You never get used to the sound of gunfire in any way, shape, or form. It all has the same effect regardless: the equal destruction of both the killed and the killer. Psychological and physical violence elope on the battlefield before waltzing to the graveyard. Devastation blurs and the ringing in your ears numbs away. Every regret hits you while life itself streaks before your very eyes. Amidst the chaos on all fronts, there's a voice slithering within. It softly pries at your mind and drills itself in like a parasite, all to say, "You've made the biggest mistake of your life." Most people of sound mind would hear that and fall to pieces like the world they live in. But there are those who counter the voice that says, "It's over" with one of their own. Weak or empowered, they still dare to utter the words I did then...

    "Not yet," I whispered as gravel scraped my lower lip and chin. My eyes listed as the heat of sulfur returned to my skin and explosions thundered around me. The sounds of blasterfire returned as a reminder of the battle at hand. I rolled over and observed smoke billowing overhead. A soldier's body flew with it and crashed beside me. My eyes widened as the man howled from his wounds and I lunged to his aid on instinct. Flames engulfed the surrounding terrain and I braced as a gunship crashed into the nearby ravine. 

    "An-g-a!" I barely heard someone scream and I turned my head. "Ang-la!" My hearing returned with a rush of footsteps. "Angela!" A navy blue-garbed soldier called out. He took a knee and clenched my arm. "I've got you, Angela!"

    "Codename," I coughed. 

    His bushy brown brows furrowed. "What?"

    "Use the codename, Captain Kovan." I intoned.

    "I've got you, Mercy." He corrected himself. 

    "What happened?" I asked while brushing dust off my face.

    "The bastards carpet-bombed our whole position!" he growled. "Most of the platoon is scattered in the ravine. Damn these Mechrons to hell!" 

    "Captain!" another soldier hollered. "Lieutenant Yabara is down!"

    "No," I gasped. I watched as the two medics fruitlessly tried to dress her extreme burns. The sounds of so many in agony clawed at me like forlorn souls, longing for salvation from their hellish reality. I forced myself up and dug both hands into the gravel. "My staff," I panted. "I need my staff!"

    Steel clanged above the slopes and Kovan primed his rifle. "Mechrons inbound!" 

    Making haste, I withdrew my Caduceus blaster and took aim. My pale pistol fired several blasts of golden energy alongside Kovan's blue lasers. The Mechron hordes rained sprays of red lasers down on our position, forcing us to take cover on the lower slope. My blasts combined with Kovan's managed to down one of the mechrons and sent it hurdling towards us. I got a closer look at its robotic frame, sharp teeth, and scarlet eyes. 

    "We're taking serious casualties," Kovan's subordinate said. "And Yabara won't make it if we stay pinned any longer! We need Mercy!"

    "We need healing!" another trooper exclaimed. 

    Amidst the blur of callouts, I caught a black hilt jutting from the distant gravel. "Is she even listening?" the subordinate asked.

    "Captain," I said calmly. "I need you to cover me."

    He grit his teeth and stared out into the wasteland of laserfire. "I hope you know what you're-"

    "I do. Now if we're to survive this, you need to cover me." I took a deep breath and steadied myself. "Now!"

    "You heard the doctor!" Kovan shouted. "Suppressive fire!" He and the others laid down a wave of lasers as I sprinted across the barren plain. Exploding grenades and sonic canisters motivated me to dash faster. With collected breaths and a focused gaze, I darted for the buried staff. This is what Overwatch had trained me for. Even if it had all fallen to pieces, this is where I carried on the parts I chose to remember. We were hope. We were honor. We were courage. We were justice. I was compassion...

    I took hold of my staff and freed it from the gravely entrapment. Its polished prongs spun as I raised it high and for a moment, the battlefield seemed to go silent. I could feel the energy surging through my staff and the rest of my suit had recharged. "Valkyrie back online," I said. The soldiers marveled as my wings began to emerge. Golden feathers comprised of pure energy radiated out of white sockets as I lifted off the ground. "Captain Kovan, tell your troops to press the attack...because the doctor is in." 

    Soldiers cheered as I soared through the ashy air. I flew to Yabara first and pointed my staff towards her. With a flick of a switch, a powerful tether of golden light wrapped around her body. She writhed for a moment, but her glower soon simmered. "That's it," I said. "I've got you." The other soldiers watched as my staff's energy caused her burns to dissipate. New flesh took their place beneath her tattered military garbs and I disengaged healing. Yabara touched her healed body, but I had already moved on by the time she wanted to thank me.

    Kovan had indeed advanced the attack as I flew overhead. Anyone the mechrons wounded was quickly back in action thanks to the miraculous powers of my staff. "That's it!" Kovan cheered. "Push them back!" A stray laser struck his arm, but I didn't even give it time to singe. He quickly felt the soothing embrace of my tether and looked up to see me winking. 

