Crystalline Universe: Team Fortress 2/ Overwatch

The two fleets are now face-to-face. Both of them are armed and equipped, ready to massacer each other at any given moment.

Zack was a talented tactician, 76 was a brave warrior, both of them has tricks and strategies of their own. The many massive sh.i.p.s shadowed the sky, but no shot or fighters are deployed.

*On the bridge of the « Liberator », the 5th fleet's flagship.

Officer (to 76) - Sir, what should we do?

76 (to the officer) - Nothing, we wait.

Officer - As you wish sir.

76 - Inform me the moment he does something, we will let him take the first move.

*On the bridge of the « Deliverer », McCain's fleet's flagship

McCain (confused) - Captain, why didn't 76 moves at all? Is there some kind of strategy?

Captain of the Deliverer - No sir, I think he's waiting for us to make the move.

McCain (Confidant) - Deploy all the fighters, we will make our move first then!

Captain - What? Sir, they are fully ready to defend, it will too risky to use your strategy!

McCain (furious) - Are you questioning my authority, captain.

Captain - No sir, I didn't mean to question your authority, I, ...,

(to the officers) - launch all fighter and order the cannons to follow command steps.

Officer - All squadrons, prepare to battle, canon batteries, prepare to fire.

The fighters flew out of the carrier like swarms of wasp toward 76's fleet.

The squadrons of fighter formed small groups leaving large gaps between them. The gaps are soon filled with shots from all the fleet's cannons, all going full speed at the 5th fleet's position.

Officer (to 76) - Captain, what should we do?

76 - If I'm right, they are all going for this flagship so please move all other supports and the battlecruiser to the side so that they will have a clear entrance to me.

Officer - What? Are sure sir?

76 - Do it and prepare the artilleries and cannons. Also, activate our shield at full power.

Officer - Right away, sir.

As commanded, all the support cruisers and the main battlecruiser moved to the side, leaving a clear path for the enemy to the mothership.

Captain (to McCain) - Sir, 76 left us an opening, I think it's a trap, we should retire all our ship back.

McCain - No you fool, he's committing a tactical mistake, I know what he wants to do, fire the EMP cannons at their battlecruiser.

Captain - Right, sir.

The enemy fighters, seen the Overwatch battlecruiser deactivated, charged at all full speed toward 76's position.

Officer - Sir, enemies soon into their firing range.

76 - Good now, fire all the cannons into the center of this doughnut.

The officer, now finally understanding 76's strategy, ordered all the cannons to fire upon the enemy sh.i.p.s.

The sh.i.p.s that moved away from their position formed a circle in front of the Liberator. Most of the enemy fighters thinking that they are safe as long as the battlecruiser stayed deactivated soon find themselves into a huge trap. As the battlecruiser was not only fully operational but a rain of cannon shots stormed the center of the circle where all McCain's fighters are.

McCain (surprised) - What? How is their battlecruiser still operational? Did the shots hit it?

Captain (worried) - I don't know, sir, I, ...

McCain (furious) - You what? Fire more EMP shots at their sh.i.p.s!

The shots soon hit the many sh.i.p.s forming the circle but all of them recovered as soon as the shots paralyzed them.

The squads of fighters sent out by McCain soon was reduced to 15. Reaching their final destination, the enemy pilot dropped their payload on 76's ship which did only scratches to the cruiser's paint due to the shielding before being reduced to pieces by the fleet's fighters.

McCain, now panicking on the bridge can only stare as the tide of the battle was turned against him. Almost all of his fighters are destroyed, it's over for him.

The 5th fleet's artilleries and fighters soon started to tear down McCain's fleet. First the support sh.i.p.s, then the battlecruiser and finally the mothership. The captain looked in fear as the ship crumbled in front of his eyes. Looking back, McCain has already escaped as he was too much of a coward to go down with his ship.

The flagship, the Deliverer, finally fell on the ground from the sky, completely obliterated.

