube made out of hard light dematerialised, revealing a man, shorter than average and skinnier than any field operative one could imagine. Fishing out a phone, Zachary pulled up some programs, mumbling to himself and chuckling. It was a good thing the body had been shot then... it would have been a hassle to retrieve Taniya's body otherwise. It was troubling that Angela still remained alive. Reaper must have had a rough time, "I shouldn't have played around that much, huh..." ruffling his hair in frustration as he swore to himself, he got himself on his two feet, albeit wobbly. Remaining in a stasis tube and fighting in someone else's body did have minor effects on his health, after all. Well, he has bigger problems now than just a lifestyle problem. It was time to head back to HQ and learn of whatever bad news came out of Widowmaker and Sombra's mission.

****

Washington, America
1325, 30 August 2077

"We're here! We're here!" Tracer suddenly blinked into the conference centre, looking dazed and short of breath, "Where's that Reaper at?" her pistols at the ready, Tracer aimed them across the room as she did a 360, clearly confused, "Is that.. Is he even here?"

"We're too late, huh." Winston walked in on the scene slowly, clearly tired as well. The only one who displayed no sign of exhaustion was Athena, although she was a robot to begin with. There was no exhaustion to be had.

"Yes, Winston, we're too late..." Athena interjected, "We didn't catch on quick enough." Winston looked at Athena's faceless body, waiting for Athena to explain further. In the room that was silent in the wake of Zachary's abrupt disappearance, Athena's voice program could be heard by everyone in the room, "The God Programs... they're back."

 

[FireMaiden]

Ailani growled in anger as she watched Zachary dissapper, "You've got to be shitting me....I wasted a damn bullet." While not necessarily expensive, it was still annoying to actually waste money like that. Her recent jobs hadn't paid well either, making her a little short on cash to be wasting any more ammo. Despite this, she jumped down from the Catwalk as Athena, Winston, and Tracer showed up. A little late for the party. But the she heard it. "God programs...like Anubis?" She questioned, not meaning to ask out loud. "It's trapped in Egypt right?" Ailani said this, removing the mask that covered her face since she knew everyone in the room. Well, with the exceptions of maybe two of them. It was now, that she recognized the old woman in the room. "Oh...great." Ana, her mother. From the Catwalk she couldn't clearly see her face, but now tbat Ailani could, she wondered if she should have even showed up. Though her face has aged since Ailani last saw her, there was no doubt about who it was. Not to mention the fact that she and maybe Faereha thought she was dead. Wonderful. Just....wonderful news. Otakuyaki DanDanDan LoneSniper87 Noivian

 

[DanDanDan]

Sago looked up to see the same omnic he had briefly met earlier. He understood the harsh whisper as an indicator to keep going, but he didn't need any more encouragement than he already had to get to the exit. [ Noivian ]

With the threat effectively dealt with, Sago moved his arm out of the way so he could see everyone. He had made it to the exit, but the announcement of the god programs had piqued his interest. The omnic crisis occurred during most of his childhood, and he remembered acutely the damage the Anubis god program had caused later on. With many of them dismantled, he hadn't given them another thought since it seemed like their potential rise had mostly been succumbed. Their return meant nothing good.

"How do you know?" Sago shouted out, almost in an accusatory tone. Admittedly he had only seen the abrupt disappearance of the teleporter and the body, and not much else of the fight with his arm blocking off his sight. [ Otakuyaki ]

 

[Noivian]

Bird had turned and followed Frankenstein-arm as they made their way towards the exit, but when the other AI stated something about God Programs, Bird felt her body involuntarily shiver. Her processors seemed to know what that meant, a file deep in her memory banks being accessed. It was probably lost deep in her coding, and Bird honestly didn't want to dig through mountains of sensitive codes and files just to find what everyone else seemed to already know. Instead, she opened up a new file that was easier to access and stated the question. "What exactly is a God Program?" she asked. It really showed her youth, asking about God Programs. It should be pretty obvious she was made after the Omnic Crisis, if the mostly polished and smooth metal of her face plate and new silicon on her limbs didn't give that away already.

