This is the story of a man. A man who thought to have known himself. What he knew as confidence was later turned into darkness, friendship was nothing more than a simple term. It didn't hold any meaning, yet so many other people kept reminding him of its existence..."...aah, screw this. I can't..." Looking back up from his readings, the man turned pale for a moment, grabbed the ship's joystick and corrected its course, preventing a head on collision into the huge structure ahead of him. He was in the middle of a docking sequence when he noticed the energy readings. "The ship's falling apart...just a bit longer, darling! After this trip you can finally rest."
The hangar gates opened, letting the approaching Eagle inside. It wasn't just an ordinary ship, though. Both wings were perforated with holes and even some parts of the engine were missing. It was until the moment that the pilot could finally set down to land, that he noticed the unusual amount of people in the hangar. Armed people. As the craft sunk down, some could be seen communicating with the central base of operations or just a leading officer. He wouldn't know. Not that he cared that much, after all. It didn't face the pilot how many security guards were slowly surrounding his ship. The reason could probably be credited to the message he sent earlier before the other station back then. Wasn't really a nice one, after all. Opening up the cockpit and slowly climbing out, he gave his ship a little tap, nodding with a slight smile.
"Johan Lennox?" One of the guards asked as they approached him. He was just getting off the ladder."That's..." A sudden shockwave of sound interrupted him. For a short time there was turmoil in the hangar bay until everyone realized that the pilot's ship just lost its wing. Perplexed by the risk the pilot took by flying -that- ship, the security guard moved her eyes back onto the person in question. Said person only released a sigh, still staring at the wreck that just came to be while rubbing the back of his head. "What a shame. She brought me through so much. What a way to go down, hm..." There was silence for a couple of seconds until the woman infront of him cleared her throat, demanding his attention. "Yes, I'm Lennox. You came all the way down here to escort me to the higher-ups?" Lennox was surprised at first that they were that cautious about him being here. Of all the places, this was where he earned the respect to lead his previous "people". He wasn't the only one, though. Which was a good thing. Nobody wants dictatorship. "Yes, Command wants to make sure that...", the security guard started but got interrupted half way in. "...I know. No risking anything. Sounds all too familiar." Lennox nodded at the guard who seemed to be sort of annoyed by his attitude. "This way." She spoke up and led him out of the hanger towards an elevator. He noticed that he was surrounded by guards the entire time. They must have seen a ghost, Lennox thought to himself. While they weren't too close to him, it still felt weird.
Finally, they stopped at the elevator, which already had arrived. Stepping into it together with the leading guard and an additional two, they quickly ascended into the heart of the base. The doors opened and they stepped out, one guard infront of the pilot, two behind him. Most of the corridors looked the same. It was mainly build to function and not to look pretty. The guards led him towards a door which he knew too well. The base of operations. Everything is coordinated from here, Lennox thought to himself. "This is it. Please proceed." The female guard said. He just nodded and opened the door without hesitation. He was here for a purpose, after all.
Upon entering the door shut fast behind him. He looked around the room when trying to look for familiar faces. But none yet. Just a couple of people working their shifts, it seemed. As he walked through the room, towards the far end, he heard a female voice coming from the highground. "You're expected. Took your bloody time getting here, didn't you?" The woman asked with a rather unpleasant look as he looked up at her, wondering if he met her before. The voice was definitely from someone he knew, yet he couldn't quite place it. "My ship's been a troublemaker. This last trip definitely took everything outta her. So yeah, took a bit longer than expected..." Lennox walked around, up the ramp into her direction and nodded briefly. "And you are?" The woman started walking toward a rather big hallway, an even bigger room visible at the far end of it. "Valkyrie. That's all you need to know."
The man in the black flight suit followed her quietly, rolling his eyes a bit as he knew the people of the Order were like this most of the time. At least the higher-ups. As they walked down the hallway the lights were slightly growing weaker. It was clear to Lennox at this point that he had entered the heart of all operations of the Order. He remembered this place back from when he was in Overwatch himself, although he didn't spend much time here. A lot more people than in the previous room were working on a lot of different tasks, reaching from planning fleet and squadron movements to simple information gathering. He looked around, trying to find the person he was here for. It was apparent that he would meet him here, after all.
Command room was busy, with many officers and operators around, working in almost perfect synchronization neither any of them paying attention to arrival of the Lennox. Admiral Golanski stood in the middle of room, reading a report delivered shortly before from one of the attendants in station’s control room - practically the only person, save for accompanying soldiers directly under him that reacted to new arrival. “Thank you, Valkyrie.” He nodded towards the Operative, who smiling delivered Lennox in front of the Commanding Officer. Unamused, disciplined, Admiral judged Lennox silently, as if trying to catch any changes from the past. “Three years.” It appears Golanski is definitely not in mood for longer speeches, according by how verbal he is. “Why, Lennox?” Missing for so long, anything could have happened in between.
Lennox nodded at the fact that he was gone for quite some time, though he knew that if he stayed, things would have been a lot worse. "Probation." The man then replied shortly after. "Life took its toll. If I had been able to contact or return to this part of the Omicrons, I would have probably done it. Only recently I've managed to control the onslaught of the visions in my head, but frankly I feel that there's not much time. And the visions are getting stronger." Lennox let out a sigh as he avoided eye contact with Golanski for a couple of seconds before looking back at him. "We all know what happened at Toledo...how all those people lost their lives. It's almost as though the threads that were pulled from them are still residing around the planet. Call it intuition, but it has started to feel pretty much like that anywhere in the Omicrons and maybe even beyond that..."