    "You're welcome!" I exclaimed. With Kovan's army back at full strength for the time being, I twirled my staff and withdrew my pistol. I only got a few shots out before I heard the cries of soldiers needing healing. Such was the life of a medic as I rushed into the fray. I swerved as a missile whisked past my body and flew toward its source. A mechron gunship was unleashing a devastating bombardment, and all of my healing would be futile if it remained operational. I fired at the ship's ventral hatch, hoping the wicked machines would take the bait. Sure enough, the hatch opened and a mechron emerged to take me on. He had merely taken aim by the time my staff met his bolted face. Screws and wiring battered the floor as I made for the cockpit. The pilot turned to receive a pistol shot at point blank. I then blasted the controls and escaped the gunship as it crashed in a fiery heap. 

    "Mercy! Mercy!" Koran's troops chanted for the completely opposite reason. I couldn't help but smile while swooping down to help deliver victory. As per battlefield tradition, any form of joy was short-lived. "Over here!" a grunting soldier called out. "We've got troops trapped under this wreckage!" My heart sank as I faintly heard wailing from beneath the debris. 

    "It's too heavy," another trooper huffed.

    I landed beside the soldiers and scanned them. Of all of them, the strongest was a bulky and stern woman. Her biceps rippled and veins pulsed as she heaved at steel. I swiveled my staff and pressed an alternate switch. In contrast to my golden healing stream came a blue as proud as my target. My boosting tether surged through her body like lightning, and the debris began to shift. The others gasped, but I snapped them back into focus. "Keep lifting!" I shouted. "Together now!" The boosted woman let out a mighty growl as the wreckage shifted. While maintaining the connection, I used my free hand to help those trapped crawl out to safety. "Get clear!" I ordered as I severed the tether. The debris plummeted and the woman lamented her extra strength taken all too soon. We shared powerful nods before returning to the conflict.

    Mechron ships had taken flight in multiple directions. To my surprise, they all spun to begin an immediate retreat. Kovan wiped the sweat from his brow and raised his rifle. "We have victory! Medevar is ours once more!" I let out a sigh of relief as cheers exploded around me. "To Mercy! The Angel of Medevar!"

    "That's not really necessary," I assured.

    "Of course it is," Kovan chuckled. "We'd have all been dead without you. I'm sure the mechrons will return, but not anytime soon. Their forces will-"

    KABOOM!

    A blast shook the hills behind us and flames climbed to the sky. "What was that?" I asked.

    Kovan's eyes narrowed. "By the stars. That was one of our transports. But...but the mechrons retreat. We saw them." A disturbing grinding directed our attention back to the sky as another Medevaran transport swerved out of control. "Take cover!" Kovan shouted as everyone scattered.

    Several soldiers and I rushed to the downed craft to check for survivors. We helped who we could out and one technician fell into my arms. "The pilots," he coughed.

    "Where are they?" I asked.

    "Gone."

    It would take all of my strength to perform a resurrection, but with enough time I could still save them. I started towards the cockpit when the technician grabbed my arm. "You don't get it. They're literally gone!" His eyes and lips twitched nervously. "I had gone to the hold to check on the troops and when I came back they had just vanished."

    I raised a brow. "That doesn't make any-" Screams echoed outside. "Sense?" I stumbled onto the dented ramp and found some commotion had begun. Soldiers were tripping over one another while some were fleeing over the hills. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Just stay here where it's safe." I turned to the technician, only to find he too had disappeared. I froze watching a cloud of dust blow away from where he once stood. "Kovan!" I called out. "Captain Kovan!" I rushed out into the madness as soldiers ran for their lives. 

    "Mercy!" he called and tripped into gravel. "What the hell is this?" We gripped each other's arms on instinct, and watched a soldier turn to dust before our very eyes. 

    "It could be the planet. Or a bioweapon," I said. "We need to get everyone offworld now!" 

    "Ships are this way!" Kovan yelled and activated comms. "All units get to space. Medevar no longer safe. Can't explain just go!"

    "Maybe it's a toxin," I suggested.

    "Damn, you could be right. All units, equip masks when until safely in space." He fastened his own while I activated my suit's breathing mouthpiece. We were nearly to the extraction zone when the ships already took off. "No!" Kovan roared.

    Soldiers clawed at the ramps while others fell off completely, some turning to dust in the process. Several ships immediately landed and dust seeped through their hatches. All around us, multiple soldiers collapsed to share the same fate while others waited for their turn. "We can still get out of here," Kovan said. "There are more shuttles north of-" He winced and dropped to his knees.

    "Captain?" I fell to meet him.

    "Mercy, I...I think it's happening." His eyes, as blue as my own, stared up hopelessly. 
    