*Back inside the Liberator's bridge

Officer - Sir, how did this happen? Why wasn't our sh.i.p.s deactivated from the enemy's EMP shots?

76 - How long have you been here? Because to be honest, today was the first day I've seen you here.

Officer - This is my first day as an officer in the bridge sir. I was moved here after I finished my training.

76 - You did well for a newcomer. Alright, in fact, all of our sh.i.p.s have the latest generator system invented by the Engineer, Dane Conagher and what it does is that EMP shots can deactivate our power but the generators are not affected, so the power will be back just a moment after the paralysis.

Officer - Thank you, sir. I will look forward to improving myself as an officer.

The chaos was over, the pilot returned to the ship as everyone celebrated the shared victory. doctors and rescue crews helped the local population to recover from the damage done during McCain's invasion. The operation moved forward to the many South American countries damaged from the attacks.

*5 days later

*Back at Talon's base

CR-455 (furious) - ...

Executioner - Sir, the report said...

CR-455 (furious) - What about the reports? I know already! Did you capture McCain?

Executioner - Affirmative, sir, we captured McCain after he escaped to Australia.

CR-455 - Humiliating defeat! The news and headlines, they are mocking us! Can't you see? The Sniper wouldn't want this to happen...

Executioner - Sir, what should we do next?

CR-455 - We must humiliate them back! Call War and tell him it's time for him to awaken his brothers, we will need them to teach those confidant little Overwatch punks a lesson...

After informing Bernhardt of Mike's condition, the medic soon came up with a conclusion.

Bernhardt - I see, I see. From this recording on my jet, I see that he's in a state of psychological instability but most importantly, I can only come up with a single explanation of his state.

Dane - What is it, partner?

Bernhardt (certain of his clam) - A severe case of a split personality. From the information you've given me, I can only say that this is not just a simple case of personality disorder, there is more to it.

Kadyn - What is it, mister?

Bernhardt (to Kadyn) - Listen, I'm addressing this to you, you must stay away from him. His case involves a case I've never seen before. He has 3 personalities, the first is McArthur, he's the one we are all seeing right now, an innocent-looking man with no evil intentions as for now, the second is the mad man, a psychotic maniac with a taste for blood and torture, he's the one we should all avoid to provoke and finally the third is Mike himself. I don't know how to get Mike back but I only warn you how to not awaken the mad man.

Kadyn (worried) - Please doctor, you must do something to get him back to himself.

Bernhardt - Listen, I meet with him 3 days ago to test his mentality and there is nothing I can do, for now, I need you to listen! In my professional analyze, this mad man can only be triggered when you try to bring him memories of his past and Kadyn, you are part of his past so stay away from him.

Kadyn, shocked and scared, stayed in her chair, unresponsive. She wasn't ready to handle something like this, her existence was supposedly only to serve and obey and not to feel and decide. She felt rejected by the world because all the ones that she ever knew are gone. She's lost and she knows, no one will give her direction, Ethan and Mike are both gone forever.

Getting up from her seat, Kadyn thanked the two men for their help and proceeded to search her pocket.

Kadyn - Mister Dane, your father wanted you to have this, the plan for the crystal system.

Giving the small memory key to Dane, the engineer stood in place hardly believing what the girl just said. Taking the key, he thanked the young girl.

Dane - Thank you Kadyn, I will always remember your actions, stay on the ship as long as you like and if you need my help, don't hesitate to ask me about it.

Bernhardt - Me too, if you need a hand, I will gladly help.

Kadyn (depressed but thankful) - Thank you, mister Dane and mister Bernhardt, I will also never forget what you've done to help me.

Finishing her sentence, Kadyn left without a word, head down. Disappearing with invisibility, she ran to a remote location where she sat and cried. For her, all hope is lost.

*In the hangar bay

Standing up on a high place of the hangar, McCree and McArthur, just coming back from an escort took a break while talking.

McCree - McArthur, did you those 2 huge pods they loaded on the ship there?

McArthur - Yes, what are they about?

