- Doomsday - Volume One: Gods and Monsters

Chapter 92: Renegotiation

(AN: Debating whether or not to get the new Overwatch: Declassified book, but it's like thirty pounds... Sacrifices may have to be made for the greater good of the story, but I feel like we're already past most of the origins of Overwatch and the Omnic Crisis anyway, so probably just going to just keep making it up as I go along instead.)

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[Overwatch Headquarters, Switzerland]

"I want a status report on the mutates' position, constant surveillance. They don't move an inch without me knowing about it!" Morrison commanded, a few men and women standing at attention hastily raced away, keen to enact the Strike Commander's orders. Before him was a large table, a holographic display of the entire state highlighted before him, with markers placed around the map of recovered photos and video footage of their targets. Wherever they went they left behind a trail of death and destruction, and a strong radioactive footprint, with reports already coming in that wildlife had been found dead, birds falling from the sky, and so on. Water supplies, rivers and streams were deemed heavily contaminated, too dangerous for human consumption and local agriculture had already begun to wither away, whole acres of produce gone in only under a few days.

Facing him upon the table were two translucent figures, one was Ana Amari, who had been put in charge of the vanguard, close to the monsters' last known location, and ready to act at a moment's notice. The other was Petras who wore an annoyed scowl. It was clear from his expression that this whole situation had quickly gotten out of hand, and the pressure placed upon him was soon growing too great to bear any further. It wasn't necessarily his own fault for the lack of action either, he had been advised by the Meta-Human Department to take a back-seat, that there would be no reason for Overwatch to intervene. Clearly, that was not the case.

"Jack, I'd hoped we would have met up for lunch like we said, not chasing down another groups of mutates." Dr. Mina Liao walked up towards him, handing him two files, CLASSIFIED had been stamped atop the bundle of papers in red, bold font. "Here's our current findings on the targets..." Jack began flipping through the stack, tens of pages had been written out already with detailed amounts of information. Intricate analysis of corpses and skeletal remains, as well as the geological impact both had had on the rural ecosystem. "Codenamed Chemo and Parasite, huh? Colourful names Mina."

"They needed a name, and their codenames match their physical appearances and abilities. I think they are just fine for now." Another woman walked alongside the scientist, Vivian Chase, who appeared in no mood for 'colourful names', "Angela and Winston have been studying the mutates' behaviour, they appear to have some form of absorption powers, and a strong one at that. From my many years of study, I've never quite seen anything like it, whoever's behind this certainly knows their science, maybe even more than me..."

Mina brought her hand above the table, the hologram meeting her as it began shifting between low-quality videos from across the state, "Regular ammunition seems to have had no effect, explosives too, though it's been hard getting close enough to properly test their durability." She then turned towards another diagram, displaying the size of the two monsters over the last week, "Worryingly, they seem to be growing larger as well, and with their growth they appear to be more destructive, the more they consume. In theory, the longer they are left to roam free, the harder it will be to bring them down. If we want to end this before it gets too late, then it'll have to be soon..."

"Can confirm." Amari responded, "I won't be sending any more soldiers to die for nothing, every division I've sent hasn't come back, and we haven't received any communication from the combat zone, just static." In the background of Ana's speaker, the voice of a loud German crusader could be heard yelling, "TELL THE COMMANDER TO LET ME AT THEM! I'LL HAVE IT DONE BEFORE DINNER!" Morrison sighed, the whole situation deeply exasperating. They fought an enemy who couldn't be harmed, and got stronger from every encounter, and ironically it hadn't been the first time. It wasn't a usual foe, but he couldn't give in, that just wasn't the way he operated. Saving as many lives as possible despite the risks was his mission, and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.