"You've been out for long. Had me worried back there," Jesse's muffled voice rang in Olivia's ears as she slowly regained consciousness. As her senses returned to her slowly but surely, Olivia noticed she was being held in a stark white prison cell - an Overwatch solitary confinement cell. The walls were padded and soundproofed, rendering the room's audio activity to a minimum both internally and externally. Guards assigned to bring food into the cell would wear special white environmental suits which muffled even the sound of their footsteps, and meals would usually be white rice served on a white paper plate - a place designed to break the wills of even the most hardened of subjects by inducing them with sensory depravity.

Olivia sat on her bed and saw Jesse pouring a cup of water for her, making her realize how parched she was.

"W-where am I?" she croaked out, but the intense dryness inside her throat caused her to cough violently.

"Oh c'mon, you're smart. Figure it out." He handed the full cup to her, but despite her need to drink, Olivia did not do so immediately as she contemplated an escape plan.

Electronics was the backbone of the Watchpoint's operating system, one EMP blast and Sombra could cripple all of the automatic doors in her area, disable automated defense turrets, and other sensitive equipment that would enable her escape smoother than silk. Just needed to wait for the right opening - a blinding splash of water will do.

It was then when she noticed that the cybernetics on her left hand were not glowing the purplish light they usually emit.

Panic started brewing in her core.

"W-what did you do to me pendejo?!" she angrily dropped the plastic cup to the floor, spilling its content all over.

"We're not idiots, sweet pea. You don't need cybernetic interface to keep you breathing, so we figured it'd be better to disable those high-tech light bulbs." Jesse leaned closer to her, his face only inches away from her own "Olivia, I know you better than you realize. Just now, you were gonna throw the water at me didn't ya? Knock me out, fry all the computers, and bail. Say if it ain't so, sugar. Say if it ain't so."

Olivia gritted her teeth as her options were very limited at that moment. Trying to escape right then and there would be stupid, like there was any way to begin with. The fact that Overwatch's maximum-security prisons were probably the most state-of-the-art in existence, and her cybernetics were shot certainly did not make it any easier for her. She could probably knock the cowboy out, but even if she did, what then? Heavily armored security guards will just waltz into her cell and spray her with lead. Her machine pistol and translocator devices were nowhere in sight. Hell, even her signature electric purple coat was gone - traded for a white prisoner bodysuit.

Olivia sighed. "What do you want?"

She never felt so desperate before. As much as she valued her position in Talon, she valued her life and well-being more. And knowing Akande, once a Talon agent is taken hostage, he wouldn't bother to send rescue for them because he would deem them unworthy - a weakling. The only way back would be if she was to somehow escape and return to Venice. But even then, there would also be a chance she would be killed for suspicions of hostile collaboration, or worse, had her cybernetics disassembled for intel and parts with Doctor Moira O'Deorain as the surgeon. The simple thought of the Minister of Genetics sent shivers down her spine. So, the best current option for her...was to cooperate. As crazy as that might sound like.

The cell door lifted and Edward entered with a food tray with three bowls of freshly made spaghetti alla carbonara and a pitcher full of orange juice with three paper cups by its side. The steaming dishes quickly filled the room with their fragrant scents, causing Olivia to realize how hungry she was.

"Sorry for the delay, Jesse," Edward said as he set the tray and its contents down on a nearby table. "I thought the three of us could have breakfast together."

"Jesus, thanks partner! I'm starvin' as fuck," Jesse said as he took his seat and started digging into his meal.

Edward turned his attention to Olivia, flashing her an inviting smile. "Come now, don't be shy."

Olivia did not move from her bed, still staring the stranger with cold suspicious eyes. Her stoic wall however, came crumbling down like the walls of Jericho when an audible rumble escaped her stomach. Edward pulled a chair for her and told her to come over. Seeing it was already useless to resist any further, Olivia finally relented, sat in front of him and started wolfing down her food.

"So, did I cut anything important between you two?" Edward asked.

"Shwe ahked mwe wuat we wuant," said Jesse while chewing a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Jesse. You see Miss Colomar, what you said back at Castillo that intrigues me. The boss is planning something big...can you explain that to us please?"

At that moment, Olivia practically choked on her food and started coughing violently. Jesse attempted to help her but she held out her hand, letting him know she didn't need any. Of course, she was rather shocked by the friendly tone he was giving her as she thought he was the 'bad cop' at first.

"Oh wow," the hacker said after chugging a whole glass of orange juice. "Finally, someone with manners. You can learn a thing or two from him, cowboy."

"What did I ever do to you?"

Edward chuckled. "I am flattered, Miss Colomar."

"No no no, for you handsome, you get to call me Olivia."

"Very well, Olivia."

They continued eating in silence until their plates were scrubbed clean, during which Edward learned quite a few things about Olivia. She ate fast. Of course he knew Olivia was hungry, but the way she ate suggested this woman was deft, precise, and very, very, thorough. She would make either a dangerous enemy, or a very valuable ally.

"How was the food?" asked Edward as he poured some more orange juice into his companions' cups.

"Mmmh, that was probably the best spaghetti I've ever eaten. Did you make these?"

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't have enough prep time, but you can thank Sous-Chef Codsworth for doing a very magnificent job," replied Edward.

"Anyway, let's talk about the obvious. Talon wants Overwatch gone, I think you know that already. And..." Olivia leaned forward, "war."

"Interesting. Do go on."

"You are aware of the omnic oppression going on worldwide, right? Well Doomfist, ugh I hate that moniker, Akande, is trying to start Omnic Crisis 2.0, to strengthen humanity through conflict, to separate the chaff from the wheat and all that crap. Just between us though, I think he's starting to lose it."

"How so?"

"Look at us. Overwatch, Talon, tomayto, tomahto. Conventionally, we are at a stalemate. You hit us here, and we hit you there. You have a strong influence within the U.N. but so do we. You see, Akande wants a total game changer. Something more...radical. He came to the conclusion that our current modern civilization alone won't be interesting enough, so he started digging through old myths, legends, folklore stuff, and guess what he came across?"

"I have no idea, getting Jörmungandr to release its own tail and start Ragnarok maybe?" Edward said out loud, without thinking. While in truth, he had already known the answer as he was already tapping into Olivia's mind since he entered her cell, in case she attempted to lie.

"Similar concept, but he is not that stupid. He wants something he can control. I am talking about the Spark of Life. Supposedly this artifact is capable of resurrecting the dead or reanimating inanimate objects and gain control over them."

"I see. Do you have any idea what the Spark is? Physical description, et cetera. Since this is a mythological object we are discussing about, everything surrounding it could be entirely fictional. Plus, there are a lot of potentially non-existent artifacts out there with similar properties. At this rate, I think we are all going to die of old age before any of us could actually discover anything."

