legionworld | A sniper never stays in one place for too long

A sniper never stays in one place for too long

Who| Ana plus anyone who wants to bug her
What| Exploring her new surroundings
Where| Observation Deck
When| Post Lantern Plot
Warnings/Notes| None

Superheroes. That was new.

Well, if you wanted to get technical, Overwatch had been as close to superheroes one could get in Ana's world. After all, they had super soldiers, super intelligent apes, cyborg ninjas, some goofball who still thought it was the wild west, among many, many others.

But still, actual superheroes were new. And now Ana was one of them, super powers and all.

Once the situation had been explained to her, about this new reality and the threat of Chronoblivion, it didn't take Ana long to accept joining the Legion. It had been a long time since she'd been in any kind of formal unit, but at the very least the Legion seemed laid back enough she wouldn't have to say 'Sir, yes sir' to anybody any time soon.

After her release from Med Bay, Ana took to wandering around Legion World, quietly stalking the halls to get her bearings. The Anthramite clothiers had tried to convince her to adopt all sorts of different costume designs, but she decided on simply slapping the Legion symbol on the shoulder of her cloak. She wasn't much one for flashy designs. Flashy could get a sniper killed.

After quietly sneaking for what must have been hours, occasionally testing out her new found invisibility powers, she found herself in the observation deck. In her later days in Overwatch, Winston would occasionally tell her what it was like to watch the earth from afar from the Horizon lunar colony, but it didn't really prepare her for the sight. She gripped the rails as she watched the earth spin slowly below.

On a whim, she sat down on the edge of the platform, letting her feet dangle off the edge. This drew a couple curious glances from some nearby staff, but Ana paid them no mind. An experienced sniper felt comfortable with heights, and this was certainly the furthest up she had ever been.

Even if it might seem childish for someone her age, she decided to just enjoy herself for the moment.

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Appreciating an amazing view is far more important than not looking childish, and this one is a doozy.

It's only been a day or so, but Greg's not sure if he'll ever get used to the sight of the planet out there. It feels strange to even call it Earth, when it hardly looks like his own. He really is far from home. A lifetime of books, songs, and dreams of space haven't braced him for this.

Greg leans on the rail, not too far from the fellow stargazer, and tries to memorize the sight of it.

"Funny how a little angle shift changes the whole view, right?"

"Definitely," Ana laughed. "It's a sight to remember, that's for sure."

She leaned back, looking up at Greg, before reaching out a hand to shake.

"Ana Amari. Nice to meet you."

He took her hand, shaking it warmly.

"Greg Universe. Pleasure's mine."

After releasing her hand, he looked back out to the planet. "You know, they say that's Earth, but it doesn't look like the same one I'm from. What about you?" He paused, then began to knead his forehead. "Boy, when did my life hit the point where I assumed other people're aliens. Sorry."

Ana laughed again. He was an odd one for sure.

"It's...somewhat similar, I guess. The only real difference is the moon is intact back home, lunar colony remains and all."

She knocks her knuckles against the platform.

"Plus, we didn't have something like this floating in orbit either."

"Yeah, the whole space station thing is pretty new." He leaned heavily against the rail. "Everything about it."

Under different circumstances, he'd have found this all pretty dang cool.

"Never been to space before. Just sang about it. You ever visited your uh, lunar colony?"

"No, I was on active duty in the military and Overwatch while it still active. Besides, it was mostly a research lab for the effects of long term space colonization. But then one of the experiments involving genetically modified gorillas got out of control and they took over the colony, killing the scientists, so no one goes there now."

It was a pretty grim tale, but at least some good eventually came out of it.

"The only one to escape was Winston, one of the gorillas who was opposed to idea of killing the scientists. He made his own rocket, flew down to earth, and eventually joined Overwatch as a scientist and field operative."

She chuckled at the absurdity of the whole thing. Still, she'd always been fond of Winston. He had always been the most optimistic out of the whole team.

"I can't tell you how many times I'd catch Winston late at night, staring wistfully up at the moon. He'd deny it, but I could tell he missed his old home. Poor kid, I can only imagine what it was like to go through all of that."

Greg found himself staring. More than the content of what she'd said (which was plenty already,) it was how casually she said it. Genetically modified gorillas or no, people didn't generally chuckle after talking about a massacre. It said a heck of a lot about her.

After a moment of hesitation, Greg sat.

"Sort of reminds me of my girlfriend," he admitted. Usually comparing your girlfriend to a gorilla would get you in trouble, but he has the sneaking suspicion Rose wouldn't have minded in the slightest.

"She gave up everything to protect my planet. It was thousands of years before I was born, but... as much as she loved Earth, I got the feeling she never stopped thinking about her home. Even when it's for a good reason, it's hard to leave everything you know."

