The Overwatch

DATE: July/ 5/ 2034…

TIME: 4:35am…

LOCATION: Nova Prospekt/Cell Block Delta 2/ Cell Block Delta 2 hallways...

P.O.V: Cpl. Daniel Joseph McAllister/ Ex-Combine Overwatch…

The hallways were barely lit due to the power being out. The blue tint of the Combine steel shines brighter with the help of the red flood lights. What wasn’t illuminated by the lights, was shown by the fires that flamed out of pipes from the walls. Chernykh was on point I followed up behind him with Rainbow Dash behind me, then Thunderlane, then John and finally David who covered our rear. The building around us creaked and moaned as if ghosts had filled the air vents and were calling to us. Gun fire echoed off in the distance as battles raged that we could not control.

The darkness watched us with eager eyes forever staring, waiting for us to join them in the shadows. The hallway itself seemed alive as if we were above a two mile drop, underneath the tiles that we walked on. Every rumble, every explosion, every hiss of steam, made my hair stand on edge. I had put my vest and other gear on for self security, but I couldn’t wear my BDU for it was ripped beyond repair. I felt powerless, I could barely see, I had hardly any memory of my past, and I had to protect two innocent creatures with zero weapons of my own. Though we marched on despite the odds of us dying at any point.

We reached the end of the hallway, before we could continue, Chernykh shot up his left hand in a 90 degree angle signaling a halt. I stopped dead in my tracks, as I feared what he sensed. He quickly turned his head down to his right and looked past the safety of the wall. He turned back and stuck up his fingers, indicating four hostiles.

This was it, our first encounter with hostiles, my heart had slowed down to nearly half its rate as I began to shake out of fear. I wasn’t ready yet, I didn’t have a gun, or a knife, and I didn’t know how to use my hands in a fight with a gunman. But, here I stand, back literally against the wall, no defence, and no clue on what to do. I know I was a soldier before, but now that I wasn’t a soldier in the eyes of the overwatch, the knowledge of being one went away along with the memory locks.

Chernykh Motioned his hand to crouch and I did so as fast as I could. Everyone behind me did the same because I heard there breathing and rusling increase slightly, as did mine.

“Sector Delta 2 Reinforcement Squad Beta 1-1 , check in.” I heard loudly over the sound of the darkness. It was the soldiers around the corner that Chernykh saw.

“Team one reporting in, no sign of Anti-overwatch Breach, beginning patrol protocol 2, stand by for wrap up, over.” One of the soldiers responded without a stutter in his words.

“Copy that team one, checking in with teams two and three of your Squad, rendezvous with team two once sweep is complete at Block Delta 3 entrance, you're free to roam, over.” The radio came back.

“Copy that Overwatch Command. Moving out.” As if on an instant, the soldiers boots began to echo down the hall towards us as the only light that was shining in that hallway, was behind them and it cast their shadows. I watched as they grew closer to us. They closed in, to the point where, I could make out their weapons, Two AR2’s an SMG and SPAS-12. A standard issue fireteam, nothing special, but terrifying none the less. Chernykh turned around again and put a finger to his lips. I shook my head and did the same to the others behind me. They all nodded along. I turned back around just in time to see the group pass us. There bodies shined against the light from behind, there eyes glowed into the darkness, sending chills down my spine. Those eyes, they shown no signs of life, as if the human inside was trapped behind that mask.

We waited for what seemed like an eternity, they passed our hallway and continued on. Chernykh had turned around before they passed, and after they were gone, he gave another hand signal which meant, “Move up.” He stood up from his stance into a crouch and moved slowly, as did the rest of us. We exited the mouth of the hallway and moved into the light. The light felt good, I could see everything around me, again, giving me that false sense of security, for I knew that this light ran on battery, and it could easily go out at anytime due to it being a little floor flood light. We walked up towards where the soldiers came from.

