Overwatch - Deception (Sombra x Reader)

Chapter Forty Two - The Battle for Manhattan

In all your years of retirement in Miami, you had almost managed to forget what a city under siege looked like. The chaos, the confusion, somehow you had almost torn it from your memory. But this scene in New York brought it all back. The distant screams, the constant gunshots, all of it.

The truth was that while a vast overarching war was taking place, a thousand small skirmishes were happening as well, all at the same time. A mother desperately trying to keep her children hidden from invading forces. A small bastion of police officers fighting the omnics with their backs against the wall. A ten-year-old standing lost among debris, calling out for his parents. So many stories, so many defeats. Because for any war to be won, a thousand small battles needed to be fought. Talon was so close to victory now.

As you strolled through the abandoned and burning streets of New York, you saw how close to the brink the city was. Soon, the US government would be forced to pay Maximilien's ransom, but what then? That was the final mystery in your mind, what was Maximilien's goal with this slaughter? You supposed you would find out when you reached him.

You hugged the wall of a building, cautiously scanning every approach. One could not be too careful in an omnic occupied city. You were injured enough as it was without taking a hit before you reached Maximilien, hopefully you could avoid a fight until then. As swiftly as your legs would carry you, you ran through alleyways, taking shortcuts where possible and gradually getting closer to the Empire State Building. But anonymity was inevitably temporary, you would have to fight soon enough.

As it happened, the moment you reached Bryant Park, a bullet whizzed past your head. You swiftly turned to see a bastion unit standing there, weapon raised. It was alone, no doubt separated from its patrol group, and yet something gave you pause. Despite its attack, despite its red eye, something stopped you from firing.

The omnic didn't look like it wanted to kill you, in fact it looked as if it was fighting itself, whirring and convulsing violently. You took a tentative step forwards, and the omnic did not shoot. And with a deep breath, you continued running towards your destination, suffering no further attacks from the bastion.

For a moment, you considered the possibility that perhaps the omnics did not want to fight this war either and were merely forced into it by Maximilien. But then you shook your head, annoyed at your own mercy. You could not afford to be so naïve the next time you were attacked, because right now, the fate of so many people lay in your hands. A bloody burden.

By some miracle, you managed to reach the foot of the Empire State building undetected. You stood just one street away, staring at the tower's entrance with a grimace. The street was filled with bastion units, a hundred and fifty if you had to guess. Some stood idle, while others sat in turret configuration at the doorway, scanning all directions. There wasn't a chance in hell that you were getting to the front door alive, let alone undetected.

"Damn it...shit...not when I'm this close..." you muttered in frustration.

Maximilien was in that building, you just knew it. He was just out of reach. You knew that omnic well, if there were any side entrances, he'd have those covered as well. Brute force was the only way you were breaking through, and as luck would have it, another shared that sentiment.

While you stood silently in the shadow of an alleyway, trying to come up with a plan, a bullet suddenly whizzed through the air, piercing one of the bastion's heads and killing it dead. All of the omnics turned in surprise as more bullets were fired. You watched as the last defenders of New York, the remnants of the police force, stood as one and shot forwards at the omnic force. With the precincts combined, they looked like a small army, all armed with their pistols. They could not defeat the omnics, but they could distract them, and after a few seconds the bastions subconsciously began to move away from the tower entrance.