McCree - Apparently, there are men frozen inside them and they seemed to be wearing crusader armour.

McArthur - Like Reinhardt's armour?

McCree - Yeah but we must keep an eye on them, apparently, they all have the Talon logo on their armour plates.

Watching from afar, McArthur observed as the pods were sent on a transport cart. A feeling chilled his bones as if the pods contained something dangerous and... sinister.

Not thinking too much, Mike took his leave after a short chat with McCree. Returning to his chamber, the young man entered with a few bottles of whisky.

*the night

Kadyn looked at the sky, the stars and the moon looked splendid, they shined like sparkles of hope but Kadyn felt nothing more than hopelessness.

Kadyn (to the sky) - If I just had what it take to bring him back, look at you, stars, you lived freely in the sky without any restrain or suffering. Unlike me, you shined like a never-ending flame ready to bring life to all those that extinguished.

Kadyn thought to herself: If Mike is never going back, I shall not go back either, at least, that way we can be forever together. She looked down her feet, it will be a long road to the ground if she jumped. There is no light down there, only darkness reigned. To her, it's an unknown path in the dark if she decides to walk that way. What is suffering, what is despair and what it feels to lose, she now knows what Mike felt during all of his life. That's why when he saw her as a servant, he decided to take her under his wings. She lifted her head and looked to the horizon, the dark thick cloud in the distance caught her attention.

Mike once told her to stay alive and live on without him, she thought again to herself, the dark clouds mean a storm but maybe tomorrow, it will be a sunny day. No one can know what the future brings, every day, every minute, every second, life is like a coin flip, things can turn out for the best as for the worst. She looked once again down her feet, it's still the same obscurity and unknown but in the meantime, she noticed the small piece of crystal on her c.h.e.s.t. Doctor Ethan once said that It will only activate with the power of will and resolve.

To have resolve is deciding live on even if all the odds are against you. Kadyn backed from the cliff, she decided that she will live on, she'll no longer run away, she'll no longer hide or cry. She'll need to stand for herself when no one will. If no one can help Mike, she will, just like when she was still a slave, Mike stood for her.

*Back inside McArthur's room

The young man drank all the bottle. Now, McArthur, drunk and confused started to wave around his chamber. Grabbing another bottle, he started again to drink all of its content.

Slowly using his crystal power to form a piece of sharp metal from his table, he advanced in a zigzag toward the metallic structure.

Outside of his chamber, Kadyn just arrived in front of his door, still thinking about what she should say. Suddenly hearing the sound of a bottle breaking, Kadyn, seeing that the door was unlocked, rushed in to see what's going on.

McArthur was trying to commit suicide, he missed the edge of the metal spike and broke his bottle instead. Not hearing Kadyn entering his chamber, he proceeded to attempt another try by holding the table and aiming the spike once again toward his head.

Kadyn rushed and grabbed McArthur and dragged him to the floor and proceed to hold him in place. Slowly, the man crawled to rest his head on her t.h.i.g.hs and said:

McArthur (not seeing Kadyn clearly and confused) - Mother? Is that you? I'm soo scared and lost, I don't know what I should do, Bernhardt told me that I was an evil mastermind leading an association of criminals. I think I shouldn't live because I'm bad, right? Bernhardt was surely right, I surely murdered a lot of innocents, I shouldn't live.

Kadyn never had a mother or a child, she doesn't what to answer. Taking a deep breath, she decided that whatever happens, she'll try.

Kadyn (pretending to be his mother) - Listen, child, you don't have to feel bad for your past, just forget it. You only need to look for the future, where things can still be done, events can still be changed. Don't be like some people, who, because of their past, destroyed their future.

Kadyn closed her eyes, fearing that he might turn into the mad man but she was ready for the consequences because if it wasn't for her arriving just in time, he would have been dead. The fact that he lived and she managed to save him in time is because of fate, she believes that if he lived today is because one day, he'll come back, he too hasn't given up yet.