Otakuyaki DanDanDan

 

[Otakuyaki]

"God programs...like Anubis?" She questioned, not meaning to ask out loud. "It's trapped in Egypt right?" Ailani said this, removing the mask that covered her face since she knew everyone in the room. Otakuyaki DanDanDan LoneSniper87 Noivian

"Indeed." Athena replied shortly to the sniper that had unmasked herself. The sniper seemed to know her stuff, it wasn't exactly like the God Programs were public knowledge. Governments had purposely hidden the true identities of the perpetrators of the omnic crisis, namely the God Programs, to prevent any public uprising and hysteria. The public only knew them to be connected to the omnic uprising, but if they were to learn that the God Programs could control the planet's technology... well, that would be a public disaster. And yet--

"What exactly is a God Program?" she asked. It really showed her youth, asking about God Programs. It should be pretty obvious she was made after the Omnic Crisis, if the mostly polished and smooth metal of her face plate and new silicon on her limbs didn't give that away already.
Otakuyaki DanDanDan

"That's a good question..." Athena's logo, branded on her featureless head, blinked slowly in contemplation. It would be better to explain, in spite of the unknown strangers in the vicinity. She seemed knew and completely unknowing. Awareness of the God Programs should be rightly spread... the treatment of omnics would never be mended if it wasn't, "They were the ones responsible for the omnic crisis... the ones responsible for controlling your predecessors."

"It is because of them that omnics like you are treated with contempt." Athena approached the omnic, extending a featureless hand to the omnic that felt the dents. Had she, a brand new omnic, been smashed by a human in the head? Those humans certainly weren't short of prejudice. A programmed sensation of guilt could only course through Athena's circuits. Abruptly, a question from across the room snapped Athena from her own thoughts.

"How do you know?" Sago shouted out, almost in an accusatory tone. Admittedly he had only seen the abrupt disappearance of the teleporter and the body, and not much else of the fight with his arm blocking off his sight. [ Otakuyaki ]

Athena's logo in her head began to blink in ever quicker succession. Who was he? How was she going to answer? Should she answer honestly?

"I--" Athena waited for a moment as she pulled up a holographic, blue screen, "Was up to date with the news!" with that, the screen rendered to clearly display an article with an image of wrecked omnics and paramedics attending to a Helix strike force guard, "For I am connected to the internet!" there was a moment of awkward silence, and Winston put a hand on her shoulder. It was a lame reply, absolutely lame, but he understood. That was a question she would rather not answer, and if she didn't want to answer... well... it's a given that she shouldn't have to. But if there was an issue in Illios that big, then they must see to it immediately.

"Athena, can you call down the ship?"

"But Winston, bringing the ship to such a dense, urban area will notify the local authorities of Overwatch activity. We will be persecuted under the PETRAS ac--"

"It doesn't matter anymore..." Winston sighed, "A giant monkey just crashed into a conference centre with a flashy blue Brit and a floating robot... if that doesn't give it away, I don't know what will."

"Well... understood." Athena paused for a moment, her logo blinking, before turning to the new omnic again, "I advise you to be more cautious around humans. You can't let them beat you up like this..."

"Wait!" Athena perked up to pay attention to the voice. It was Serena, and quite sheepishly, the blundering, giant German stepped forward, "I was the one who bashed into her by accident... But you're here, that's perfect!" Athena did not respond. It had been years since she had last seen Serena, "May you help her? I know you can fix up those dents. I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone in this country, so--"

"Stop." Athena waved a white arm at the rambling girl, "I'll do it, so stop the excuses." Serena, a bit taken aback, could only thank her softly, "The ship will be arriving soon, so as soon as it arrives, I'll fix you up." Athena informed the omnic, "But like I said, be more careful around humans. You're living in their world, after all."