Olivia laughed. "I never said the prospect is smart, chico. We have zero intel, nada. We don't know what to look, or where to look, but you don't know him. He is prepared to do whatever it takes to win, even if he have to scour through every last nook and cranny on Earth to search for it, he will. God, now that I think of it, I’m glad I’m off their boat."

Edward nodded in understanding. "But of course, this massive wild goose chase will not keep Talon from committing more atrocities, no?"

A faint devious smile curled on Olivia's lips.

"Perhaps you are kind enough to share more information with us?" asked Edward again. "I promise you won't regret it."

Olivia chuckled "I would, but since my cybernetics are screwed, I can't access the necessary data anymore. Unless, you are kind enough to set me back online?"

"You know the answer to that, darlin'," answered Jesse.

"In that case, as much as I want to, I can't help you any further."

"Luna? Do you have any input to the situation perhaps?"

"No, but I suppose it is time I tell you my story. To the war room," came her reply.

"Then that will be all for now. Thank you for your cooperation, Olivia," Edward said as he and Jesse got up from their seats, tidying the table wares into the tray and proceeded to exit the room.

"One more thing," she said, stopping them in their tracks. "Talon is also very very interested with your new...friends. I'd keep a close eye on them if I were you."

"On the other hand, I am also very interested with members of your inner circle. Quod seminat hoc et metet." Edward grinned and left the holding cell with Jesse in tow, leaving Olivia stunned and pale, slumping against her seat.

As the party arrived at the war room, Edward contacted Twilight via telepathy to get Fizzlepop, Winston, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn to get there as well in order to attend the meeting. Not long after, Twilight told him that both men were still passed out due to the alcohol they consumed last night - but the Ruler of the Castle of Friendship had an idea, she informed him they will be there shortly with Reinhardt and Torbjorn completely sobered up. And true enough, the five appeared soon after by means of teleportation.

The command center was rather small in size, but was equipped with an arsenal of high-tech communication and monitoring devices to ensure the utmost coordination for Overwatch's forces. The room's most sophisticated feature however, was the war table. A built-in projector located on its center displayed a dark electric yellow holographic globe which allowed Overwatch to monitor the world in its live state thanks to the Satellite Drone XR-9 - an intelligence/communication satellite Winston launched to space before recalling all Overwatch agents back to active service. Whenever there was trouble, they would know about it. In combat, the war table would feed all sorts of data on the battlefield, like environmental details, troop movements, and troop vitals for instance.

"Okay, now that we are all here...do you mind telling us what this is all about?" Jesse asked as the group took their places around the war table. Standing on his side of the table were Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Genji, Winston, Lena, and Angela. And on the other, were Edward, Fareeha, Brigitte, and the Equestrians.

"To talk about a few elephants in the room." The alicorn took a deep breath and exhaled. "The Spark of Life...I created it."

As soon as Luna said that, the whole room fell into a deep silence and all eyes fell on her.

"Come again?"

"You heard me right." Luna paused, letting her companions to digest her words. "Let me tell you how it all came to pass.

"A thousand years ago, a great war was waged in Equestria between me and my older sister, Celestia, because I refused to lower the moon to make way for her rising sun. At that time, I was...embittered by her. Everypony basked in the glory of my sister's day - they played, worked, and adored her so much - while they shunned away from my night's embrace and slept through it. And so, I never received the same kind of love my sister did. But the final blow for me was, when my sister began taking me for granted as well. Hate overcame me, and with my entire army, I turned on her and Equestria. Although we were lower in numbers, we had the element of surprise and our affinity to the night made us twice as strong. But my sister was a brilliant tactician, she quickly turned the tide of war and decimated half of my army in a year's time. I was desperate, so I delved deep into ancient forbidden tomes and found a way to contact a being capable of granting me incomprehensible power to defeat my sister and replenish my ranks."

Luna swallowed a growing lump in her throat as her voice began to strain and her eyes began stinging with tears.

"But of course, there were prices to be paid. First, I was to sacrifice an item I treasured most by concentrating all of my utmost desires at it. And second, surrender my body and soul to them so they could imbue me with their powers. At that time, all I had left was a hunk of uncut emerald my sister gave me when we were fillies - the single fragment of better days between me and her. It was that gem which gave me a semblance of hope that we may mend everything that went wrong - but I needed this power, I needed to win, and I believed only I am the master of my own self, so in my foolish recklessness, I poured out all of my hatred, my envy, my bitterness, my undying will to rebuild my army, and my desire for the ultimate power - coalescing them into the stone. And thus, the Spark of Life was born."

She paused, and continued again.

"When the Spark's creation was finished, I realized it too late that by draining so much energy has left me vulnerable both physically and spiritually. They possessed me, corrupting my form, and pushing my ego so deep inside my own head, that I was no longer in control of myself. But I remained aware of everything that transpired. I cannot do anything other than witness as the Spark resurrected the fallen from my army and my sister's as twisted undead abominations and we breached Equestria's capital city in merely three days, leaving nothing but death and destruction in our wake. It was then when regret and sadness tore me apart, despite all what I had wanted a year prior finally came true at that fateful night. When I finally met my sister again, she begged me to lower the moon and told me how sorry she was for everything. I screamed inside my mind, trying to regain control of my own body and embrace her. But alas, I could not do anything as my possessed form dealt blow after blow to her. But my sister remained as resourceful as ever. At the fight's most critical juncture she unleashed the power of the Elements of Harmony - six supernatural artifacts representing subjective aspects of harmony. They are: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. With them, my sister banished me to my own moon for a thousand years and threw the Spark into the horizons of space and time where it shall never be found ever again. But it seems, destiny does not agree with her plans forever."

Once again, silence pervaded over the room's atmosphere. Everybody exchanged subtle glances, wordlessly relaying their doubts and questions with each other. But for Edward, and those connected to Luna's hivemind, knew this was the raw truth. Seeing his mentor on the verge of tears, he placed his right hand on her shoulder. Edward felt Luna briefly jump at the sudden touch, and droplet of tears began streaming down her face. Edward instinctively knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. Despite him trying to shrug off the sensation, he could feel the electricity from Lightning's glare behind him, possibly for breaking royal etiquette. However, during times like these, he couldn't give a damn about any sort of royal protocol.

"Thank you," Luna whispered as Edward let her go when the alicorn finally collected herself.

"I suppose," Genji spoke up after a period of silence, "we would be foolish if we choose to not believe your story. But how do you propose we find the stone? Even your detection spell is unable to complete its task." Genji asked.