With all of the horrible things that had happened since the start of the first Omnic crisis, Ana and a lot of other Overwatch members developed a habit of compartmentalizing things. It wasn't really healthy, mind you, but at least it let her focus on the silver lining of the whole lunar colony incident. Out of the original founding members, only Reinhardt and Torbjorn seemed relatively healthy, out of massive optimism and stubbornness, respectively.

Over time, Ana had become acutely aware of the effect it had on some people. Even though it certainly wasn't healthy reinforcing something like that, she was typically more comfortable around the other Overwatch members who understood. Even spending seven years wandering the world on her own hadn't really help much in this department.

Even so, she continued talking, even though her tone shifted ever so slightly. She still wasn't used to anything anyone could call 'civilian life'.

"Oh?" she replied, a little more warmly. "She sounds like quite an amazing person. But people who go through extraordinary things like that tend to be. The ones who have been through the most often are the ones most willing to give."

Despite going through her fair share of hardships, Ana only ever considered herself two things: a soldier and a mother, but not much of a hero. She was often much harder on herself than she was on everyone else.

Edited 2016-07-30 14:51 (UTC)

It seems like every time Pidge finds a battle worth fighting, another bigger battle looms on the horizon. Sure, she understands that the Chronoblivion will make every sacrifice every has made to fight the Galra meaningless, but that doesn't mean it's not a step -a million steps- away from her family, the whole reason she was involved in any of this in the first place.

Back to square one and it sucks.

And when she walks by the observation deck, invisible so she doesn't have to talk to anyone on her way back to her room. She needs something to work on and-

And there's Earth. As close as she's been to it in a long time and yet still too far away, way too far away. She leans over the side of the rail, as far forward as she can manage, overwhelmed by emotions and her eyes welling with tears before-

Her invisibility is gone. All of a sudden. When did that happen? And why did it have to happen right beside a total stranger?

Ana was only slightly taken aback when Pidge suddenly appeared next to her. After all, she was able to go invisible herself, so it wasn't out of the question that someone else might also be able to do the same.

Looking up at the young girl, Ana's face softened. She was reminded of her daughter at that age.

"Penny for your thoughts, dear?" she asked, patting the ground next to her, inviting Pidge to sit down. Her smile was warm and inviting.

She didn't want to prod unnecessarily, but she was also a mother. It was in her nature to want to help.

She stared at Ana for a moment, blinking.

"Oh! Uh, it's nothing."

But still Pidge sat down, kicking her feet over the edge of the platform.

"...I always wanted to see this." But there's no excitement or awe in her voice. Just the kind of helpless, frustrated sadness that comes when you're fighting someone else's battles instead of your own.

Ana wasn't too surprised at Pidge's response. Kids at that age are rarely open with their feelings, even if they try to deny how obvious they are.

Still, even just talking can help ease a troubled mind, so she decided to stick with that for now.

"I have a friend back home, Winston. He was born on the moon. Well, raised there. He was never really clear on whether he was born there or not."

She looked down at the Earth below, still smiling fondly.

"He used to tell me what it was like, watching the earth from afar like this, how beautiful it was. Never thought I'd ever get to see it for myself, honestly."

She looked back over at Pidge, wearing a bit of a silly-looking grin.

"Winston's a gorilla, you know. Genetically modified, super intelligent gorilla. I had the weirdest coworkers."

It made for interesting stories, at least.

Suddenly, Pidge perks up. How about that?

"Really? I know some intelligent mice once, but they were aliens. And spent ten thousand years in cryogenic sleep in a castle with an alien princess where they mind-melded...OK, now that I say it out loud, the gorilla doesn't seem so far-fetched."

Pidge may not yet be able to give Ana a run for her money in weird coworkers, but she's getting there.

"My dad used to tell me how amazing it was to get to see the earth from space. His life's work was to find evidence of alien life. He liked to think that they would find Earth just as pretty as he did."

Before he and her brother and Shiro were kidnapped by them. That knowledge colors every memory she has of her family, and it's the reason she's not smiling by the end of her sentence.

She had chuckled when Pidge went on about the mice, and even though Pidge wasn't smiling by the time she'd finished talking, Ana still smiled fondly.

"Your father was some sort of astronaut, then? You sound very proud of him."

It sounded like Pidge's problem had something to do with her father, at the very least. She wouldn't try to pry too deeply, but to Ana, it was always better to let things out than bottle them in.

She'd done the latter for 7 years after getting shot and losing her eye. It wasn't the greatest idea ever.

"Yeah...Maybe a little jealous too. He was going to study Kerberos with my older brother. I really wanted to go with them."