    "Not if I can help it," I said and pointed my staff at him. "Healing stream engaged!" For the first time since its conception, the Caduceus staff was fully operational yet having no effect. "I don't understand," I panicked. "It should be working," I thought, trying to keep the stress internal. "Kovan, stay with me. If I'm fighting so must you!" I pushed harder as he slowly shook his head. There were those in Overwatch who used to say I became too attached to those I cared for. They claimed it clouded my judgement, and perhaps that was part of my downfall. "Just hold on, Kovan. I can save you," I insisted. The staff was in overdrive until I felt it draining power from my wings. "I can save you!"

    "Mercy," Kovan said solemnly.

    "I can save-"

    "MERCY!" he yelled only to bring his voice down to a whisper. "Save yourself." His bold uniform faded to an ashy grey. Cracks formed against his skin and climbed towards his head. 

    "No," I uttered. "Captain?" Like a desperate hand, my healing stream fell empty as Kovan's body turned completely to dust. I wasn't strong enough, and I hated myself for considering his final words as tears escaped my eyes. In that moment of fear, I retracted my staff and soared over the hills. The screams of so many suffering shredded my heart. I felt so lost as the very tool that had saved so many lives now proved useless. All I could do was fly as I high as possible, hoping for a miracle that one of the ships would stop for me. 

    I felt myself hyperventilating as if someone was pulling me apart from the inside. My limbs numbed as the clouds blurred above me. Nothing made sense anymore, as my self-medicating suit should've been keeping me stable. The wings were fully operational, yet there I was...wasting away. I reached out to the darkness above, willing the unseen to set me free of the pain. It couldn't all end, I thought. Not like this. Not without an explanation. If war had taught me anything, it was that sometimes the worst case scenario is inescapable. Sometimes death is the inevitable door we all must pass through, yet I didn't expect to enter so soon. I noticed dust floating over my knees as the rest of my body faded away. All I could do was close my eyes, brace, and think of something truly worth it all. It was enough to make me smile before all of it ended.

*                                        *                                        *                                        *                                      *

    My smile faded and my eyes were nearly blinded by a flash of lightning. I let out a horrid scream and flailed wildly, feeling the rush of air against my body as I fell across the sky. I could move my limbs again and was relieved to find the lethal dust had left my body. The terrain closing in fast as I reactivated my suit and prepared for a hasty landing. "Valkyrie online!" I gasped when my wings dispersed to catch me. It was just enough to slow my descent into a mound of gravel. I rolled to recover and gripped my staff for support. I took the time to analyze my surroundings while catching my breath. While I'd been working with the Medevarans for months, their planet had never exhibited the bizarre behaviors it had today. When our battle against the Mechrons began, the weather was partly cloudy. Now I was crouched in a downpour with my suit's wings working as an umbrella. 

    I came to two conclusions: Either my self-medicating suit had saved me from the dust effects, or the rain had. Regardless, I considered myself one of the lucky few as I heard weary soldiers on the adjacent slopes. Despite my suit's healing capabilities, I felt increasingly nauseous yet starving. Dehydration forced a headache onto me and everything felt like a daze. Just when things couldn't get more bizarre, I heard a voice through my earpiece. 

    "Angela? Angela please tell me you're out there." I couldn't believe it. Impossible, I thought. I had to have been dead. This was either a dream or the afterlife so many people believed in, though I personally wished it'd be brighter. "Sorry," Kovan called again. I meant Mercy. Please respond, Mercy." Kovan called again. 

    I dared to answer. "C-...Captain?"

    "Thank the stars," he breathed heavily into his communicator. "You're alright."

    "What is this?" I asked. "I watched you-"

    "I don't know. All I know is I'm here now. As is everyone else. Come back and you'll see."

    I energized my wings and flew back to our known position. Shock filled me when I found Kovan alongside countless other soldiers I'd seen disappear. We shared a tired hug and the same, puzzled stare. "What...what happened?" I couldn't help but ask again. A frigid breeze sent chills across our bodies. Everyone stumbled around like zombies, surprised to see one another. 

    "Everything's wrong," Kovan said.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Look." He pointed at the dead Mechrons and destroyed vehicles. "Rust has claimed them and all of the flames on this field are gone."

    "The storm couldn't have worked this quickly," I hypothesized. The technician who'd vanished was among those staggering around the graveled fields. "Strange," I said. "The only people here are those who turned to dust. But what-"

    "Mercy," Kovan whispered. He gulped and turned to me with bewildered eyes. "The question isn't what...but when?"

    I caught on and checked my datalog for time entries. Several digital rings updated as if signal had been lost, but the screen soon returned. I thought I'd be sick to my stomach at the result. "Captain," I choked. "We've been gone for five years."

    
    




    

    

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