"There is another way," Luna suggested with a thick hint of reluctance in her speech. "The Spark has just arrived in your world, relatively speaking. I suppose the Elements of Harmony must have nearly wiped out its power with its last remaining essence being used when I felt that stone's presence here on Earth. In order to find it, we have to generate enough stimuli to restore its potent arcane energy, which we will be able to finally track down and destroy. The more its power grows, the more influence it will exude on its surroundings, gradually inflicting chaotic degradation to the climate, plants, animals, and even people in your case, so we should keep our eyes open for anomalies like these in the future."

"Is it possible to be reversed?" asked Winston.

"There are two alternatives, but I am afraid my preferred method is rather impossible to perform as we need the presence of all Element Bearers to reverse the corruption."

"And the other alternative?"

"Once the signs of the Spark's influence begin to show itself, we have to pinpoint the affected area, and evacuate every living soul in that vicinity. However, if the damage has already been done, then the other alternative would be through death," Luna answered grimly. "I am sorry, I wish I could tell you there are other alternatives...but unfortunately, there is not much we can do in that regard. All we can do is to minimize the impact by neutralizing the stone as soon as possible after it activates."

"And what kind of stimuli do you have in mind to find this stone?" asked Angela, feeling a subtle chill on her spine as a grave implication started brewing in her mind.

"Something tells me, you know the answer to your own inquiry," the alicorn said stoically.

"Fuck," the doctor muttered under her breath.

"The stone absorbs everything wrought by bloodshed. The more there are, the more powerful it will grow. And judging by your world's current standing, I daresay we will not find any shortage of that."

"I am not one who wishes for more conflict, but I do hope we find that Spark first. I cannot imagine should the artifact fall into the wrong hands," Reinhardt concluded somberly. "And thank you very much Luna, for your honesty. I know it is not pleasant to relive such a dark past, but you just saved us all from a great deal of trouble."

Luna smiled softly.

"Wait, Luna. You are normal now, right?" Jesse crooked his eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but we can't be too careful these days."

The alicorn laughed. "Of course I am normal now. Thanks to Twilight and the Element Bearers." She glanced at the aforementioned mare who bowed her head down in embarrassment. "But I think that is a story for another time. There is still another matter we need to discuss."

Luna glanced at Edward who pulled a microchip from his pocket and fed it to one of the war table's chip readers.

"ATHENA, process the chip and copy all of its data. Trust me when I say, we are going to need this."

"At once."

After a few seconds, the three-dimensional holographic globe was transformed into that of a heraldic heater shield with an azure background. On its center was the depiction of the pale crescent moon and the golden sun, melding together into a single sphere. Embellished under the symbol, was a Latin adage embroidered in gold:

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.

"So, is this the Order you mentioned yesterday?" asked Brigitte with a growing interest in her tone.

He shook his head, chuckling. "Not exactly, this is just our insignia. As I have told some of you two days ago, I was a commander of a small independent rapid response task force specifically formed to defend Germany against the growing threat of cyborg terrorists and other inhuman threats. We were known as, Order of the Dawn."

"Sounds like something straight from the Middle Ages," remarked Fareeha with a cheeky smirk.

Edward laughed. "Oh that is indeed, very true. Elements of knighthood could be found nearly everywhere in the Order, ranging from our paraphernalia and even down to our ranks - mine for example, was ritter-kommandant or knight-commander, it's Bundeswehr equivalent would be oberst or colonel. But that does not mean we were so ancient we did not use modern technology, oh no. In fact, we had a plethora of either self-developed or joint-developed assets which, so far, only exist in your wildest fantasies."

"Any chance we could get to know those assets better?" Torbjorn drooled.

Edward chuckled. "A topic for another time uncle, it's best to talk about such things over pitchers of beer."

"What is your specialization if I may know?" asked Luna, returning the conversation on its course.

"As our main purpose was to take direct actions against threats too overwhelming for regular units to handle, we were very extensively trained in various fields, namely; unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, hostage rescue, foreign internal defense, counter-terrorism, and information warfare. Of course, these are some among many other capabilities we have in our disposal. However, it is very important to note that each individual have their own specific skills which further boost our versatility - a vital component due to our small numbers."

"How small?"

"In total we had 100 personnel with us. But they were only charged with support duties, you know - auxiliary tactical teams, a K9 unit, maintenance crews, intelligence, medical, R&D division, but there were only 10 field operators who did most of the heavy lifting."

"What?" asked the whole room simultaneously.

"We were the 0.1% from 99.9%, personally handpicked from Germany's special forces, such as the Kommando Spezialkräfte. I was recruited from the Police Tactical Unit, Grenzschutzgruppe 9 der Bundespolizei or GSG 9 for short. In the beginning of the selection process, there were 40 of us, but the numbers quickly dwindled because of the extremely grueling training and indoctrination process where human rights were basically non-existent - most of them quit, while others lost their sanity, and even their lives. When the whole meat grinding process was done, there were only 20 of us left. Afterwards, those who survived were subjected to the Týr Initiative - a super soldier experiment similar to America's Soldier Enhancement Program. By the time the procedures were completed, half of us were already dead. So, there we were, ten survivors selected by Lady Fortuna herself."

"How come none of us have ever heard of this?" asked Reinhardt.

"Because officially, we do not exist. Even after our disbandment, we still remain blacker than black."

"Won't you get in trouble for sharing this sort of information, then?" asked Fizzlepop, concerned.

"Trouble? That word would be an understatement my friend. The last time I shared this information, well...let's just say I was buried neck-deep in shit. However, by now, I don't think I have to worry about that anymore. But still, what I am telling you here today is not something our world is ready to receive yet, so for now at least, I urge you to keep this conversation between ourselves. Is that understood?"

He received a collective response of confirmations, a faint smile forming on his lips.

"By the way, why were you trained in foreign internal defense? I thought you were only stationed in Germany," chimed Fareeha again.

"Occasionally, we were sent to other countries too since cybernetical and supernatural threats does not only occur in Germany. We have been deployed to France, U.K., U.S., Greece, China, Japan, but the most notable took place in Korea and Russia. That's how I met Hana ‘D.Va’ Song and Aleksandra ‘Zarya’ Zaryanova respectively."

"Wait, you know D.Va?! Like,THE D.Va?!" Brigitte's eyes went wide as saucers, brimming with excitement.

Edward couldn't help but smile. "I knew it was you who put her poster in the Orca. You know, I haven't checked on her in ages anyway. I can introduce you to her later if you want."

Brigitte squealed with joy after hearing his offer, but quickly collected herself as she remembered she was in a middle of a briefing.

"Before we start talking about the main topic, I'd like you to understand about the actual reality we live in - please bear with me if I sound like a rambling madman."

Edward fished his pocket for his water canteen and took a sip from it before continuing with his lecture.