Ana can probably sense the "but" that's about to follow. "And then...they vanished. The Galacy Garrison said there was a crash due to a 'pilot error.'"

Pidge grips the railing a little harder. This still makes her angry, that they wouldn't tell her the truth about her family. That they wouldn't tell her anything about her family.

Ana's expression grew more sorrowful and sympathetic at the mention of Pidge's family going missing. She wondered if Fareeha had felt the same way when she herself had gone missing in action for those seven years.

"You said they 'said' there was a crash. You don't believe them?"

It was a subtle thing, but Ana hadn't been Overwatch's second-in-command by ignoring little details.

"I didn't, but it's not about believing anymore. I went and looked for myself. The Garrison's footage showed absolutely no evidence of a crash. And after that, I joined the Garrison for myself so I could keep my connection to what they knew and have a place to scan the skies for any clues. Anything I could find.

...And I found aliens. The most ruthless empire in the galaxy. They took my brother, my father, and my team's leader. Not that I knew he'd be that at the time."

And she's scrunching up on herself, folding into a ball seemingly unconsciously. She hadn't meant for everything to come out like this but...there it was.

"We got him back but...my family are still kidnapped. I don't know when I'll ever see them again."

Ana lightly placed her hand on Pidge's shoulder. Just enough to let her know she was there for her.

It felt almost ironic at this point, trying to reassure this young girl about her missing family after disappearing for seven years herself without telling her own daughter. But still, someone needed to be there for Pidge, hypocritical or otherwise.

"They are alive. And because they are alive, there's hope, and that's the first step to finding them again."

She gave Pidge a small, somber smile.

"I know it's hard, and you feel desperate and lonely. I won't tell you to ignore that. But when things are darkest, always reach for the light. As long as there is a chance to save them, you have something to reach for.

"Besides, this Time Trapper fellow? From what I've seen, he's no slouch at picking out the best of the best to bring here. Sure, he's a bit of a jerk and some of his picks are still rough around the edges, but there's potential here, in each and every one of us. Including you.

"It might seem hopeless now, but you are strong. Believe in that strength."

Pidge doesn't really have much to stay to that. It's exactly what she wants to believe, that they're out there, and she won't stop until she has real proof.

One way or the other.

She's tearing up again, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. That was going to get gummy pretty quick if she can't stop herself. These are feelings she knows all too well, but it never gets any easier.

"It's just...How many more times will I have to change my plan before something sticks!? I already had to join the Garrison because they wouldn't tell me anything, and I was OK with that. And then I joined Team Voltron, to stop the Galra Empire for everyone and now...I'm here and it feels like I have to start all over again!"

Ana pulled out an old, worn handkerchief from her coat, offering it to Pidge.

"Life is never a straight path. It is messy and frustrating, for some more than others. And there are times when it will be cruel and unfair. That is simply reality."

She had faced her fair share of loss and grief at the hands of fate. She learned that simply ignoring or denying it was perhaps the worst thing a person could do to themselves.

"But hope doesn't exist to make us forget about all of that, or make it easier on us. It's there so we can press on, in spite of our hardships. It's okay to feel angry or sad or frustrated. That's what makes you human. But never, ever give up."

Ana's grip on Pidge's shoulder tightens slightly in a reassuring gesture.

"I'll do every thing I can to help you get home as quickly as possible. And if you ever need someone to vent to or a shoulder to cry on, I'm always here."

"So how much longer do I have to rely on hope?!"

Yeah, she's angry but she's not angry at Ana, or anything. The whole universe maybe? Fate? Something else completely irrational to be angry at. She can wipe all the defiant tears out of her eyes she wants and it isn't going to change anything, and that's the problem.

"I'm sorry, I know there's nothing I can do but keep going but..."

But she sounds like a dumb child here, but it's the truth.

"...it's just not fair."

"As long as it takes," she replied somberly. "Because if you give up, you'll lose all the ground you've taken, and everything you've suffered was for nothing."

She knew that particular pain quite well. She had faltered, she abandoned her family and everything collapsed in her absence. She might not have directly caused the fall of Overwatch, but she still hadn't been there to fight against it.

She pulled out a small, circular device, and hit a button on the side of it. A holographic image appeared above it, depicting a group photo of a number of soldiers wearing blue body armor. Towards the middle stood a much younger Ana, surrounded by her closest comrades. Some of them looked out of place, with unique equipment or prosthetics.

This was Overwatch, near the beginning.

One by one, she started pointing out different faces in the photo.

"Johnson joined the military to pay for his brother and sister to go to school. Zhao lost his home in the first Omnic Crisis. Jakande needed money for her father's cancer treatments. Mateu was just an idealistic kid who wanted to help people."

