Leaving the party was a simple affair. While the guards were investigating the bathrooms where Sombra had been 'stabbed', she slipped away into the shadows like a ghost. The two of you linked up outside the university, taking one of the golden row boats to escape the vicinity. From there, you snuck through the alleyways of Oasis, hearing sirens overhead as the authorities began to realise what had happened. But they were too late.
Within half an hour, you reached the outskirts of the city, reuniting with Moira in her underground hidey-hole. The scientist neglected to congratulate you at the time, instead immediately calling upon the exfiltration shuttle, and within another ten minutes you found yourselves sat in the back of a shuttle, flying away over the vast Arabian Desert. There you sat, the memory drive in your pocket and a smile on your face, gladdened by a hugely successful mission.
Sombra took a seat opposite you, her happiness broken only by the tear that she had made in her favourite dress. You watched her for a moment as she held the fabric in her hand and rolled her eyes.
"That was quick thinking, your little performance, pleasure to watch" you commented, causing her to lighten up a little.
"Well it cost me...I hope you appreciate my dress's sacrifice" she replied jokingly.
Moira didn't seem to hear you, either that or she simply didn't care. Instead, the scientist fiddled with a hologram communicator, tampering with it until eventually a live image of Doomfist appeared in front of you all.
"Successor. I am glad to report that the mission has been successful. Sombra's distraction, coupled with Y/N's infiltration, allowed us to delete the local copy of the sensitive data, thereby eliminating any leverage the Vishkar Corporation had over us" Moira reported in a business-like tone, causing Akande to nod slowly.
"Yes, we received the transmitted data not an hour ago, excellent work. Another account settled, you are proving quite useful, Y/N. And as for you, Sombra, I think you are finally beginning to understand what is expected here. Return to base immediately and get some rest" Doomfist stated, and with that brief speech his hologram promptly disappeared again.
All of that effort for a brief pat on the back and a 'keep it up' sticker, Talon were certainly rare to give praise. Still, it had been no different in the military, for a time no matter how many days you fought with no rest, there was no reward or recognition at the end of it.
Back in Castellón, you remembered quite literally standing in trenches in the ground, briefly poking your rifle over the top before ducking back down to avoid being killed, over and over again for days on end. You were no stranger to hard work without reward.
"So...another day, another job. We're getting good at this, aren't we, amigo?" Sombra questioned, causing you to grin.
"We're a good couple...uh team, you know...partnership" you replied, provoking a chuckle from Sombra and an exasperated sigh from Moira.
The scientist swiftly stood up, leaving the room, and moving to the cockpit to get away from you both.
"Smooth, Y/N. Very smooth" Sombra answered with a wink.
"I aim to please" you responded.
Only now, after all of the excitement was over, did you realise just how exhausted you truly were. With a long sigh, you leant your head back against the wall of the shuttle and closed your eyes, letting your thoughts drift again...
You took the radio into your hands, trying your best to ignore the blood which splattered all over it, the blood of your friend. Again the message repeated, requesting any response from military units still in Miami. You guessed very few were still alive now, in fact for all you knew you could be the last one, the last man standing.
"This is Corporal Y/N L/N of the 22nd squad. My sergeant is down, and I've lost sight of the rest of my men, presumed KIA. I'm estimated...one and a half miles from rally point bravo" you reported with rapid breaths as exhaustion began to set in. To prevent yourself from collapsing, you found yourself forced to lean all of your weight on a nearby desk, which creaked under you.
"Corporal...welcome back to the land of the living, son. We'd heard nothing from your squad since dawn, what is your position?" the voice down the radio responded. You recognised the man down the comms, one Colonel James Richards. He was the one who had organised this entire assault, and was very much what you would call an armchair general. Your personal thoughts about the colonel aside, you quickly relayed the information to him, hoping to be free of this godforsaken city as soon as possible.
"I'm hunkered down in a destroyed library on 24th street, co-ordinates unknown...my locator is trashed. I've been hit, but not badly. Though I'll admit, a medevac wouldn't go amiss" you replied, wiping a long string of blood from your forehead. In the distance, you could still hear the menacing mechanic sounds of hydraulic legs slowly moving down the street. The omnics were circling you, it was only a matter of time until they found you.
"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen, son. Omnic forces are preventing anything from entering Miami airspace right now, and we've already called back all ground-based troop transports. I do have a new set of orders for you, though, relayed direct from...from the Secretary of Defence. Make your way to...32nd street, new orders will follow" Colonel Richards answered, his voice descending into static as if to say he had no further words for you. Glancing around at the war which continued to rage around you, you swore under your breath, cursing the command team for their damn orders. There they were, sat perfectly safely outside the battlefield, refusing to let you leave and forcing you further into the pit. If you didn't die from this suicide mission, you'd damn well be having words with these 'respected' generals when all of this was over...
By the time you woke up, you could already feel the shuttle descending back down into the Talon headquarters. It landed down with a bump, and you and Sombra silently exited, heading quietly back towards your shared dormitory. Even after your nap, you still felt tired, unable to hold back the occasional yawn as you moved through endless identical corridors.
After what felt like forever, you reached the dormitory, nearly staggering inside and laying down on the purple sofa with a long and drawn out sigh. Sombra, meanwhile, silently headed inside the bathroom and closed the door behind her, presumably to change out of the torn dress. You also found yourself starting to feel uncomfortable in the tuxedo, and slowly got yourself out of it, absent-mindedly tossing the jacket and trousers aside. You leant down and zipped open your suitcase of clothes from Miami, quickly slipping into a T-shirt and shorts, before returning to your laid-back position on the sofa.