Emerging from the light in front of us was a large fire door that blocked the hallway. To our left was a small indent in the wall, it had bullet proof glass and a doorway.

“A checkpoint. Maybe there is a computer we can use, or maybe even weapons we can pick up.” I said pointing it out to Chernykh. He turned around and nodded. He stood up right from the crouch and made haste towards the door, as did the rest of us.

Entering the room, the feeling of security increased ten fold. The room was small and comfortable, unlike the hallway. A Combine computer terminal was mounted on the left wall. On the wall with the glass was a little control panel. Two blue iron chairs that faced the window right next to the panel. On the wall furthest to us was a gun case. Unfortunately, it was empty. However to our right was another case, but this one was different. It was smaller and the prongs that would normally hold guns by the stock, were missing. But most importantly, this one had things in it. Three Stun Sticks and adjustable belts.

I walked over to the rack and picked up the metro cop stun button, and flicked it on via the button on the groove right above the handle. The orange striped tip sparked and flickered on in an instant generating around 1800 volts. I was taught this by a Civil Protection Officer before I was stationed at Nova Prospekt. I flick it off and begin to examine the full body in detail. It had a metal frame and a rubber grip. On the back of the section above the grip where the power switch is located, was a dial. It ranged from 1800 to 800.

I turn around to see everyone moving about inside the room.  Chernykh was typing on the computer as he opened and closed thousands of files, obviously looking for something. John was talking to Dash and Thunder inside the room, I heard him talking medical lingo so I assumed he was explaining their wounds in detail. David was stationed by the door, looking out into the hall from time to time, keeping watch. I turn back to the stick when an idea pops into mind.

“Chernykh, do you have a second, I would like to have a word with you.” I say out loud enough for him to hear me.

“One moment, I almost found what we need.” I heard from behind me.

The Combine soldier, guard, elite and police officer all had one thing in common. Besides being part of the Combine. They all have a communication devices on the back of their necks. In training the Combine soldier is never allowed to be flanked. If they are, this box is open to the enemy. If the box is damaged in any serious way, it will create a chain reaction inside the user's body. First they will blackout for one to two minutes, afterwards when they come back, the memory and any other safety locks are disabled causing the user to become very disoriented. Side effects include slurring words, drivel talk, erratic movement and other strange anomalies. However this can be fixed if the mask they were wearing at the time is kept on for a while afterwards, like maybe another two minutes. After this the soldier will regain stability and be back to normal, it’s just that the box needs to be replaced with a fresh one.

Now this is where we come in, If we’re able to knockout a soldier with these Stun Sticks via flank and get their masks destroyed or better yet off in time. We could free more soldiers. Thats how we were freed in the first place, our masks and Comm boxes were destroyed upon impact with the wall when the portal malfunctioned. With these sticks we could amass an army, we could actually stand a chance against they Combine. My spirit lifted up and I turned around to Chernykh as he came over to me.

“Yes Daniel, what do you need?” He said holding a piece of paper. I quickly began to explain my idea. Chernykh listened to me rant about my idea and slowly but sure his attitude lifted as a wicked smile appeared on his face.

“With these sticks we can finally strike back against the Combine by using their own men against them.” I said throwing my arms out towards the door. By this point everyone was listening in on our conversation. Chernykh put a hand on his chin, and spoke up after me.

“The Combine are smart, in some ways. Back when they invaded Earth, they weren’t using live ammo. They were using heavy tranquilizer rounds. Upon impact, it felt like bullet and acted like one too. But it would merely knock the target out cold. Then after the war they collected the bodies, brainwashed them, and woke them up as Combine soldiers.” I looked at him in bewilderment.

“You can’t be serious.” I said in retort. His smile faded into a honest rained expression.

“Think about it, how do you think they have so many soldiers, why kill the whole of a race, when you can reuse them as your own clone army?” That was the cherry on top. It all made sense. Thats why they have the vault. Use your enemies weapons against them.

