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The black earpiece suddenly screeched.
“Wuyang, are you there?” A loud voice echoed through his right ear. “How’s the situation?”
“It’s pretty calm, I don’t see any…”
“Good, go for the position on the flank.”
“Got it.” he quickly tapped the earpiece and sprinted into an empty passage.
It was eerily calm, like a storm forming just around the corner, only his footsteps echoing in the street alley. The wind picked up, scattering lone thrash all over the place. He tried to keep his mind clear and steady, remembering all the advice he was given before the mission.
“Do not act hastily, wait for the orders and be safe.” He remembered Anran's words just before they split up. At that time he could only give her a reassuring smile. It was a rare sight for her to get so serious. She wasn’t too keen when they were informed that they would be separated, truthfully, he wasn’t either. But it was kinda funny how she was the one reminding him to stay vigilant, when it was usually her who jumped head on into a fight, not a single care in the world. But maybe that’s because she knew that he would always be right behind her.
He turned into another corner examining his surroundings. The sky already took a shade of ash, dark clouds billowing above. When he arrived at the arranged position, there still wasn’t anyone in his sight. His guts were telling him that something wrong was already happening. This dreadful tension made his hair stand on end, attentively listening to any noise. Even the birds knew better and flew away a long time ago. Earlier that week, they got a tip that Vendetta was planning something near Rialto. The city wasn’t particularly inviting at the moment, plenty wanted notices with their faces on them, were plastered all over the city center. They arrived on the outskirts of Venice with a simple plan. At least that’s what he heard. Only a few people knew what their objective was and Wuyang wasn’t one of them. He got assigned on a lookout with a few others. His job was to observe and report.
Suddenly a loud explosion broke the silence. Wuyang stared in horror as the swirling smoke rose in the air.
“Captain!? I see smoke close to my position!” he quickly reported, only to receive a screeching noise from his earbud. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and took off in that direction.
Who should be in that area? Anran? Tracer? Or was it Brigitte? He couldn’t remember for the love of it, scolding himself in his mind. From the distance he could already hear the gunshots and heavy clang of metal. Null Sector? What could they possibly be doing here? The last time he checked, the Omnic attacks ceased after Talon got active. Memories of their past invasion in Chengdu suddenly flooded his mind. He knew well enough how tough these guys were, but also how to deal with them.
After getting close enough he peeked from behind a wall, brows furrowed in anticipation. A group of roughly twenty or thirty Omnics were marching towards the closest open space. There were a few big ones, armed with heavy machinery, the sound of their steps echoing through the city. He tapped his earpiece once more, but no new information surfaced. He really was hoping it was just some technical problem and his fellow teammates were safe and sound. He quickly changed his location, trying his best to stay in the shadows, following them deeper into the area. He was getting closer to the now dying smoke by any minute. While running through another passage he suddenly heard a loud crash. He sprinted forward, arriving just in time to see a disaster unfolding right before his eyes.
Juno was tumbling high in the air dodging bullets coming from the bots. However, Wuyang quickly noticed that there was something wrong with her movement. Her body was flailing around without a balance, her gestures hectic and frantic. It was her boots. He could see the electricity sparkling around from one of them, while the other one tried to keep her at bay. She just dodged one of the bullets, her jagged space boot sending her straight into a wall of the nearest building. The water automatically appeared under Wuyang's sneakers, sending him straight to her position.
“Hold on!” he shouted, trying to get to her as fast as he could.
He caught her mid air, while ducking from incoming bullets. They had to get out of here, now.
“Are you alright?!” he couldn't see her face, her body hanging over his shoulder. “Juno!?”
She made an incoherent sound, putting his mind at ease for now. Wuyang rushed to another street alley trying to shelter them from the ongoing battle. Shards of the building were flying over his head, the roaring sounds of weapons not getting any quieter even with the distance he was making. A wall in front of them exploded, leaving his sight blurry and his mouth full of dust and dirt. He coughed viciously, trying to shield his eyes from the incoming ashes. He heard Juno trying to say something, but in the midst of a battle zone he couldn’t make any sense of it. Instead he heard her blaster, shooting something behind his back.
“You okay back there?!” he shouted. She patted him on the back in return.
He felt his body reacting faster than his brain, leaping over holes made by Omnics, dodging falling bricks and parts of roofs, his adrenaline taking over. He made a sharp turn behind the corner, speeding ahead. There it was. A metal door, slightly ajar, almost like inviting them in. He rushed over there, silently praying in his head that the bots weren’t too close. He ducked inside, Juno still over his shoulder. He put her down, then threw his own body to close the door.