"Don't be so cold to Serena, Athena." Winston interjected, "She said it was an accident... and she'll be joining us now. She'd informed us, that's why she came here, to this country, in the first place." extending a hand, Winston greeted Serena briefly, "Don't expect anything fancy from six years ago."

"Bring me too!" Angela piped up, "I don't have my valkyrie suit, but if what you said was true... then I must be there." Angela stated shortly, gripping her staff with conviction.

"After all the trouble of coming to save you?"

"Trouble doesn't wait for anyone, Winston... not for me, or for Illios." Winston eyed Angela, sighing as he gave in to Angela's dangerous request. Sometimes, she's simply too kind.

"You will take us too." and there it was. The big elephant in the room finally spoke up. Winston eyed Athena, who eyed him back(although she had no eyes). Neither Winston nor Athena wanted to pose the question, but this face, no matter how aged, was it truly Ana?

"Cap?" Lena's incredulous voice broke into the conversation, "Is that really you?" leave it to Lena, she probes without hesitation, "And who's he? Isn't he the terrorist?"

"Good to see you haven't changed, Lena." Ana smiled as she slung her rifle over her shoulder. Her eye glanced at the familiar face in the background. No doubt about it, she may have changed, but she will never forget her daughter, "Don't mind him," she thumbed at him over her shoulder, "He's just old." Jack scoffed as he looked elsewhere. He must be frustrated... after all, Gabriel and his unknown accomplice had gotten away, their objective seemingly complete--an objective both Jack and her had never caught onto. Sometimes she wished she could just stick a dart in him and put him to sleep. Some rest to clear his head would do him much good, "If what you said was true, then we cannot waste time getting to Illios." that and the fact that the timing of these two events were just impeccable. That little rascal with Gabriel, she mentioned that their mission was over. Was it really because it had gotten too dangerous? It may very well be so, but if the possibility she feared was the truth... Well... all the more reason for her to head to Illios to check it out. If it isn't, perhaps that will help to calm Jack down.

"Ana... I--good to see you." Winston nodded, consenting to Ana's request. It had been years! Winston couldn't believe she was alive... but what should he say? The sound of an aircraft incoming began to make itself known as a white ship headed to the location of the conference centre, "And you all..." Winston turned to the rest of those present, "Thank you for protecting Angela. What will you all do now?"

"Winston!" Ana raised her voice, "You can't honestly think of suggesting them to accompany us!"

"I agree with Ana." Angela spoke up, her voice filled with discontent, seemingly not only for Winston's implicit suggestion, but also for Ana's appearance, "You mustn't involve ordinary people in this." or her son. If the God Program was active once more, she couldn't imagine how worried sick she would be for her son to be involved just as she was years ago.

"Angela... you were part of the strike force in King's Row during the uprising. Didn't you complete that mission by the skin of your teeth?" Winston started, "I can't imagine what are chances are like right now against a God Program. If they can protect Angela, then they can protect citizens. Illios needs all the heroes it can get right now."

"And the world could always use more heroes." Lena squeaked. Ana and Angela simply looked at them with disapproving mum looks, before accepting. Ana eyed Ailani, whilst Angela eyed her son, both secretly hoping that they would decline coming along. Neither of them wanted their children to enter what could be a battlefield.

"So?" Winston propped up his glasses, "What will you do?" ( Noivian LoneSniper87 FireMaiden DanDanDan Assailant )

 

[Noivian]

Bird did her best not to shy away from the pristine white robot as she touched her faceplate. Despite her lack of feeling on her faceplate, Bird found the gesture comforting, almost like a mother looking after her children. Not that Bird would have a reference for such a thing - she was neither a mother nor a child. "I -" Bird was cut off when Giant girl started speaking, talking about how her bashed-in head was an accident. "I bumped into her and fell over, so really it's my fault," Bird stated, though she somehow doubted the older AI was going to buy that as a legitimate confession. Taking a moment to record Athena's words into a memory bank, Bird fiddled with her fingertips and nodded, looking towards the ground. Somehow, she felt like she was being scolded, despite not having done anything.

