Overwatch: Behemoth

Introduction

In order to understand the true nature of the Overwatch organization, we need to go back in time before the catastrophic Omnic Crisis.

A company known as "Omnica" began its life as a scrappy start-up business creating advanced robotics and tools, before becoming the massive manufacturer responsible for the worlds near extinction. Initially, Omnica pioneered self-improving and automation algorithms in their robots, promising to bring about an economic golden age. In order to meet the increasing demands for its robots, Omnica began to establish other manufacturing facilities all over the world called "Omniums" to expedite their production. They researched A.I and cybernetics which alleviated poverty on a global scale. Anticipating a possible robotic uprising as depicted in many sources of science fiction, Omnica implemented failsafes into their A.I and robotic development to make such a rebellion impossible. Eventually Omnica hit a wall in their development and hired Dr. Mina Liao to further improve on a project many thought couldn't be improved. Much to their surprise, Liao was successful in further developing adaptive A.I thus creating the first fully sentient omnic - Aurora. This caused divides within the Omnica corporation, and the United Nations sanctioned limits on further A.I development. Aurora's creation painted Omnica in a bad light, and their manufacturing facilities began to mysteriously malfunction. An investigation was conducted and evidence uncovered proof of corporate fraud which resulted in the dissolution of Omnica and the dismantling of their respective Omniums. After Omnica's shutdown, other rival companies stepped in to fill the void and continued to develop omnic technology.

Some years after the official shutdown of Omnica, the Omniums mysteriously reactivated to launch a violent military campaign against humanity in a worldwide conflict that would come to be known as the Omnic Crisis. The cause of this mysterious uprising was unknown even to former Omnica employees, as precautions were taken to prevent this eventuality. It was discovered that a rogue A.I "god program" was responsible for orchestrating the Omnic Crisis as the "puppeteer" of the omnics, filtering information and spitting it out to help adapt against human resistance. This god program was named Anubis. This discovery however was only revealed during the first year of the war effort. As most are well aware, the bulk of the omnic armada was composed of Bastion Siege units and OR14's to storm the front lines. They were even able to hijack pre-existing technologies such as the city tall Titan walker and converted them into weapons of war. The nations of the world sent their armed forces against the omnics and utilized their own technologies to combat the threat. For the most part each country fought independently, but no one country could permanently shut down a single Omnium. The adaptability of the robots, once celebrated by humanity, was now a tactical nightmare. Omnic counterattacks were particularly vicious near Omniums as they could resupply numbers faster whilst also introducing new variables to the battlefield. It's worth noting that there were no demands from the omnics, no ideological reason for their aggression towards humanity. They simply attacked and no one could understand why. No country was able to secure its own territory, and robots soon took over the world. Russia was an exception in that it was able to defeat the omnics by itself. The German military did achieve a victory of it's own at Eichenwalde but it was at the cost of all the Crusaders present during the battle, including Balderich von Alder, the leader of the Crusaders. It was an increasingly futile effort that humanity could not completely overcome, but some soldiers and strategists showed remarkable ingenuity during the crisis. The United Nations covertly brought some of these unique minds together to form a nimble strike team aimed at striking blows against omnic strongholds. This taskforce was to be known as Overwatch. This was an international unit that would wage asymmetrical warfare against the omnics.

Balderich was to be a prominent member of this organization, but after the battle of Eichenwalde the only Crusader left to take his place was Reinhardt Wilhelm.

In highly secretive missions, Overwatch targeted the omnics' command and control protocols. After great sacrifice and heroism in a series of dangerous raids, they had successfuly destroyed it all. Taking out the force behind the uprising rendered omnic armies inert and the Omnic Crisis had finally come to an end.

Anubis and other rogue god programs were quarantined by Overwatch for some time, but the public called for Overwatch's dissolvement. When they finally got their wish, containment was handed off to another organization who subsequently made way for Anubis to break free. The organization, known as Helix Security International, attempted to recontain Anubis but the program had complete control of the facility. In an ultimately successful effort, Anubis was incapacitated by a strike team but at the cost of important lives.

Humanity struck peace with the surviving omnics and peace accords were signed. The bastion siege combat units were rounded up and destroyed, save but one self aware remnant. OR14's were repurposed into softer looking OR15's which would act as security in omnic friendly cities like Numbani.

The human death toll was in the tens of millions, leaving around 30 million children orphaned. Numerous groups, including mercenary organizations, poised to profit from the wars aftermath. One such radicalistic group came to be known as Talon.

As much as an entire generation after the crisis, human and omnic tensions still remained as a result of the conflict. Australia was one such example, as the country's omnics were given land that led to the creation of the Australian Liberation Front. This sparked civil unrest which eventually led to the destruction of its Omnium. To the ALF and their decendants, the Omnic Crisis had never ended. The people of Mexico refer to the conflict as "la Medianoche" and the city of Dorado holds a regular celebration that commemorates the end of the conflict.

Seven years before the present day and over a decade since the Omnic Crisis, omnic spiritual figure Tekhartha Mondatta attended a groundbreaking ceremony with the mayor to bring humans and omnics together. It was there that they and many others were captured by an omnic terrorist group called Null Sector. This collection of disheartened omnics were led under the direction of an Omnic Crisis R-7000, Rammatra, who initially wished for co-existence with humanity. Despite numerous attempts for peaceful relations, omnics were abused and destroyed in hate crimes around the world and Rammatra eventually concluded that co-existence was impossible. He along with a few of his omnic companions found their way to an Omnium created by Anubis during the Omnic Crisis. Rammatra began to activate assembly lines to produce a mass horde of war robots for Null Sector. Despite his allies disagreements and protests, Rammatra assured them that unlike omnics, these robots were outdated and expendable.

After stirring civil unrest in London, Null Sector launched an assault that came to be historically known as the King's Row Uprising. Nearly a month long effort ensued but the UK prime minister forbode Overwatch from interfering. Blackwatch operative Jesse McCree, who was there secretly under the direction of Gabriel Reyes, reported the grim situation to Jack Morrison. Thousands needed medical aid and others required safety from the war torn streets. After much deliberation, Morrison authorized an illegal Overwatch mission to end the crisis once and for all. Four Overwatch Agents touched down in King's Row London, and fought their way through the hordes of Null Sector robots that came at them. They effectively halted the Null Sector invasion and saved Mondatta from capture.

Currently, tensions between human and omnic have never been higher, particularly after the assassination of Tekhartha Mondatta. Tensions are highest in Kings Row London the focal point of the initial uprising, but Russia is undergoing a second crisis.