“Your right Chernykh, it all makes sense. The soldiers out their, they aren't Combine, they’re humans. And that’s why we will free them, instead of killing them. The whole group gasped, even Chernykh. David got up from the doorway and came over to me, enraged.

“Daniel are you insane? Those soldiers out there have guns, and what do we have, three stun sticks. A whole army versus three guys armed with batons. This is a horrible idea.” He said crossing his arms and giving me a look of severe disappointment. He didn’t see the picture.

“Okay listen, those soldiers out there,” I say pointing out side the room with a stern motion, “the ones with guns, the ones that we’re going up against, aren’t combine soldiers at all. They’re just wandering bodies, trapped behind masks of hate towards their fellow man. Combat buddies, family, brothers in arms. All forced to kill innocent people. We were them, but we are free. Come on! They want to live again, can’t you see it. Beyond the mask, beyond the system, beyond the locks lies a human waiting to come out again. Waiting to breath fresh air, waiting to see their planet again.” He shifts his head and looks outside the door with his wandering eyes as they drop from angry to sorrow. Everyone looks at each other, even Dash and Thunder.

“They’re just as human as you are, so don’t tell me they’re the enemy. It’s the combine shell thats the enemy, not the soldier inside.” I Raise the stun stick into the air along with the belt attached to it as David looks back to me. “We may be unarmed, and we may be out numbered, we may not even be in any condition to fight. But we will stand up for our planet, we will fight our our countries, we will rescue the soldiers trapped behind the Combine war machine. We will make the Combine remember the past and have them shake in their boots. We will make them turn and run at the sight of us. We will be feared! And history will remember us as the ones who brought back the soldiers of Earth.” I look down to Rainbow Dash. A Small glint in her eyes as her lids seem slightly puffed out.

“And we won't stand for just us. We will stand as a symbol to other planets like Equestria and beyond. To stand against the Combine, and unite themselves as one to destroy this foe. For what is worth fighting over lines, if the lines are no longer there to fight for.” I said lowering the stick to my side once again.

Then something happened. Rainbow Dash gave me this look, I can't describe it now, but, it looked as if she was agreeing with me. A single tear fell from her left eyes as she moved forward and grabbed one of the stun sticks behind me with her teeth and returned to her stance. Everyone including me,  watched her with shocked eyes. Spitting it out she looked at me,

“I will fight with you David.” Then, Thunderlane did the same, he walked up to the rack and grabbed the last one and returned to his stance.

“If she’s fighting i’ll fight too.” He said in a rough tone. She looked to him and nodded her head in a, “Thank you.” I looked up from the ponies to the other soldiers in the room. They all looked at each other as if they were talking telepathically until they all, one by one, nodded to me.

I kneeled down I helped her fit the strap to Rainbow Dashes hoof. The belt had a cool feature that if you pushed a button on the holding point of the Stun stick, it would pop out for easy access. So I fitted it so all she’d have to do was flick that switch and the stick would fling forward about four inches above her hoof. I also made sure it was fitted so she could turn it on and off with her other hoof as well. The belt could also retract the stick to it’s resting position when not in use.

After fitting it to Thunderlane as well they both looked to me and smiled. Then they looked at each other, nodded and looked back to me. In an instant, they stiffened up and saluted with their hoofs.

“Daniel, I’m giving you command over us, if you can save my planet from become a planet of slaves, I will follow you, sir.” I clipped the stick I held around my waist and tightened it up so that it wouldn’t slip and returned the salute wholeheartedly.

“Don’t worry I will.” I said in return. John came up next to me with a grin on his face.

“Trust me, if he says he’ll do something, he sure as hell will get it done.” I look to him and give him a grin too. Yeah, he would know.

4:55am…

After getting ready to move out, we viewed Chernykh’s paper to understand what was on it. It was the directions right to the vault. From the looks of the map, it was going to take a while. So we set off immediately, back into the darkness.