Bird perked back up again when she heard Monkey talk again. "I-I'm in," Bird stated with a shaky synthetic voice. She took a moment to ground herself before continuing. "I know I can't do much, but... I want to help! If people and omnics are out there suffering at the hands of God Programs, then I want to help!"

Otakuyaki

 

[LoneSniper87]

"Count me in. After hearing all of this, I don't sitting in a clinic will be much help compared to the lives to be saved out with you guys. Besides, without me, who's ginna look after her?" He joked, punching Angela lightly in the arm. "But in all seriousness, I'm ready for whatever comes up in our endeavors, I can promise you guys that."

(Sorry this is so short)
Otakuyaki

 

[FireMaiden]

Ailani scoffed, "Ordinary people? Really, I know I know it's been years, but you surely know who I am Doctor Zegiler. Faereha would want me to tell you hello by the way," She said, stepping closer to the group. "You'll need me. So I'm coming along. Because if we don't do anything, another omnic crisis could start. It already looks like one could be on The way." The woman then paused. This was going to be an awkward trip though. And should she tell Faereha their mother is alive? That would be a rather tense phonecall. Still..."I also believe I'm in the group that would like an explanation." She paused again, before actually looking at her mother and Jack. "So, if you two are still alive, anyone else we should know about?" She was taking about Gabriel of course. She had been extremely close to him, and some of the other Blackwatch members of course, but none like him. He was like the father she never knew. So, She was a little hopeful that maybe if these two survived, especially Jack, that there was a chance he was alive." Otakuyaki

 

[Assailant]

Shade nodded as he heard the explanation of what was going on. "A god program, eh?" He reflected on everything. "You say it can control technology, huh? That's pretty scary. If this thing was responsible for the Crisis, it's gotta be dealt with. However, I have a question." He waved a hand across his body. "As you can tell, I've got a lot of technology on me. My body is approximately 65% robotic. So can this god program thing take control of me?"

 

[DanDanDan]

Given Athena's weird and almost curt response to his question, Sago was gaining suspicion of the apparently revitalized Overwatch team. His original plan was to work with the group since he had left the torturous lab, and that hadn't changed. Of course, he hadn't taken into consideration the number of darker secrets that the organization was harboring that hadn't been exposed upon its termination. The sheer size of the group here also put him on edge, and knowing they'd have to work together on this was a pain, but Sago knew it was already decided. "I'll go." He said solemnly, stepping forward. It's not like he could do anything else useful with his arm the way it was.

 

[Otakuyaki]

Shade nodded as he heard the explanation of what was going on. "A god program, eh?" He reflected on everything. "You say it can control technology, huh? That's pretty scary. If this thing was responsible for the Crisis, it's gotta be dealt with. However, I have a question." He waved a hand across his body. "As you can tell, I've got a lot of technology on me. My body is approximately 65% robotic. So can this god program thing take control of me?"

"If your robotic body is mechanical and unreliant on any computational or logical processing parts, it should be fine." Athena replied, "Otherwise, if it is merely something cybernetic relying on your brain for usage, then you could only be taken over if you no longer possess function over your body... Being unconscious or comatose would be such examples. In the case of possessing anything computational to aid you however..." Athena continued, "Then you would be in the same boat as her." Athena turned to look at Bird, "And you are in big trouble if you enter within range of a God Program without preparation." turning silent for a moment, Athena's logo blinked in contemplation, before resuming, "If you( Noivian ) will accompany us... then we shall have to come up with a countermeasure."

"Hmm." Winston gruffly nodded. With these numbers, they should be able to investigate whatever's going on in Illios.

