Medellín Southern Jungle Wall
The tremors came first. Then the jungle began to howl.
Flames curled over the tree line as the final push began. A hundred enemy units surged forward with Orisa tanks leading the charge, Skirmisher blades slicing through the black smoke, Bastions locking down corridors of fire. At their rear, the hulking Ravager strode like a god of war, its molten plating glowing with every step.
Overwatch lines braced for the end.
But then a voice cut through the chaos, his voice commanding, calm, lethal.
"Fall back to kill zone sectors. Heavy units up front. Thorns behind cover. Bastions in range, light 'em up."
Gabriel Reyes walked through the fire with a hand cannon already raised. The Thorns didn't hesitate. He wasn't their original commander. He wasn't the face they looked for. But he was the one they needed now.
"Focus fire on the Orisa units!" Reyes barked, pointing his gun like a war banner. "Don't let them breach the flank!"
S3bastian detonated a plasma burst near the left corridor. Leslie and Felix dragged wounded back behind makeshift barricades, administering Blackline before returning to position. Marco and Sonya gunned down two Skirmishers trying to scale the supply crates.
Reyes kept moving.
He fired three times getting three clean kills. Each shot was precise. Efficient. And his voice never stopped.
"Steve, suppress the western slope. Virginia, watch the sky. Skirmishers are flanking through the trees. S3bastian, with me!" They held and he held with them. For a time.
Medical Tent, Field Base Bravo
Shawn's eyes snapped open. He didn't gasp. He didn't scream. He simply moved.
Dwayne, startled, dropped the water canister he was holding. "Shawn?! You shouldn't move, your body's still...."
"Status," he croaked, standing unsteadily.
"They're in final push. Reyes is leading. We're… holding. For now."
His legs shook. The burns hadn't fully healed. His muscles ached like splintered steel.
He reached for the Blackline injector strapped to the cot, looking to speed up his healing process.
"Don't," Dwanye said. "You can't keep using Vital Synch like this. The last time..."
"I'm not using it again," Shawn muttered, locking the injector into his arm. "It's not sustainable. But I can still fight."
He staggered forward. His body refused demanding rest. But his will didn't. He still had much work to do. Step by step, he left the tent.
Kill Zone Collapsing
The left barricade exploded into ash. A Ravager rifle cannon took out two turrets and buckled an Overwatch tank. Reyes ducked behind a metal slab, gritting his teeth. "We're losing ground!"
"South corridor breached!" Sonya yelled.
Bastions locked down suppressive lanes. Skirmishers leapt into the second row. Fire rained down. They couldn't fall back any further because there was nothing left to fall back to. If they went for the jungle, they would get shot down before they made it.
"Seb, hit the coolant lines," Reyes snapped.
"I've got two percent charge and no miracles."
"Then overload anyway."
S3bastian raised his scorched arm, hesitating. Doing so would mean permanent damage to himself. Usually, only Shawn would be able to give him such an order. However, Shawn wasn't here right now, so authority was relinquished to the highest authority. Meaning Gabriel Reyes. Of course, Shawn knew this might happen, so he installed a failsafe of sorts. S3bastian could make a choice. Sparks sputtered but not in the usual good way, but the omnic lunged forward regardless.
That's when the static hit. A faint charge. Then a bolt of lightning snapped through the air blasting the first line of Bastions, destroying their circuits.
Reyes turned, stunned.
From the smoke walked Shawn Rose, bandaged, skin blistered in areas, eyes filled with heat. Shawn didn't speak as he didn't need to. It was the time for action, and they were just going to waste time in telling him to finish healing instead of helping them.
He moved like a ghost through the battlefield, electricity flickering between his fingers. He disabled Skirmishers with precision strikes by frying their joints, ripping the charge from their chests. He was slower than before, but every movement was deliberate. Calculated making it all the more meaningful.
He moved with a clear decision. No more reckless healing with Vital Synch. He had learned a valuable lesson about Vital Synch. He wasn't going to abuse it anymore, using it only when needed on the most critical of injuries.
The world didn't need another martyr, which he had almost become. The world needed a soldier, a healer. Thats what he needed to be.
"Where do you need me?" he asked Reyes between bursts of thunder.
Reyes smirked. "Thought you'd never ask. Hold that left lane. I'll clear the center."
With Shawn hammering the rear Skirmishers and Reyes taking point, the line solidified. The Thorns rallied backing both men in their pushes.
Leslie and Steve flanked with cover fire. S3bastian, hobbling but defiant, unloaded a final burst into a retreating Bastion. Sonya caught a charging Orisa with an explosive blade to the throat, lobbing its head off.
Reyes finished the Ravager himself firing two shots into the knees, one final shot into its core. The machine toppled. And with it, the omnic line cracked. They could feel that the retreat call was made, as omnics began turning. The remaining Skirmishers slowly backed on all fours, trying to look intimidating as they covered their retreating Bastions. They fled back into the burning jungle.
The jungle smoldered. Bodies, metal and human, littered the field.
Shawn dropped to one knee, panting. The Blackline stimulant barely kept his heart steady but helped speed his recovery. His fingers twitched. Every inch of him screamed at each new injury he gained. But he was alive.
Reyes walked past, offered a hand.
"You look like shit, kid."
"Yeah. So, what's your excuse." Shawn muttered.
"Your teams pretty good. Mind if I have them?" Gabriel asked.
"Pretty good, huh." He says as he looks at them still moving to clean up the aftermath. He knew that without them, this city most definitely would have fallen. And they did this without his assistance.