Staring up at the ceiling, your thoughts once again dwelled on your past, on Miami, and the horrors therein. You heard Thompson's cry as he took the grenade for you, saw his blackened face and lifeless eyes looking right back up at you. If you listened close enough, you could almost hear the explosions of the battle, losing yourself in the past. Fifteen years. For fifteen years, you'd wondered if you'd ever escape these haunting memories. So far, you hadn't been that lucky.
This time, though, your thoughts were interrupted by Sombra, who strolled out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel. She held the dress in her hands, carefully setting it down on her bed before moving to join you on the sofa.
"You look deep in thought, amigo. What's wrong?" she questioned, a look of genuine concern on her face.
You considered telling her, according to her, your files had been so heavily encrypted that even she couldn't break them. She doesn't know about Miami. For one singular moment you prepared to tell her everything, but hesitation prevented you, and you instantly feared that she wouldn't see you the same way if you opened up.
"Nothing, I'm just tired," you lied, "it's been a hell of a day".
You could tell she didn't believe you from the frown on her face, but unlike most she didn't pry. It was actually ironic, a hacker who relished finding out people's dirty secrets didn't push you for information. You figured it was likely because she had secrets of her own.
"You're not wrong there. I could just crawl into a pit and die right about now. Still...you heard Akande, we're obviously impressing somebody. I just wish we could do more to fight Talon, rather than keep helping them" she responded, leaning back with a sigh.
As she said that final statement, you suddenly remembered the memory drive. Exhaustion and nightmares had allowed you to forget.
"I...may have a solution. Check my jacket pockets" you remarked, gesturing towards your tuxedo jacket, which was currently scattered on the floor with the rest of your clothes.
Sombra gave you an odd look, but stood up regardless, crouching down next to the jacket and rifling through the pockets. For several seconds she found nothing, until suddenly her hands wrapped around a USB drive, and she pulled it out into the light.
"A memory drive? What's on this?" she questioned, standing up and adjusting her towel slightly.
You gave an almost cocky grin as you answered.
"Oh...just data that threatens both an international technology company and a global terror network equally. It seemed a shame to just delete such a fascinating find" you replied with a smile, loving the look on Sombra's face as her eyes widened.
Without saying a word, the hacker quickly moved over to her computer and plugged in the drive, hurriedly tapping on the keys. You stayed sat down on the sofa, suddenly hoping that you'd copied the data correctly, you'd regret boasting if you hadn't. But the sudden gasp from Sombra, coupled with the many lines of information that seemed to fill her screen, confirmed your success. Whatever this secret was, you now had access to it. Fuelled by curiosity, you dragged yourself up and slowly strolled up to the computer, standing behind Sombra as she read certain words aloud.
"It's...a series of trade deals between Vishkar and Talon. It looks like that Sanjay Korpal was sent to oversee these deals in Utopaea, the company's headquarters" she stated, her eyes flitting from one line to the next as she spoke.
So, the enormous technology company wasn't entirely clean, what a shocker.
"I can see why that would be damaging to Vishkar, trading with terrorists and all, but why were Talon so concerned about this? Why were we sent to retrieve it?" you questioned in response, struggling to understand what exactly you had risked life and limb for.
"Well...that very much depends on what they were trading and...dios mío..." Sombra began, her voice suddenly trailing off as her eyes widened in shock.
You frowned, unable to read very well over her shoulder.
"What? What is it? I'm dying of suspense over here" you remarked with a tired voice.
Probably a little too sarcastic considering the stakes, but it had been a long day.
"Talon bought live omnics and mechanical salvage from Vishkar...in the thousands. There's enough here for a small army. And if Akande has acquired all of this, then he intends on using it for certain. 'Only through conflict do we evolve'" Sombra explained, quoting Doomfist at the end to prove her point.
At this point, her hands were shaking a little over the keyboard, and even you found yourself shocked, unable to find the words.
"Shit...that's bad...that madman is gonna start a global war...and we just helped erase the only evidence of it" you commented, beginning to pace around the room a little with stress.
How could this be happening? Not long ago, you would have been sat in your apartment clueless whilst terrorist organisations and tech giants threatened to end the world. Despite this, for some reason, Sombra suddenly seemed to be sat there with a big grin on her face. And then, taking you by complete surprise, she burst out laughing. She span her chair around and looked at you, only giggling further at the confused expression on your face.
"This is bad and all, really bad, but don't you see what this means? We know Talon's plan! And they have no idea! For the first time, we're a step ahead, and it's all thanks to you!" the hacker said gleefully, standing up and wrapping you in an embrace.
Despite your confusion, you found yourself smiling as well as you put your arms around her. Her happiness was nothing short of contagious, and quite soon you were chuckling too. She was right, though, knowing what Talon was up to was half the battle. And now that you knew, you could start to fight back...
Brief Summary – On the return trip, Moira reports to a pleased Doomfist about the successful mission, and you have another bout of PTSD. Back in your shared dormitory, you reveal to Sombra that you kept a copy of the data from Oasis. She accesses it, uncovering a string of trades between Vishkar and Talon. Talon is revealed to be buying weaponized omnics, presumably in the hopes of triggering another war.