"To put it simply, think of our reality as a layer within an infinitely large crepe cake. The layers of realities overlap with one another, while also continuously forming their ever-expanding networks. These worlds have existed long before we came to be here, and will persevere long after our bones have turned to dust. Some are exactly like our own with only minor differences - for example, in another reality, I am wearing a red polo instead of black - while others have their own laws of physics. Some are beautiful, fertile, and filled with all sorts of wonders, yet there exist others our eyes should never witness. Protecting these realities from crashing into each other, is an unseen barrier we call The Veil. While it is hypothetically impossible to rip open the entire thing, relatively small breaches are known to occur at random with varying results, ranging from object displacements to otherworldly invasions. Any questions so far?"

Winston raised his massive hand.

"You are discussing about the Multiverse concept, yes?" asked the gorilla scientist.

"Correct."

"Now that is not too far-fetched for me because personally, I believe in this theory. Please, do continue."

"Closing in to last night's incident, there are telltale signs of determining when a breach is about to happen. At times we can sense their presence through a sudden, unknown scent, temperature drop, or a strange feeling of anxiety with no apparent cause. I believe we have experienced all of that yesterday. When something breaches into our world, they require a lot of energy both from their and our end. Which means, they have to possess some degree of power on their own, and the environment they are materializing in must also be ideal for this transition to occur successfully."

"Ideal environment?" asked Angela.

"Well, it depends on what type of creature is coming through. If we are dealing with benevolent entities, they tend to appear in places where good things happened. On the other hand, if we are dealing with malevolent entities, they tend to appear in places where bad things happened. Please note the word, tend, as these entities have their own...affinities, if you will. A Valkyrie may appear before a dying soldier in the middle of a battlefield, or a Kobold appearing in a wedding festivity, blurring pictures and souring the food. The most preferable scenario would be - nothing will happen at all. It's just a flux at The Veil."

"Wait, there are benevolent entities as well?" the doctor asked again, this time she was rather excited.

"Why yes, there are many of them. In fact, I own a portion of Schwarzwald, sorry - the Black Forest - just on the outskirts of Eichenwalde, where I built a place for my friends to stay. I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to visit them sooner or later. If you'd like to, you are more than welcome to join. But I have to warn you, they could get rather frisky. I suppose various exciting misadventures could happen when you have a family consisting of a Lamia, a Centaur, a Harpy, a Mermaid, a Super-Amoeba, and an Arachne -- forgive me, I am getting off topic. Just a second."

Edward continued to fiddle with the computer, changed the chip's interface language from German to English and quickly sifted through the files, accessing one labeled as "Bestiary". Once he opened it, a multitude of data regarding every known legendary creature in the world were laid out in the projection. To save time, he entered the keyword "Grunt" and opened the corresponding file. A holographic render of the same creatures which attacked them last night was displayed in the air. Edward noticed Lena's growing uneasiness and asked whether she was fine to proceed or she could leave for the time being. Albeit he could tell she was forcing herself to stay, Lena insisted that she was indeed fine.

Edward enhanced the Grunt's image, showing it in more detail. This particular specimen had no armor nor was it armed, revealing it's twisted gnarly pinkish flesh for all to see.

"Infernales Militum, or Grunts, are souls of wicked soldiers who fell in battle and accepted an offer from Hell's leaders to walk among the living once again to delay their punishment. However, instead of a chance in atonement, they were turned into twisted half-dead half-living beings with only destruction, hunger, and carnal lust seared into what's left of their minds. Generally, they are armed and armored with those they had before they died. Hence why our attackers had our assault rifles and body armor fused into their flesh. Returning to my previous explanation about the Veil breach, when demonic entities do decide to pay us a visit, the first telltale signs would be a sudden dramatic decrease on temperature, problems in electrical equipment, and of course the rancid stench of sulfur and rotting flesh. Other symptoms include feelings of being watched, uneasiness, fear, and anxiety. The best way to combat these creatures, and other monstrosities in general, would be with silver."

"Silver?" his companions asked in-sync.

Edward nodded. "Now, don't let that 'silver is a holy metal' BS get to you. Creatures archived to our data banks are known to carry unique strains of bacteria and/or chemical compounds in their blood which react adversely to silver. For our visitors last night, their blood is highly sulfuric. Which is why Siren worked wonders against them, since High-Frequency blades use silver in their forging as it is the most conductive metal in existence. For cyborgs, silver short circuits their system as the metal's conductivity disrupts energy distribution - once it has entered their bodies of course - this is why silver-based weaponry is a standard issue for us Knights of the Dawn since they are very powerful jacks of all trades against the things we hunt. Cyborgs, monsters, you name it."

Edward drew his pistol from its holster, ejected the magazine, and extracted one bullet from it. At first glance it seemed to be a 9x19mm armor piercing round but when Edward used his sword to cut it in half, it was revealed that there was a small silver sabot inside. Just like those found on APFSDS tank rounds.

"This here is an example of a Mistletoe round, oh they come in multiple calibers too by the way - 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 12.7mm - you name it. As you can see, this is a 9x19mm armor piercing bullet with a tungsten carbide penetrator. When it finds its mark, the penetrator will defeat almost any form of armor our enemy possesses where the silver sabot will seal the deal. Of course, conventional means could work against them - you know, by ripping off their heads for example - but why go to such lengths when a 5.56mm Mistletoe round could stop a charging orc dead in its tracks. And before you ask, yes they do exist."

"Mein Gott, so last night was not a dream," Reinhardt remarked, swallowing a lump in his throat. "How did those...things, get here in the first place?"

"I have a hypothesis on this situation." said Twilight. "As some of you have known, this base is built on top of a massive convergence of mana veins. Aside from their function as arcane energy sources, mana veins also act as...oh, what's the term -- information superhighways. While the ones you are familiar with are extensive electronic networks such as the Internet, it's arcane counterpart functions in a similar manner, for those with access of course."

"I'm afraid I do not understand."

"Ok, boomer," Edward whispered telepathically to Brigitte and Fareeha before snickering quietly with them. Luna glanced a questioning smile at them but soon joined the stealthy guffaw as her apprentice relayed the contemporary wisdom to her via mind-link.

Twilight continued. "I'll put it this way. The internet has many functions, no? But the bottom line is, you use the network to find information. Be it the past, the present, and even the future -- mana veins work in the same manner. Just like how the internet rapidly transfers information such as sound, video, and graphics to the whole world, so does the veins. The more veins there are, the stronger the output will be. While the internet can be accessed with your computers and cellphones, only certain beings are able to tap into the veins, namely magic users. Or demons, in this case. As to why they have picked this particular place, as I have said before, the veins rapidly transmit information to those with access. What sort of information you may ask? Well, environmental energy from what had transpired in a particular place. As Edward brought up before and I quote: when something breaches into our world, they require a lot of energy both from their and our end. Which means, they have to possess some degree of power on their own, and the environment they are materializing in must also be ideal for this transition to occur successfully. Before we came here, Talon attacked this base no? A lot of people died. Q lot of chaos happened. And there's also the encounter in that hangar. Do you see what I am trying to say?"