She pointed to a group down near the bottom. A hulking soldier wearing high tech, knight-like armor. A diminutive Swedish man with an unusual cybernetic arm. Ana herself, flanked by two slightly younger men. They all appeared to be extremely close friends, a bond forged in battle.

"Everyone in this picture but these five are long gone. Most KIA, some MIA. They were like family to me, and I lost so many of them. I could only protect them so much.

"But there have been more members of Overwatch since then. And even though we lost many of our friends and family, we kept fighting. I protected those I could. I did what I had to, even when it hurt more than anything. Because losing more family would hurt far worse.

"Overwatch may have fallen, but many of its old members are still alive because we fought to protect each other."

She turned off the holo-projector, and looked back at Pidge.

"But you're far younger than any of us ever were when we fought. It is unfair that this falls on you. Which is why if you need anything, I'm here."

She paused, and gave Pidge a warm smile.

"My name is Ana, by the way."

A small bipedal rabbit leapt up onto the rails, taking a seat on them.

"Amazing, right? I don't think I could ever get tired of that view."

Most kids went through a period of wanting to be an astronaut. Not Judy. She couldn't remember a time when she didn't want to be a police officer. However, that didn't mean she she wasn't excited about being in space.

"You're new, right? Judy Hopps." She said, putting out a paw to shake.

Ana probably would have been more startled at the 'talking rabbit' thing had she not worked with Winston all those years. Instead, she's more startled at how tiny Judy was.

"It's a sight to behold, that's for sure," she replied with a laugh, shaking Judy's paw. "Ana Amari, pleased to meet you."

Gwen happened to be sticking to wall and listening to some of the music on her phone when she spotted the arrival. It wasn't anything particularly special to her, she just liked having a good vantage point when zoning out. Most people knew what she could do at this point, and the ones that didn't, well...

It wasn't like she was in any danger of falling off anytime soon.

Situational awareness was a sniper's best friend. Even in an unfamiliar situation, she always kept her eyes (well, eye) open. So she managed to notice Gwen fairly quickly.

She was momentarily taken aback by the young woman sticking to the wall, but given the weirdos she worked with, she recovered quickly and laughed.

"That looks like a fun trick," she called up. "...Kind of wish I had gotten that power instead."

Invisibility was useful, sure. But wall-crawling? Imagine the shots she could line up with that!

"Huh? Oh, you mean the sticking-to-walls thing? Yeah, I'd be pretty bad at being Spider-Woman if I couldn't do something like this." Fortunately, she had managed to keep that bit of her powers.

"Have you thought about asking some of the people here? Maybe they might hook you up with some gear."

Edited 2016-08-26 04:18 (UTC)

"Probably shouldn't," she replied with a smirk. "Running along walls at my age is probably a good way to end up with a broken hip or something."

Not that she was in bad shape or anything. But being old came with the perk of being able to constantly complain about being old.

"Spider-Woman, huh? I was never big on using code-names even back when half of Overwatch was using them. But they made me pick one to join the Legion, so I guess I go by Wadjet now."

"It would probably make more sense to you if you saw my costume and my web-shooters. Thought I may as well keep using the name here. Not that... it really matters too much considering how my secret identity is actually, kind of, sort of public knowledge."

Because they were all official and stuff.

"Overwatch your old team or something?"

"Something like that, but we were more or less military. A far cry from this Legion."

Unlike a certain brooding super-soldier, Ana didn't really have many hangups reminding herself she used to be a part of a team. Sure, she had issues, but she was still proud of what they had all accomplished together.

"I'm guessing superheroes are more normal where you come from? Even though you could probably classify half of Overwatch as superheroes, I'm still kind of wrapping my head around the idea."

"Yeah, you could... say that." Not just in her universe, but in several other known universes, too. "I kind of had a bit of a public image problem back home. Wasn't thought of much of a hero. More like uh, a menace." Public enemy number one, that was her!

At least she was a top of their list, or something.

"Police would just love to lock me up and throw away the key. You know how that goes."

"I know exactly what you mean," Ana chuckled.

Though it wasn't really much of a laughing matter, she still felt it rather ironic that the world loved Overwatch when the Omnic Crisis first went down, but as soon as people forgot those hard fought battles, any new issue was laid at Overwatch's door as if it was their fault in the first place. She wondered how much of it was honestly how the public felt, and how much of it was media manipulation.

"Let's just say that Overwatch wasn't well regarded right before it got...well. Shut down."

"Sounds like it was a pretty rough time for you." Gwen sort of just scratched the back of her head.

"Was it true, though? The stuff that people were thinking about your group, I mean."

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A sniper never stays in one place for too long

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