For a few seconds the only audible sounds were their rigged breaths. Wuyang felt a cold streak of sweat sliding from his forehead down to his jaw. Metallic noises seemed to fade in the background, finally leaving them alone. He breathed deeply, trying to calm his hammering heart. The room they found themselves in was small and dark, with only single rays of light breaking through the cracks in the walls.
Wuyang shifted his attention to Juno. She was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, while holding her side.
“Are you hurt?” He cut the distance between them, inspecting her.
“No, no, I am unharmed,” she wheezed, urgently typing something on the tiny monitor attached to her arm. The right side of her helmet had a little crack on it and one of her space boots was still making weird, electrical noises.
“You don’t look so good,” he said, his brows furrowed in a worried manner. “What happened back there?”
“I… I am not sure. The earbuds stopped working, so I tried to repair them, but then these Omnics…” she started to jabble, clearly overwhelmed. “Breathe, breathe…”
“Come on, sit down first.”
He helped her down, still looking for any noticeable injuries. Her spacesuit, excluding the helmet, was still intact, no visible scratches or tears.
“I am experiencing a bit of a headache, but I will be fine.” She smiled at him sheepishly. He scrunched his nose as he remembered her earlier crash with the wall. She was still furiously typing on her tablet but with no avail. She finally sighed and looked at her space boot, eyes already watering with tears.
“They surprised me,” she started slowly, voice full of shame. “I was busy with the earpiece, I did not see them coming.”
She put her knees to her chin, looking defeated. He sighed quietly and sat beside her, so their shoulders would touch. The silence stretched for a while, dust particles swirling around them in the air. Wuyang was in a pickle. He never thought of himself as a good cheering type. He stole a quick glance at his friend. Her eyes half lidded, full of sadness, a single streak of tears already drying up.
“Hey…” He took one of her hands into his. “Don’t beat yourself up too much, okay? Things like that happen and… I’m sure we can repair your space boots in no time.”
She looked at him through her lashes.
“And I think it was pretty cool what you did out there,” he continued. “you know, even with your shoes damaged, you still managed to get under their skin.”
“I think you mean under their armor.” She finally smiled after a quick pause.
“I think you’re right.” he squeezed her hand.
She thought about his words for a while, then nodded.
“You are right. I cannot feel down, especially not right now,” she almost whispered the last part. Then her head suddenly perked up.”Oh moons! I completely forgot to thank you for the rescue!”
“Oh-h, no it’s nothing really!” He put his free hand up. “After all, we are a team, right?”
Her eyes sparkled after hearing that.
“We are.” She nodded eagerly.
All of a sudden her tiny monitor lit up, filling the room with bright, blue light. She furrowed her brows looking at all the data that popped up.
“That is… unsettling,” she murmured after a while.
“What is?” He bent over to take a look. Unfortunately, the tiny screen was full of random numbers, which didn’t really make any sense to him. “Uhh…”
“Well this is…” she tried to pinpoint something using her right hand, which was still resting inside Wuyang's warm palm. Their eyes met just for a second before they both broke apart.
“Right, sorry, please continue.” He cleared his throat and leaned in once again.
“Look, it is that line.” She lowered her gaze, biting the inside of her cheek. “It does not make sense. It is all… messed up.”
“How so?”
“Well, look. This line connects us to the rest of the team, but now it is almost incoherent. It almost looks like someone hacked into our web.”
He nodded, thinking back to his previous problems with connection.
“Do you think they are in trouble?” she asked.
He lowered his eyes, thinking. It’s true that he hasn’t seen anyone except Juno since the mission began. The last time he spoke with Captain Sojourn was before he changed his location, right before that explosion.
“I don’t know…” he said softly after a while. “But don't worry! These guys are very tough, I’m sure they are doin’ just fine.”
She smiled confidently and minimized the blue screen.
“Well, I think we should try to regroup,” she stated. “I know it is going to be hard, not knowing the positions of our friends but…” she sent this pitiful look at her damaged boot.
“Yeah, you’re right. Can you walk?”
She got up to her feet and attempted to move her right foot, then did a few, little jumps in place. Satisfied with the outcome she showed him a thumb up.
“That’s great.” He took his staff and gripped it a bit harder. “Ready to go?”
“I am prepared to cause trouble!” she giggled, her enthusiasm back for good.
“Attagirl!”
Wuyang slowly pushed the metal door and looked around.
“All clear.” He stepped forward, still cautious of his surroundings. Juno walked right behind him, her blaster ready to shoot.
“The last time I checked, Omnics were heading this way.” She pointed to a nearby street. “Should we follow them?”
Wuyang bit his lower lip. Rest of the Overwatch agents surely noticed all the mess made by the bots, he wouldn’t be surprised if they already taken care of them. On the other hand, if the problem with their connection was somehow connected to all of this, it would be pretty dangerous following them in this condition. He rubbed his temples and looked back at Juno.