Edward nodded eagerly. "All of that trauma saturated into the veins. Shed a drop of blood into the ocean, and sharks will surely be drawn to it. And the fact that those creatures we killed were fallen Talons, they must've made a deal out of revenge, obsessed with returning to these fertile grounds."

"So, you are basically saying we are standing on top of a massive supernatural beacon which attracts diabolical entities?" asked Winston in conclusion.

"You are right Winston. We are indeed standing on a massive supernatural beacon. But no, they normally won't attract diabolical entities. You see, the veins here are rather sensitive to change, but the mana coursing through them is inherently good in nature. So, if we could keep unnecessary bloodshed away from this place, our next visitors could be beneficial for us."

"I see. Before we go any further though, I have to ask you something. Now Twilight, I believe you, but you..." Jesse turned his attention to Edward. "Now, I don't want to be a dick, but you sure you're not pulling things outta your ass now?"

Edward shook his head, chuckling. "I expected nothing less from your response, Jesse. But to answer your question, no. Let's just say, I have several associates kind enough to show me the ropes."

"Incoming transmission." ATHENA's voice silenced the conversation short as a garbled live feed appeared on the holographic projection.

From what little could be deciphered from the video feed, the woman was oriental looking with short brown hair. A pair of thick black framed glasses rested on her face, and she seemed to be wearing a full set of Overwatch standard-issue winter gear.

"ATHENA boost that signal!" Edward barked. Acknowledging his order, ATHENA quickly cleared the transmission to a crystal-clear level.

"H-hello? I-is anybody there? W-Winston? A-are you there?" said the woman's voice from the other end. Her quivering voice was ripe with fear and anxiety.

"MEI?!" Winston exclaimed, nearly leaping to the air in excitement "B-but how?! I thought the Ecopoint -- you know what, never mind. Are you okay? Where are you?!"

Suddenly, the signal plummeted again and the transmission began to break off with the last audible words being:

"Help, Antarctica, hurry!"

Before cutting off completely.

A rescue team was dispatched immediately to Antarctica following the transmission's abrupt end. Due to the small nature of the base, sending a full squad of agents was deemed unnecessary so only Edward, Brigitte, and, Angela were chosen for the mission. Luna volunteered. She first received rather strong objections from both her Equestrian and Overwatch companions at first. However, due to ATHENA's prediction of a massive blizzard approaching the facility, they let her join the mission as weather manipulation is part of her perks of being an alicorn. Twilight also offered to replace Luna as she was also an alicorn, but the Moon Princess quickly shot down her proposal as compared to her, Twilight lacked combat experience. To ease them more, Luna promised she would remain at the Orca to provide support and would only engage in combat when necessary - that is, if there were to be any at all.

Fareeha also volunteered for the mission, but just like Luna she was only to act as support. Air support, to be more precise. The cramped close quarters environment of the Ecopoint means she could not utilize her Raptora Armor's air superiority prowess and explosive weaponry to maximum use, so she would not be joining Edward, Brigitte, and Angela on the ground. The Ecopoint's courtyard, an intersection that connected all of its modular buildings, is completely exposed from the air - giving the research complex a perfect bird's eye view from the sky of everything and everyone in it. Should Talon decide to ambush them, that courtyard would most likely serve as their insertion point. Only then would she be deployed. Despite her slight annoyance, Fareeha agreed.

For this mission, Edward was appointed as squad leader with Fareeha as his second-in-command. He was also given the call sign Warden which he proudly accepted.

After a quick briefing of their mission today, Luna learned that their VIP was Mei Ling-Zhou, an Overwatch climatologist stationed at a modular science station known as Ecopoint: Antarctica. The station was maintained by Overwatch in order to study climate changes and cryostasis technology. It was staffed by a researcher named Adams, an engineer named MacReady, cryo engineers Opara and Torres, and climatologists Arrhenius and Mei herself.

One day however, the station stopped communicating with the outside world. Normally, a quick reaction team would be dispatched to assess the situation, but at that very same day, Overwatch's headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland was destroyed in an ensuing explosion. This particular event was speculated to be the direct result of a fight between two of the organization's most prominent leaders: Strike Commander Jack Morrison and Blackwatch Commander Gabriel Reyes, effectively crippling Overwatch which eventually led to its disbandment.

And so, the Ecopoint's fate was left in uncertainty and Winston assumed the worst as nearly a decade had passed and the station remained silent still. Until that very day, of course.

Their mission objectives were: rescue Mei and the Ecopoint's staff, find out what happened to the facility, gather any crucial data, and if necessary - scuttle the entire base.

Despite the lack of Talon presence in this mission, they were still armed to the teeth. Luna donned her midnight blue steel armor again, armed with her longsword. Edward decided to travel lightly, instead of his hulking Crusader power armor and rocket hammer, he brought an Overwatch's standard issue arctic warfare assault armor and armed with his heavily modified G36C rifle, Glock 34 pistol, a pair of DM51 frag grenades, a smoke grenade, and of course, Siren. In case they have to destroy any sensitive data and/or equipment, Edward took the leeway to supply his teammates with Thermite Grenades, one for each.

He wanted to grab the weapons case and have his tools of trade inspected, but he noticed Fareeha was spacing out beside him on the recreational table.

"What's wrong?" Edward nudged Fareeha waking her up from her reverie. She met his eyes for a split second before quickly looking away towards Brigitte who was practicing her throws at the Orca's on-board basketball court, seemingly out of boredom.

"Nothing's wrong. I am fine," came her reply.

"Fareeha, I have known you since we were very little. I know if something's bothering you. You always put on this nasty scowl, like this."

Edward then proceeded to display a comical mockery of Fareeha's stoic expression, bringing his eyebrows uncomfortably close with each other and pouting his lips as physiologically possible.

Fareeha chuckled. "Thanks, I'll never pout ever again. It's nothing big really, remembering that shitty day is just a bad trip for me, that's all."

"See? Is that so hard to say?" Edward clapped her shoulders. "But I agree, that was a very shitty day."

He then proceeded to levitate his weapons case from the Orca's storage racks, opened it, and laying down its contents in an orderly fashion in front of him.

"I'm still getting used to seeing you do that. You know, this whole telekinesis stuff," commented Fareeha as Edward quickly disassembled his assault rifle before doing the same with his pistol, carefully inspecting and cleaning every single one of their parts.

