To say that things had gotten bad was an understatement.

Even in relatively peaceful nations like Switzerland, that would never get themselves involved in a war, the Omnic Crisis was unavoidable. After all, omnics were [i]everywhere[/i]. And every time Angela looked around, it seemed another person was suffering from the effects of combat. No one on this planet would come away from this unscathed. No one could avoid tragedy at this scale.

With the UN losing its grip on everything it once held, power waning and people dying in massive numbers, Overwatch had to go on its own. Funding was lackluster, only a handful of people still believing that the organization could even continue to fight. Slowly but surely, the members drifted apart to serve their homelands.

Reinhardt had gone back to Germany, and Angela hadn't heard from him since. Jack had disappeared, likely off on some personal mission. He always took things so hard to heart. Sometimes he wouldn't listen to reason. But Angela never tried to stop him, even when he decided to go it alone. Others had done similar. Instead of trying to fight the crisis together, now Overwatch was a shell of its former self, the name barely held up by but a few strings that were fraying in the middle.

Angela was a doctor. She wasn't a fighter like the others; she was in Overwatch to help people, and even with no clear direction, she wouldn't give up hope that the Omnic Crisis could be defeated. It had been their task to deal with, and she only had a few tools at her disposal. Her Caduceus Staff, and the blaster she kept strapped to her hip were her weapons. Her Valkyrie suit aided her in her healing ways, but even with a blaster in had, she wasn't meant to fight omnics like this. She was never meant to be in combat.

Angela wanted to go where the fighting was the worst, to make her efforts meaningful, to try to give hope to those who were lost in fear of death. There were other doctors here in Switzerland, and the fighting in Zurich paled in comparison to other nations. These people would last much longer. Switzerland was always on the defense, they'd always been that way. This meant she could leave and feel confident that she would still have a home to go back to.

She made no attempt to contact the other members of Overwatch. She needn't take time away from them. Most, if not all, were stuck in rigorous combat. Interruptions could easily prove fatal.

Overwatch still had [i]some[/i] authority, since it had been recognized as a very strong organization during the beginning of the crisis, and indeed they had originally fought very hard and even had some success. Their efforts appeared to be in vain at this point. With what authority Angela still did have, she requested a military transport to Cairo if it could be done. Egypt may as well have been encapsulated in flames the fighting was so unrelenting. Cairo was a huge target of the Omnics. Large population, low defenses. The ESF could only handle so much. They hadn't been prepared for the omnics to go rampant like this.

It wasn't long after her request of transport that the military allowed her to take a small squad on a helicopter to go to Cairo to assist. It was her, two Privates, and a Lieutenant who was a pilot. She knew none of them, but they definitely knew who she was, and respected her skills as a doctor.

The Lieutenant approached Angela in the hangar on the airstrip they'd soon depart from. His nametag read Florian. Lieutenant Florian. "We're ready to go when you are, Doctor Ziegler."

Angela nodded her head and stood from her place in a rather uncomfortable metal chair. She grabbed her pack, which contained a simple few military rations of food and a few tools in case her equipment were damaged. She knew the risks of going to Cairo. Hell, they could easily be shot out of the sky before they even reached the capitol.

She followed Florian outside of the hangar to the helicopter on the runway, ducking her head as she got in to avoid the spinning rotors above. She placed herself in one of the seats, taking a deep breath and strapping herself in for a long and dangerous ride. Even before they got to Cairo, they'd have to fly over other nations who were also caught in the Omnic Crisis.

One of the Privates, named Amstutz, looked across the aisle of the helicopter and smiled at the blonde woman. "Don't worry, doc. The Lieutenant is one of the best pilots we have right now. He'll get us to Cairo safely."

Her expression must've given away her concern and worry. She met the eyes of Amstutz and returned his smile with a slight one of her own.

"Thank you, Amstutz, but I am not scared for the flight so much as I am the situation in Cairo. You know how bad it is, correct?" She asked.

Amstutz nodded. "Of course. It's one of the epicenters of the fighting. We're lucky here in Zurich, to not have such a direct omnic presence."

Angela breathed a stressful sigh as they lifted off and begin their flight to Cairo. She wouldn't tell the soldiers, but there wasn't just any normal reason for her going to Cairo. While she certainly wanted to help where the fighting was worst, she had to find out if [i]she[/i] was still there. The young and determined Fareeha. She was worried for the girl that she'd watched grow up in turmoil. After Ana disappeared, Fareeha only had Overwatch to guide her, and with their success faulting under the pressure of constant combat... It seemed like as soon as she could, Fareeha enlisted in the military for Egypt, as opposed to joining Overwatch. Perhaps it was a smart move, but an equally dangerous one. The military was no safer than Overwatch. Maybe more dangerous, in fact.

The flight went smoothly until they reached Egypt. Outside the window, Angela could see the pillars of smoke rising from destruction. She could see the omnics below, razing what were once happy towns. It broke her heart, truly, to see a proud nation so... charred and wrecked. The closer they got to Cairo, the worse things seemed to get. There was seemingly no safe place to land.

"Lieutenant, if you have to land in danger, then do it! This place is an active combat zone, so there is no guarantee that anywhere is safe!" Angela urged. At this point, she just wanted to get her boots on the ground and do what she could to help the Egyptians below.

The Lieutenant managed to secure a landing on a flat rooftop towards the center of the vast city. It had a slight bit of protection from the omnics only a mile or two away from this position.

"We should try to establish communication with the ESF." The other Private, one named Messerli, suggested. "If we can group with them, we could do more good than if we act on our own."

Florian piped in, already manning the radio on the dashboard of the heli. "Most channels seem to be blocked or just gone completely. I'm trying as much as I can. Just sit tight and let me know if any omnics get too close."

[i]"This is Swiss Flight Lieutenant Albert Florian, if there are any ESF who can hear me, respond. We have Doctor Angela Ziegler of Overwatch here to assist. Repeat, this is Swiss Flight Lieutenant Albert Florian, if there are any ESF who can hear me, respond. We have Doctor Angela Ziegler of Overwatch here to assist."[/i]

Florian repeated the message on every channel he could tune into. Angela listened in hopes that someone, anyone would respond. Her heart raced as she sat in this seat; she could hear gunfire in the distance and explosions that rattled the city. She'd been in deep combat before, healing soldiers from seemingly fatal wounds, but she'd never felt this kind of fear. Here, where the Omnic Crisis had struck like a hammer to a nail, she found herself wishing and hoping silently to herself.

[i]'Please... don't let this be the end of this place.'[/i]