“I think we should go after them.”
“Good idea.”
They set off in the chosen direction looking out for any danger. The familiar tension he felt before, came back, twice as harsh. Wuyang suppressed a sudden shiver of anticipation. Their surroundings were quiet, only interrupted by the clanking of Juno’s defective boot.
“They are pretty loud, you know.”
“Well, it is not like I can just take them off right now.”
“Of course not.” He sent her a cheeky smile over the shoulder, Juno rewarding him with a faint blush.
As they were emerging from another corridor, Wuyang spotted a group of Omnics. He stopped in his tracks and crouched down.
“There’s fewer of them now.”
“Mm, I am also not seeing any ships.”
She was right. Whatever purpose they might have, they had to arrive and depart from here somehow. This whole situation seemed so weird. There weren’t any citizens in the city, no residential omnics to kidnap, so what was their goal here? The lack of other Overwatch agents also made his mind buzz.
“Should we retreat?” Juno’s whisper brought him back to Earth.
Unfortunately before he could answer her, a loud alarm started blasting above them. Wuyang flinched looking behind. Two more war machines were marching straight toward them, their red eyes stuck on their backs. They were the large ones, gears in their weapons already starting to move.
“It’s a trap.” The realization hit him like a truck. “Follow me!”
He sprinted forward. This gut wrenching feeling was eating him alive. He had no plan, he didn’t listen to Anran and now he dragged Juno into this sticky situation. It was a complete failure. He felt like a complete failure.
“Wuyang! I have thought of something!” he looked back, the girl already scanning their surroundings. “Can you lure them in one place? Preferably under that building!”
She pointed at the old property with a large roof hovering above the entrance.
“On it!”
He turned left, at the same time creating a small water sphere.
“Hey there big guy!” He shouted and pointed his fingers towards one of them. Water splashed him right in the visor, successfully grabbing his attention. Both Omnics turned into his direction. He sent them a cocky smile and rushed towards the remaining bots. The letter ones didn’t need much encouragement, setting off after him immediately. The old building was right in front of him, but there was still no sight of Juno. His opponents started closing on him.
“So… You sure you don’t want to talk this out?” He laughed nervously, taking a step back.
“Get out!” he finally heard her voice.
He created a water stream beneath his feet and jumped above their heads; then he launched a huge wave, pushing them towards the building wall. They tripped while trying to maintain their balance, while Juno got into her position. She jumped up, aiming her torpedoes right above their heads.
A loud rumble followed the two torpedoes hitting their target, dust flying into the air. The brick roof was now laying, destroyed, metal remains scattered all over the place.
“Is it over?” Juno joined his side.
“I think so…” He poked a robotic arm with his staff. “Nice job, out there.”
“Thank you, you were not bad either.” Now it was her time to make him smile. “Shall we continue?”
He nodded and they resumed their march. The rest of their walk was much calmer, as they chatted along the way. They didn’t come across any more bots, nor citizens. Unfortunately the situation with their communicators remained unchanged. After some time, they paused to come up with a new plan.
“Wuyang!” he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
“Anran!” he perked up, unable to contain the big smile that appeared on his face.
His sister ran to his side with that dangerous look on her face.
“Uh-oh.”
“Do you know how worried I was?!” She got closer with a frown. “Our parents would kill me, if anything happened to you! I went to check on your position and you weren’t there! And then, that huge explosion-”
“I know, I know, but look, I’m alright!” He put both of his hands up.
“Oh don’t try to…”
“It was my fault!” Juno suddenly interrupted. The girl was staring at both siblings with those big eyes, brows furrowed. “I… I got in trouble, but thankfully Wuyang was there to help me so…”
Anran’s face slowly softened. She noticed the crack in her helmet, dirt on her spacesuit and overall tiredness on her face. She stepped towards the girl and put her hand on her shoulder.
“Well then… I’m glad my brother was there to help.” A big smile formed on her face.
“Yes.”
“Juno!” All three of them looked in the direction that the voice came from. “There you are, I was- Oh! Honey, your helmet…”
Mei, accompanied by Sojourn and Mercy, joined their conversation.
“Oh” she instinctively touched the crack near her right cheek. “It is just a scratch.”
Sojourn scanned the pair with her trained eyes and smiled relieved.
“It’s good to see you both in one piece. Get back to the ship and take some rest. We will be departing soon.”
They set off, their conversation full of questions and excitement.
“No Vendetta in sight…” Mercy said quietly after only the two of them remained.
“Maybe that’s better,” Sojourn once again glanced at the horizon. “We did our part, let’s see how the rest will turn out.” A mysterious smile appeared on her face.