Once he was finished, he quickly reassembled his weapons. The G36C was equipped with a holographic sight, a MOE vertical grip, and a tactical flashlight mounted on its left handguard rail. The G34 was equipped with an underbarrel micro tactical flashlight/laser pointer. Normally, a G36 rifle is mostly made out of carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide. However, Edward's was fully constructed of titanium. The modification alone would mean more weight, but this does not seem to bother him that much as his superhuman qualities kicked in during combat, and also because Edward often used the rifle as a baton, one time bashing a Talon Heavy Assault Trooper so hard that he cracked both the trooper's skull and the weapon itself.

"You and me both," Angela said as she shifted closer to Fareeha's side while Luna circled the table and sat on Edward's left. "Anyway, where did you get these from? They look like museum worthy artifacts."

The Crusader chuckled while loading four of his magazines with 5.56x45mm Mistletoe rounds stashed in the weapons case. "Famous last words for those unfortunate enough to be staring down the barrel's end, Angela."

A buzzer sounded throughout the aircraft and a blast of confetti was expulsed from the basketball hoop as Brigitte had thrown her ball right into it.

Seeing Brigitte coming towards them, Angela tossed her a military canteen filled with water. She caught it and drank nearly a quarter of its content before returning the water bottle. "Thanks, Angela."

"Make sure to drink regularly whenever you can, understood? Hydration is important, you know," Angela said with a tone similar to a mother reminding her child to eat their vegetables. Well, for Edward and Fareeha, that's not far from the truth at all, as she practically helped their parents raise them from birth to their childhood. And that caring, motherly trait remained the same until then.

Brigitte rolled her eyes in amusement. "Got it, doc." And turned her eyes to Edward who was loading the last bullet into his last magazine with Fareeha helping him to load his pistol's spare magazine. "Hey, Edward, Fareeha, did you see that?!"

"You still have a long way to go, kid. How about I show you the ropes?" Fareeha smirked. "Basketball is my specialty, you know."

"You're on! Let's go!"

Fareeha handed him his magazine and got up from her seat. Out of the blue, a rather strong turbulence rocked the Orca, causing her to fell on Edward's lap, her back hitting his chest.

"Don't worry, people. It's just a small turbulence," Ray the pilot called from the bridge.

"Whoa, are you okay Fareeha?" Edward instinctively grabbed her shoulder to help his friend get back on her feet.

"Uh huh, I just lost my balance for a bit. Thanks for breaking my fall."

"Your heart skipped a beat," Luna teased him as the former Helix captain made her way to the court with Brigitte.

"Isn't there supposed to be a set of etiquettes for telepathic privacy or something like that?" countered Edward as Fareeha scored a point from a flawless lay-up.

"There is, but you are just too fun to mess with." The midnight blue alicorn proceeded to mischievously lay her head on his chest, pretending to be asleep. She pulled off a convincing act for sure. Her breathing became rhythmical, her eyes were shut and completely still, her posture relaxed.

To make matters worse, Angela immediately noticed his compromised position. Also Fareeha and Brigitte, who just concluded their short match with the former's victory, had turned their eyes on them.

"Lass mich in ruhe!" Edward groaned.

As the team arrived at their destination, Ray dropped the ground operators off at the Ecopoint's helipad. Due to the Orca's weight and size, it was unable to land on the base. Ray told them he will monitor things from the air, and pick them up as soon as they were ready. The blizzard ATHENA predicted also came true, a massive shroud of snow and ice could be seen approaching from the horizon. The AI predicted they have an hour and counting, before the storm hits them - not they have much to worry about since Luna was with them - however, it would be inconvenient should they got caught up in it.

As the team scanned their surroundings, everything seemed to be frozen as thick sheets of snow blanketed everything in sight and stalactites of icicles hung from every ceiling. Hell, even the helipad they were standing on was frozen solid. There was a communications tower nearby, however it was in a very bad shape - half destroyed in fact.

"Maybe this is why her signal dropped. The damn thing's barely standing." Edward thought, cocking his rifle.

"A blizzard must've swept through this place. And judging by how frozen this place is, it was massive and relentless," remarked Brigitte, now clad in her own suit of yellow and dark grey power armor, shouldering her signature Rocket Flail.

Edward was very impressed with her armor, however he rebuked her for not wearing any sort of protective equipment on her head.

"You’re probably right. But we'll never know for sure until we talk to the people here. Okay, time to find our dear clima--"

The pitter patter clanking of metal against boots signaled Mei's ascending footsteps to the helipad. For a moment, she stood completely still, her expression resembling that of a person who's just seen a ghost. Now that they have a better view of her, she wore a thick red Overwatch parka, dark grey winter pants, a pair of light blue gloves and boots, and a white furry winter hat. Most notably however, she had a cryo-tank on her back with a small blue drone attached to it, and armed with a crude makeshift blaster connected to the same tank.

"Speak of the devil," Edward said under his breath.

"D-doctor Ziegler? I-is that you?"

"Yes, Mei. It's me." Angela smiled, her eyes betraying no emotion as tears streamed down her face. The doctor dropped her Caduceus Staff as the two embraced each other in a tearful hug. Edward left the two to their moment for a couple of minutes before deciding to continue with the mission.

"Pardon me for the intrusion Mercy, but I believe we still have an important mission at hand." Edward's expression was unreadable as his face was obscured by a white, full-faced tactical helmet with a polarized visor. In turn, this also caused his voice to be heavier and robotic. The rest of his body was covered in white tactical plate armor made entirely from tungsten carbide, layered underneath by an insulating CNT undersuit of the same color. The overall suit had a sleek and dynamic design to it, and would work on par with more modern gear despite its older age. Its only drawback was being heavy due to its material. However, this does not seem to bother the wearer very much.

"Right, of course Warden," said Angela as the two parted. The doctor gently looked her friend in the eyes. "Mei, what happened here? Where are the others?"

Before Mei could answer, a sudden chill ran down their spines. The group shivered in the already unforgiving cold, but for Edward, this was a foreboding feeling he's gotten used to by now. At that moment, five spectral figures stood by Mei's side, 3 on her left and 2 on her right - placing her right in the middle of the ghostly row. They symbolically placed their hands on her shoulder, as if they were trying to comfort her. Edward immediately realized that these were the spirits of the base's former staff members: researcher Adams, engineer MacReady, cryo-engineers Opara and Torres, and climatologist Arrhenius.

"Mercy, I don't mean to scare you, but the answer to your second question is standing right in front of you. All five of them. I'm sorry, but Doctor Zhou here is the sole survivor." he spoke to her telepathically.

"What?" Angela stared at him with a half confused, half terrified expression. "You’re not joking, right?"

Although she cannot see his face, Angela could tell he was looking at her with a dead serious visage.