"Ryan... this mission is dangerous, you know? I appreciate you coming, and I know you can make your own decisions and take care of yourself, but just don't worry me too much!" Angela sighed, giving Winston some side eye, "Well, at least I have my son to count on to take care of everyone here."

"You won't have to worry about that. I'm here too." Ana stepped forward, her rifle casually slung over her shoulder.

"Glad to know you've been here for the past couple of years without telling us." Angela pouted. It was hard to tell whether she was excited or mad at Ana's return, "And you still use that thing?" the doctor pointed at Ana's biotic rifle, and Ana simply shrugged in response to both of Angela's statements.

"So, if you two are still alive, anyone else we should know about?" She was taking about Gabriel of course. She had been extremely close to him, and some of the other Blackwatch members of course, but none like him. He was like the father she never knew. So, She was a little hopeful that maybe if these two survived, especially Jack, that there was a chance he was alive." Otakuyaki

"So you two?" Serena looked at Ana after hearing Ailani, "But who's that geezer?" she continued, pointing at Jack.

"See? Ailani knows." Ana shrugged again, but Jack didn't reply, seemingly looking away from everyone and refusing to remove his visor, with a sigh, Ana smacked Jack in the back, "Don't ignore them. They deserve to know, Jack."

"J-Jack?" Serena and Lena's mouths dropped to the floor in response, and Jack grumpily groaned.

"Ana, I'm supposed to be dead!"

"You can be dead however you want, but you're not supposed to be edgy." Ana scolded him, "That's Gabriel's job." Ana hesitated to tell Ailani about Gabriel's present identity, but Ailani was her own woman now, and if she didn't find out now, she would find out later, "Ailani... Gabriel was the Reaper. The man you, and we, just fought." hearing Ana explain Gabriel's identity, Angela simply looked into space, disliking where the conversation was leading.

"Wait, that Reaper guy was Gabriel?" Lena exclaimed in shock, "But why would he be--why is everyone we thought... How are you all alive?"

"And you didn't bother to tell any of us?" Serena angrily scoffed between gasps for air. Her eyes were welling up with tears and her nose was growing snotty. She may have tried to remain composed, but there was no stopping these tears now that she'd learnt that everyone she thought was dead was actually just alive and being jerks, "You guys are so cruel!" Serena burst into tears as she pulled Ana and Jack into a crushing hug, who both genuinely looked like they were struggling to breathe.

"Winston. The ship has arrived."

"I can hear it." with a thunderous roar, the hovering ship hovered outside the streets of the conference centre. Unable to land in such a densely urban area, the ship could only hover low enough to allow for its door to descend into climbing reach, "Let's continue the reunion on the ship."

"Winston, save us!" Ana cried out for help between gasps as Serena began walking towards the ship, holding both her and Jack in a crushing hug whilst spilling tears and snot all over them.

"You clearly don't need saving if you've been alive when we thought you died." Winston clapped back, and an "Oooooh, snap!" could be heard in the background accompanied with some head swivels by Lena.

****

"So... I must ask," Athena began as she worked on repairing the dents in Bird's frame on board the ship. The group was already en route to Illios, and quickly approaching, "How did a new omnic like you ever arrive in the heart of a country like that?" despite her neutral tone, her phrasing could only hint at a slight disgruntlement. Angela, Winston, and Lena helped Athena with the parts she needed in the background, while Jack and Serena sat by themselves seemingly asleep. The only one among them that was visibly tense was Ana, and the sniper could only tap her feet, being already fully prepared. She had thought that they wouldn't be so angry at her... she supposed it couldn't be helped that her reunions would be so awkward, but most troubling was Ailani. She didn't want this sort of life for any of her children, but at least Fareeha had the security of her strike force. She couldn't imagine what Ailani had been up to this entire time.

"So, Ailani..." Ana eyed her daughter( FireMaiden ) with her only eye, "They call you a songbird now... that epithet can't be as innocent as it seems." with a motherly, disapproving voice, Ana glanced between Ailani and the rifle she wielded.