Overwatch

Overwatch was an international task force formed during the Omnic Crisis in 2046 when it was realised they needed a special army of individuals to fight the omnics. It championed the ideals of heroism, sacrifice, and nobility.

## **History**

### *Origin*

Overwatch was founded at the behest of the United Nations during the Omnic Crisis. A war against robots was unlike any humanity had faced before, and no single country was successfully holding its territory, but it had been observed that some soldiers and strategists were thriving in this new style of warfare. As the nations of Earth struggled against the omnics, the UN pooled together their best soldiers and technologies to form an elite strike unit.

Overwatch consisted of scientists, soldiers, adventurers, and overall oddities and was intended to carry out asymmetric warfare against the omnics. Gabrielle Adawe was one of the key architects of its formation, while command of the unit was given to Gabriel Reyes, a member of a super soldier program carried out by the United States. However, while Reyes had overall command, Overwatch's overall structure was molded by Jack Morrison, who molded the unit into a truly cohesive fighting force. The other founding members were Ana Amari, Liao, Reinhardt Wilhelm, and Torbjörn Lindholm.

Others like Elias Neudecker's squad came soon after.

Finding their strength, the Overwatch strike team targeted the omnics' omniums and control protocols - the God Programs. After great sacrifice and heroism in a series of dangerous raids, they destroyed it all, rendering the omnic armies inert following Operation New Dawn. They had saved the world, and earned its adoration. For his services, Jack Morrison was given the position of Overwatch's first official commander, while Gabriel Reyes was passed over.

### Golden Age

In the years that followed, Overwatch was transformed into an international peacekeeping force. New resources and funding were given to the unit, giving it far-reaching global influence. Over the following decades, it helped to maintain peace, inspiring an era of exploration, innovation, and discovery, its range of research including space exploration, medical research. and climatology. In this particular regard, a series of eco-watchpoints were established to monitor the planet's changing climate. Rogue omnics, terrorism, warmongering dictators, none of them could stand for long against such a capable, dedicated force. Overwatch made global stability its goal, and the world was happy to have them.[5]

Overwatch grew into a global institution, and new agents were recruited. Those that grew up during this period are referred to as the "Overwatch Generation," as they were given a legion of heroes to look up to. For these children, Overwatch was a symbol of hope, and they were taught that they represented the best of humanity,

Overwatch maintained a global communications network, and possessed one of the most advanced armories on the planet. New agents were brought into the organization as existing ones retired. It carried out operations against the terrorist group Talon and the ninja Shimada Clan. In the case of the latter, to its knowledge, it successfully dismantled it. It took a militaristic approach to maintaining this peace however, which generated some internal tension.

Operations carried out by Gabriel Reyes' Blackwatch, many were suspicious of many of Overwatch's methods but none had evidence of wrongdoing. Elias became second-in-command under Gabriel while in the Overwatch subsidiary.

### *Waning of Overwatch*

Twenty years after its founding, Overwatch's influence waned, and the organization came under suspicion of corruption and sedition. A series of allegations were made against the group, including negligence resulting in high-profile mission failures; corruption and mismanagement; weapons proliferation; human rights abuses; and more. Overwatch had never had a shortage of critics; even in its glory days, many voices called for severe restrictions on the agency's mission, insisting that such a powerful group of individuals needed careful oversight. Rumors of black-ops missions, carrying out tasks like assassination and kidnapping, were dismissed by the public as paranoid fantasies. But as time passed, criticism became harder to shrug off, and the agency seemed to be tone-deaf to public concerns. Controversial missions stoked public outrage until it reached a fever pitch, and some of Overwatch’s most famous and celebrated agents were forced to retire in disgrace. Protests broke out, the people claiming that Overwatch was the source of the world's turmoil. One event labelled "the Venice incident" led to a slew of inquiries into the organization. When it was discovered that disgraced scientist Moira O'Deorain had been working for them, high ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her activities.

Years later, Olympia Shaw reflected that if that had been the end of it, many might have accepted these missteps as the unavoidable signs of an aging, bloated bureaucracy, suffering under monolithic leadership that desperately needed a change in direction. The truth, however, was much darker.

An incident named "the Oslo Incident" happened eight years prior, where an attack on the Oslo Overwatch base and an investigation was launched by Commander Morrison. No details were released, but Talon was shown to have been behind it.