"Let me see if they are willing to talk." Edward squeezed her shoulder and proceeded to approach the ghostly retinue.

He set his eyes on the apparition of a dark-skinned man of African descent. He wore a blue parka with a brown shawl wrapped around his neck and a yellow beanie on his head. A thin-framed spectacle with small circle lenses rested on his face, and seemed to be smoking a lit cigar, not unlike Jesse's. Edward identified this man as cryo-engineer Opara, captain of the Ecopoint's team. Opara immediately took notice on him, he tossed his cigar and crushed it under his foot.

"Ah, so rescue finally came after all these years. I must say you have a unique perceptiveness, maybe that is why you can see us. Captain Opara, at your service," the cryo-engineer spoke with a thick Numbanian accent, extending his hand to shake Edward's own. Being a ghost, Opara's hand passed through Edward's own, causing him to sigh in frustration. "Sometimes, I forget that I am already dead. We all do."

"My sincerest of apologies, Captain Opara. For what happened to you and your crew," Edward said solemnly. "Call me Warden. We were sent here immediately after receiving a transmission from Doctor Zhou. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened here?"

"E-excuse me?" Mei asked in utter shock and disbelief, rage began building up in her core. She then proceeded to pull Angela aside. "Doctor Ziegler, who is this man? And why is he talking to nothing but thin air? And referring to Captain Opara at that?!" Her voice increasing with each question asked.

"It's a long story, Mei. And I know this sounds rather outlandish, but he can interact with those we cannot see," replied Angela, leaving the climatologist in a dumbfounded state. "We will explain everything later, I promise."

"Doctor Zhou," Edward turned around to face her, having obviously overheard Mei's questions. "I am sorry for excluding you from our conversation. As Mercy had said before, all shall be explained later. I know I am asking a lot, especially that I'm nothing more than a stranger to you. But for now, please have faith in me."

The raw honesty on Edward's voice was enough to calm Mei down, her curiosity was also sparked which rivaled her previously dominant skepticism.

With that, Edward returned to his conversation with the retinue.

"That's Mei, alright." Arrhenius, the Swedish climatologist chuckled.

"Now, to answer your question Warden, we got hit by a massive blizzard. Our solar array and communications tower got damaged, cutting us off from the outside world. As our supplies dwindled, we entered cryostasis in a last-ditch effort to survive until a rescue attempt could be made. However, our pods malfunctioned, cutting our oxygen supply and suffocating us to death," said Opara. "And we have been here ever since."

Edward nodded. "Once again captain, I convey my deepest regret, and humbly ask for your forgiveness on the behalf of Overwatch. Our organization was crippled by the time you lost contact with the outside world, and eventually disbanded. But now that we have been reactivated, we are going to make sure to never repeat such a fatal mistake."

"There is no need to be sorry, son." Opara attempted to place his hand on Edward's shoulder only for it to phase through him again. "Right, ghost. Anyway, something tells me you are not the one who caused all of this mess to happen."

"If I may ask, what keeps you here?" Edward asked again. "I assume you all have an unfinished business of some sort?"

"Why, to watch over Mei of course. We are not abandoning one of our own behind," answered Arrhenius, determination brimming from her voice. "But, we can see she is in good hands now. My my, such relief, such lightness! It's been a long time since I have felt anything like this."

Edward knew his time was running out as the spirits were finally able to move on. "Before you depart from this world, do you have any last wishes?"

"Before power went down for good, Mei copied everything in our database. Please, let the world know about our work, and do take care of her, Warden." The climatologist smiled.

"Consider it done, ma'am. One last question, where can we find your bodies? Dead or alive, we are here to take you home."

"Oh, don't you worry about us. We don't want to trouble you more than we already have."

"Please, it is the least we can do after everything that's happened," Edward insisted.

"If you insist, you can find us in our pods in the Cryo Lab," Opara informed him as he began to fade away with the rest of his crew. "It has been a pleasure Warden. Tell Mei, we love her."

Edward nodded. "The pleasure is mine, Captain Opara, Doctor Arrhenius. Thus, our paths diverge. Go in peace." He swept his gaze across the rest of the staff, wordlessly conveying his thanks to each and every one of them, who smiled at him in return. Edward maintained his sights on them, until they have completely vanished from his field of vision.

The Crusader muttered a quick, silent prayer, and turned back towards the rest of his teammates. "Doctor Zhou, we are going to the Cryo Lab to retrieve your friends. Would you like to come with us or --."

"Yes, I am coming with you," Mei answered firmly.

Due to the power outage, the whole research complex had a dark gloomy atmosphere to it. The howls of wind whistling through the empty, darkened hallways and shattered windowsills only strengthened that brooding ominous feeling. Edward took point with Mei while Brigitte and Angela followed behind them. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

Despite the complete blackout throughout the entire Ecopoint, the Cryo Lab was still operational. Mei explained the lab was completely separated from the main power grid and thus was equipped with its own independent power source. The four quickly got to work, inspecting each cryostasis pod and confirmed that they were containing the corpses of Adams, Arrhenius, MacReady, Torres, and Opara himself. In front of each pod, were mugs of varying colors filled with frozen tea - Edward surmised that Mei must've put them there some time ago, out of respect for her fallen friends.

"So much for computerized controls. We have to rip them open somehow," said Brigitte, after attempting to open the hatches via the lab's malfunctioning computer console. She then tried to pry Arrhenius' glass hatch open, but despite her armor enhancing her strength and being naturally strong herself, Brigitte was unsuccessful in her effort.

"Fan!" she cursed in her native tongue.

"Tillåt mig," Edward replied back in Swedish, catching Brigitte by surprise. " Ja jag pratar lite Svenska."

He stood in front of the pods, stretched out both palms, and closed his eyes. Getting the memo, Brigitte moved out of the way. Within moments, the groaning of metal and cracking glass reverberated throughout the lab which climaxed in a chaotic chorus of crushing steel and shattering glass as he tore the hatches from their hinges, and tossed them into the courtyard below.

Mei was completely speechless after witnessing what happened, keeping her eyes glued on him. She simply couldn't believe it. They've only known each other for give or take thirty minutes, but everything Edward pulled off in that time span blew her mind compared to everything Mei experienced during her entire scientific career. At least for the telekinesis part.

Still using his power, Edward unzipped the body bags Angela had provided and one by one, carefully placed the frozen remains inside using his arcane grip in order to not damage them.

Edward walked towards Mei, who was trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing. "Doctor Zhou, I know it's hard to believe everything you have just witnessed in the last half an hour, but Doctor Arrhenius told me you have copied everything about your work before power went down for good. Do you still have the copy with you?" Edward asked as soft as his helmet would allow him to.

