Always Was The Better Shot

Chapter 6

The Western Sunrise had been developed by Volskaya Industries in response to the Omnic Crisis. During the worst part of the crisis, before the involvement of Overwatch, the Omnics overwhelmed human forces vastly, resulting in many decisive victories that greatly weakened humankind. Fearing the extinction of humanity, multiple technology and defense companies frantically poured millions of dollars into research and development, trying to find or develop something that would effectively defend humankind against the Omnic uprising and turn the tides of the war.

That was when Volskaya Industries introduced The Western Sunrise, a prototype EMP bomb with the power to disable Omnics by the thousands, all within a hundred-mile radius. The bomb, after being activated, would glow to a brightness close to the sun, before releasing a massive energy surge that would fry any Omnic within a large area, and would cause a chain reaction of shortages to anything electric, mainly Omnics, within that area. It seemed like the perfect solution, a source of salvation for everyone, and a way for the tables to be turned.

Then Overwatch got involved and banned the use of the weapon. They ruled that while The Western Sunrise was not directly harmful to humans, the energy wave emitted by it could hit metropolitan areas nearby war zones, resulting in a power outage that would impact hospitals, essential services, suburban areas, and so on. The risk of society collapsing and anarchy ensuing, as a result, was too high, so The Western Sunrise project was scrapped, and after many years of legal battles trying to justify the weapon's use, the prototype was sent to a decommissioning facility where it would be safely dismantled. At least, that was the plan.

"So you guys stole an extremely illegal weapon, banned by Overwatch, from a Volskaya Industries transport, so you could sell it to the highest bidder?" Cassidy asked incredulously.

"Well yeah," Ashe replied, standing with her arms folded, "It's kinda what we do."

"Unbelievable," Cassidy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Did you know it was onboard the transport?"

"Of course not McCree, we didn't even know what it was. You know how tight Volskaya's cybersecurity is," Ashe huffed, "We found out about the convoy and couldn't turn down the opportunity to grab a score like that, especially since Volskaya is such a powerhouse in industry."

"Let me guess, it was big and shiny, so you had to take it," Cassidy asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yep, pretty much."

Cassidy took a cigar case out of his pocket, browsing the contents before selecting one. "Heaven above." He sighed again, taking out a lighter and igniting the end of the cigar he put in his mouth.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn't gonna sell it," Ashe said, grimacing at the scent of cigar smoke, "I deal with black market weapons that make me rich and my buyers powerful. Not doomsday devices or weapons of mass destruction."

"So you were just gonna let it lay around in the garage, collecting dust then?

"I was gonna gut it and sell the parts. There's plenty of expensive stuff in the EMP, stuff that'll go for way more on the black market" Ashe replied, rolling her eyes at Gianna. Gianna just shrugged at her, unsure where she stood in the conversation. "The problem here is that a rival gang came in and stole from me. That's unacceptable, and we've gotta make them pay. Before we do that though, we have to steal The Western Sunrise back from them," Ashe said, looking at Gianna, who was kicking pebbles across the road. "How many Diamondbacks did Zach and Alex say there were?"

"They said twelve, maybe more, boss."

"Well, that means there were no more than eight, since that's how many people it'd take to move something of that size," Ashe contemplated, looking back at Cassidy. "The Diamondbacks are much bigger than Marco let on, bigger than we can handle without leaving ourselves exposed."

She started walking down the road towards a pair of giant blast doors nestled into the side of a rock wall. "Get everyone together Gianna, we need to talk about this!" Gianna nodded and headed back inside the tavern. Cassidy could hear her screaming over the din of the patrons inside as he followed after Ashe.

"Where are you goin'?" Cassidy asked, walking beside her. The road they were walking on was dark, light only by the moon and the light that came out of the windows of various buildings alongside their path.

"To see B.O.B., I finished rebuilding him this morning," Ashe answered, shooting him a dirty look. "Took a while on account of the damage you did to him a few months ago." They reached the blast doors, which opened noisily after Ashe punched in a code on the side panel.

"It looks like you're in way over your head Ashe, you're going to need some help to get that bomb back."

"I ain't askin' for no help! My crew and I can handle it, it don't matter what you think!"

"I know you and your crew are the best out here, I ain't disrespecting that. But, I don't think you understand who you're dealing with. You're gonna need help, and I'll be givin' it."

"You?!" Ashe spun around, laughing in disbelief, "You think I'd ask you for your help? Besides, what's in it for you? You know we ain't makin' money off this heist." She turned back towards the interior of her base. "Forget it, McCree, I can do this without you."

Cassidy caught her arm and turned her around, grabbing her shoulders and holding her in front of him.

"Get your hands off me, you son of a-!"

"Listen, Marco's lookin' to make the Diamondbacks the richest and most dangerous gang in the South again. That means whoever he's selling The Western Sunrise to has to be both very rich and very powerful," Cassidy met her eyes, holding her gaze as realization dawned in them. "And there is only one group who would want The Western Sunrise and have enough money to pay for it. Talon."

"Damn it," Ashe hissed. She twisted out of his grip and marched inside the base, Cassidy following after her. She approached a door to the right, which slid open as she approached it, and walked through. As Cassidy entered after her, he was able to see a large metal figure standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by tools and gadgets.

"Howdy B.O.B.. No hard feelings, right?" B.O.B. shook his head, before looking down at Ashe, who rolled her eyes at both of them, muttering "idiots" under her breath. Despite that though, her expression softened at the sight of two muscle-heads, metal muscle in B.O.B.'s case, letting bygones be bygones.

"We're in a real big mess B.O.B., and I need your help," Ashe said to him, looking up at his metal mustached face. "Are you gonna be up to it?" The Omnic butler turned bodyguard/gang member nodded again, giving her a big metal thumbs up. He looked pretty good for having been blown up; Ashe had done a good job rebuilding him. No signs of damage from the explosion were shown on his metal body, and he looked the same as he always did. B.O.B. looked between Cassidy and Ashe, before blinking at her. "He's here because he thinks he can help with the problem, acting like a fool because he's dealt with them in the past."

"I'm telling you, Ashe, you're gonna need me on this job. It ain't widely known, but I was part of Blackwatch, Overwatch's covert ops division," Cassidy explained, stubbing out his cigar with his bionic arm. "Blackwatch became Talon, so I know their playbook, strategy, tactics, everything. You ain't gonna pull this off without me."

"What's in it for you? I already told you that I'm not gonna pay you," Ashe said, turning around to face him, annoyance written all over her face.

"Even if you were, you could keep the money. Knowing Talon, they want The Western Sunrise to cause something huge. Something that can start a war or conflict, to 'strengthen humanity'. All I want to do is to prevent that."

Ashe scowled, turning away from him and looking back at B.O.B., who blinked at her. After a few moments of silence, she turned back to Cassidy, the annoyance replaced by resignation. "Alright, you're in. You help me and the crew get the bomb back, and after that, we go our separate ways. On one condition: we do things my way."

"You're the boss," Cassidy replied, giving her a wink.