Another incident known as the "King's Row Uprising" happened as more allegations arose against Overwatch. Kings' Row, an English city that was a major site of anti-omnic protests, was under attack by a rogue group called Null Sector. The group rebuilt OR14 and Bastion units, among others, and attacked the city. Thousands of lives were lost. Soon, the city had fallen. The British Prime Minister did not want any Overwatch members to get involved with the conflict. Jack Morrison, however, sent Overwatch members Torbjörn Lindholm, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Lena Oxton, Elias Neudecker and Angela Ziegler to liberate the city from Null Sector. The four members were to shut down the air defenses, infiltrate the omnic factory, and disable the units. The team successfully stopped the Null Sector uprising. However, King's Row would have even more protests, and allegations were still amounting on Overwatch. This was the last time Overwatch stopped a conflict before Overwatch was shut down.

### *The End*

In the final years of Overwatch's existence, Blackwatch was finally revealed. There were stories of assassination, coercion, kidnapping, torture, and worse. Governments called on the UN to shut down Overwatch due to claims of aggressive and repeated violations of many countries' sovereignty.

A special UN committee launched a lengthy and highly secretive investigation into the claims. As the UN investigation proceeded, and public distrust swelled, Overwatch's Swiss headquarters was destroyed in an apparent accident. Among the casualties were supposedly Morrison and Reyes. The UN steadfastly maintained that there was no foul play behind this event, but anonymous reports indicate that a rebellion tore the group apart from within - which many suspect between Overwatch and it's shady subsidiary Blackwatch. On one side was Morrison, determined to hold together what remained of Overwatch. On the other side was Reyes, whose agenda remains unknown to this day except from a select few. A battle raged between these men deep within Overwatch's base. At some point, their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility, killing both of them, and numerous others. Angela Ziegler, head of Overwatch's medical research, commented in a UN hearing that the outcome was inevitable - Reyes and Morrison had drifted further and further apart, as Reyes had remained bitter that Morrison had been given the position of field commander instead of him and of the limitation placed that prevented him and his agents from properly doing their job.

The UN committee, coupled with the loss of its headquarters and key members, were the last coffin nails that signaled the burial of Overwatch. In the wake of such an incident, little could remain hidden. The full transgressions of Overwatch's shadow operations became known, and even the most ardent defenders inside the organization bowed to the truth and called for its dissolution. The United Nations could do nothing but shut down Overwatch. The group gave into the pressure and it was eventually disbanded, thirty years after its founding, left in disgrace, its agents now the target of derision and suspicion in the media. The Petras Act deemed any Overwatch activity illegal, and liable to prosecution.

Few people at the time doubted it was the right call. The world had never been more peaceful—the biggest threat to global stability and growth was, in many minds, Overwatch itself. Its time had passed. Security privatization became more common in the wake of Overwatch's end, Helix Securities being one example.

### *Aftermath*

In the five years since, mystery remains as to the nature of Overwatch's fall - at least within the general population. Suspicions exist that someone took it over to its detriment. But since its end, the world has become a darker place. Tensions between humans and omnics had never been higher. Local political leaders accused certain corporations of using covert operatives to persuade government officials into accepting exploitative deals, and when that failed, of hiring mercenaries to enact more permanent solutions. Shadow organizations operated with impunity, often leaving a trail of dead civilians in their wake. Overwatch continued to be memorialized, and some former Overwatch members attempted to "get the band back together".

On such member was Elias, who still operated much like Blackwatch as a mercenary. The name of Shadow - his callsign given by Gabriel - shook many in the world and caused many a head to turn.

## **Recall**

### *Overwatch*

Winston, having had an attack by Reaper and Talon, initiated the Recall and all notable agents within the database were signalled.

* Winston (de facto leader)
* Lena Oxton
* Reinhardt Wilhelm
* Brigitte Lindholm
* Torbjorn Lindholm
* Jesse McCree
* Genji Shimada
* Angela Ziegler

### *Blackwatch*

Blackwatch was re-enacted under Elias and, finding new members when he rejoined Overwatch, was now the Shadow of Overwatch.

* Elias (de facto leader)
* Moira O'deorain

## *New Overwatch*

The full Overwatch crew half a year after recall:

* Winston (de facto leader)
* Lena Oxton
* Reinhardt Wilhelm
* Brigitte Lindholm
* Torbjorn Lindholm
* Jesse McCree
* Genji Shimada
* Angela Ziegler
* Kimiko
* Mei-Ling Zhou
* Hana Song
* Jamison Fawkes
* Mako Rutlege

The full Blackwatch crew half a year after recall:

* Elias (de facto leader)
* Moira O'deorain
* Maxim Basuda

* Shuhrat Kessikbayev
* Marius Streicher
* Monika Weiss
* Gilles Touré
* Gustave Kateb
* Jordan Trace
* Miles Campbell
* Mike Baker
* Mark Chandar
* Ryad Ramírez Al-Hassar
* Tina Lin Tsang
* Grace Nam
* Meghan Castellano