"Y-yes, I do." Mei pulled out a white USB with an Overwatch insignia on it from her utility bag. "H-how did you --."

"As I said before, I will explain everything later. But for now, we must know, where are the computer servers?"

"It's that way, take the stairs and turn left, you can't miss it. May I ask why?"

"Call it a preventive measure, doctor. Ladies, your Thermite Grenades please. In the meantime, call Ray for extraction Brigitte. I shouldn't take long."

After receiving Brigitte's and Angela's grenades respectively, he went off on his own towards the server room where he pulled the pins and melted every single data containing electronics to worthless piles of half molten scrap metal. Just to be sure, he also chucked one of his fragmentation grenades in there to turn everything into a million pieces.

"What was that explosion just now?" Brigitte asked him when Edward returned to the Cryo Lab. "I thought Thermite Grenades don't go off like that."

"Well, I tossed an extra in there. You can't be too careful with Talon. Stand back, and cover your ears." Edward warned his team before switching his rifle to full-auto mode, and emptying its entire magazine on the lab's computers. "Now we're done," he concluded, placing his spent magazine into one of his armor's empty magazine holders, loading a fresh one, and slipping his index and middle fingers to the rifle's charging handle, racking a round into the chamber, before flicking the safety back on.

"Talon? As in the terrorist organization, Talon?" Mei inquired as the earsplitting barrage of gunshots dissipated. "What's this got to do with them?"

"We don't know, doctor. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Those bastards would try to get their hands on every piece of our intel."

"Heads up people, we have four Talon gunships approaching our AO. I'm coming in hot." Ray warned them. "Get your team ready on the helipad, Warden!"

Edward lifted the body bags with his arcane grip. "You heard the man, move out! On the double!"

They sprinted back to their extraction point, and Ray's MV-261 Orca appeared from the icy cliffs, hovering only a stone's throw away from the ground. Edward passed the body bags to Luna's telekinetic grip as he was about to enter the helipad's connecting building. They quickly raced up the stairs and hopped aboard through the opened bay door. As the aircraft started ascending, Mei was, needless to say, shocked - when she set her eyes on Luna who was securing the body bags on the loading bay with ATHENA's guidance. With no time to explain, Edward helped Mei to her seat, strapped the safety harness, and stowed her gear away before doing the same himself.

"Hang on to your butts people, we are going hypersonic," warned the pilot as he throttled them away from the scene.

Just as when they thought they were safe however, ATHENA's voice started blaring throughout the aircraft.

"Missile! Missile! Missile!"

Seeing the imminent threat, Ray took a sharp turn to the right while deploying the aircraft's chaffs and flares, causing the missile to miss its mark. However, a second missile soon caught up to the Orca. Ray cursed, jerking the aircraft aside in order to avoid the missile. This time the guided ordinance exploded close to the aircraft, damaging one of its rear engines, but the craft was still flight capable.

"I think I have a plan, but you have to trust me!" Luna called out, before telepathically relaying her plans to Edward.

The alicorn proceeded to teleport out from the aircraft and swiftly flew into the approaching blizzard. Edward disengaged his safety harness and rushed to the bridge, taking the co-pilot seat and strapping himself in, much to Ray's confusion.

"Ray, fly into the blizzard! Luna has a plan!"

The bearded pilot looked at Edward from underneath his flight helmet as if he had lost his mind. However, he quickly obliged to his command after they were barraged by autocannons. The shots rattled the ship and multiple damage indicators started popping out on their screens.

"You better be right about this one Warden!" he gritted his teeth as the ship accelerated evasively towards the blizzard with three Talon gunships in hot pursuit.

As they soared through the icy curtain, the already roaring storm intensified tenfold as Luna's influence on the weather began to take effect. Outside, the air temperature dropped beyond human comprehension as the ship's weather HUD displayed absurd numbers of below zero. Strangely however, only the attackers were adversely affected as ice started forming throughout the gunships and encased them not unlike a caterpillar in a cocoon. They froze mid-air and fell to the icy plains below, shattering them into pieces. Gradually, the blizzard calmed down and Luna teleported back into the aircraft.

"Wait, where's the other one? I'm not seeing them anywhere on our radar. I know they are stealth, but if they’re in pursuit, we should be able to see them by now," called Fareeha from the conference table below.

"My bet? It landed on the Ecopoint, scavenging for intel and what not." Edward turned his attention to the pilot sitting next to him. "Ray, how are we doing? Can we make it back to base in one piece?"

He nodded. "But with one of the rear jets damaged, I cannot push her too hard. This little setback will cost us two hours from our total flight time."

"We can live with that, keep us posted." Edward unstrapped himself from the co-pilot's seat, and descended to the living quarters to attend to his friends. Behind him, Ray radioed the Watchpoint about their current condition.

He thanked Luna for saving them, and introduced her to an extremely dumbfounded Mei who was only able to reply with trembling, broken words, and a gaze of shock and awe.

Edward removed his helmet, revealing his face which put Mei at a relative ease. He then knelt to meet her on eye level.

"Doctor Zhou, my name is Agent Edward Berg. The lovely ladies by the conference table are Agents Fareeha Amari and Brigitte Lindholm. I believe you are well-acquainted with Doctor Ziegler here. I know you have a lot of questions, doctor, so do fire away, and we will gladly answer them for you."

Reaper stood in silence on the center of the Ecopoint's cryo lab, observing his men as they turned the whole place upside down, searching for any piece of useful information they could find. But unfortunately, there was nothing to be found aside from the server room whose contents have been melted and pulverized beyond all hope of salvation, destroyed computers, and empty cryo pods. Whoever had done this was very meticulous in disposing of sensitive information.

Reaper had a hunch of the perpetrator, but he secretly wished with all of his being that his gut feeling would only remain as such. Thankfully, his tactical mask which was crafted to resemble a yellowed owl skull obscured his expression.

"Sir, I think you should take a look at this." One of his soldiers approached him with a bullet extracted from one of the computers inside a small transparent evidence bag.

Upon laying his eyes on the projectile and observing it closely, Reaper felt something he hasn't felt in a long time.

Fear.

Author's Note

Updated!

So, here's a bit of dictionary for you (native speakers of the following languages, please correct me if I am wrong).

Quod seminat hoc et metet: Latin, roughly translated to "whatever one sows, that he will also reap."

Lass mich in ruhe: German, roughly translated as "leave me alone." but in this context, could also be used like "gimme a break." or "good grief." (you just read that in Jotaro's voice didn't you?)

Fan: Swedish for "damn!" or "fuck!".

Tillåt mig: Swedish for "Allow me."

Ja jag pratar lite Svenska: Swedish, roughly translated as "Yes, I do speak a little bit of Swedish."

As always, thank you for XIII Hearts for editing this chapter.