Gwishin

“	Wish one of those big underwater robots would attack. I don't need a mech to fight them.	„
	~ Odessa Stone

Gwishin (귀신)
Headquarters	East China Sea omnium
Type	Militant omnic group
Standing	Active

The Gwishin (귀신, lit. "Ghosts") are a faction of omnics that have emerged from an omnium in the East China Sea.

History

MEKA vs. Omnic Colossus

The first known Gwishin was the Omnic Colossus that emerged from the East China Sea 20 years ago. The appearance of a massive robotic Colossus in the sea years after the end of the Crisis shocked the world. Its immediate advance on South Korea set off alarms and activated Overwatch. Morrison recalled all field agents, directing every resource toward this new threat. Overwatch had brought down multiple Titans during the crisis, which, until now, had been the largest warbots they'd regularly seen. But this Colossus, the first Gwishin, dwarfed any enemy that had previously been considered standard fare.

While the Korean military scrambled its defenses, Overwatch deployed from the nearest Watchpoint with full force. The colossus intercepted several shipping vessels miles from shore, destroying them without hesitation before Overwatch arrived. The team's inexperience with ocean combat, combined with keeping violence from the city, proved challenging. For some members of the team, it was an almost too welcome return to what they did best: reminding the world why they had originally united. For others, it was a grim introduction to the reality of Overwatch's purpose: they could solve the world's problems and save lives, but they would always be called back to battle, regardless of whatever other good they could do.

The colossus was beaten back and presumed destroyed. Mina Liao still had questions, citing some design aspects as unusual enough to warrant further study. She requested a long-term field assignment to South Korea to study the remains of the colossus and signal traces it had left behind. However, Overwatch faced significant resistance in establishing a permanent base, and the matter was dropped for the time being. The Korean military did release the recovered pieces of the warbot to Liao for analysis, as many shared her concerns about a hostile human government potentially gaining control of an unknown omnium, but without additional evidence to support her theories, they could only be logged, not acted upon. Liao studied for months, but she would not have a chance to report her findings before renewed aggression occurred in the East China Sea.

As the strike team continued to grow with flashy new agents and expanding scientific divisions, the heroes would soon have their mettle tested as an alert came in from South Korea requesting assistance. The Gwishin colossus reemerged from the East China Sea, once again advancing on the country's undefended coastline, larger than before, with upgraded and reconfigured weaponry. All available agents were summoned to Busan immediately at a temporary base established by the military and maintained after the first attack. The team was still outmatched on the water and was forced to evacuate the city, allowing the colossus to get close enough to the shore before they surged into action. Fortunately, one of the new agents, Soundquake, provided unique abilities to distract the enemy while the other agents took it down, though with great effort.

Liao and Dr. Yi-an Lim, a robotics engineer in the Korean military, moved to act immediately, analyzing military footage and civilian recordings of the colossus. Despite the impossibility of such a thing, it was clearly an improved and upgraded version of the first Gwishin colossus. Even with a full team of experts on Liao and Lim's robotics and engineering level working around the clock on an advanced design, this construction should still have been out of the question. The timeline suggested that some form of artificial intelligence was involved, making the situation feel all too familiar to the Crisis. Morrison dispatched several members of Liao's research team to the Temple of Anubis in Cairo to determine if the rogue God program had breached containment. When no breach was found, research teams from all other assignments were called on to identify the Gwishin's maker. Once again, Liao requested time in Busan to analyze the situation. With Lim's endorsement, the government agreed, and Morrison approved stationing her temporarily, along with Soundquake and another new agent, Rumble. Rumble's experience in robotic engineering gave her unique insight into the Gwishin, while Soundquake helped develop technology that could be used in case of a future attack.

The research team's work was disrupted by yet a third colossus. This time, it was undetected until much closer to shore than its predecessors had been, and the on-site team was forced to put it down before reinforcements could arrive. The Gwishin's new evolution granted it abilities to counter Soundquake directly. Here, Lim proved to be the team's biggest asset as he directed the strike team to various weak points he had identified. The team earned a cleaner victory even with fewer numbers. While it had followed its traditional "appear-attack-retreat" pattern, Overwatch's swift defense this time allowed them to make a horrifying discovery, as analysis showed the warbot seemed like something new because it was something new; the colossus attacking South Korea was omnic in design, but it had not been constructed in any known omnium.

Overwatch assembled once more in Busan, determinedly searching the local seafloor, but as the search continued into deeper waters, more flexible drones appeared to drive the team back. The depth and low visibility, combined with constant attacks from all directions, forced Overwatch to retreat, leaving the source of the assailants still undiscovered. Liao drew the only logical conclusion: a secret omnium was concealed somewhere in the East China Sea, presumably constructed by Anubus during the Crisis. Lim speculated there may be multiple, but lacked evidence. News of this cooled some resentment from public officials centered on the Watchpoint and fledgling ecopoint programs, as a strong local Overwatch presence was now seen as a barrier against attacks from more potential unknown Crisis-era horrors. But even given recent events, and despite Lim's positive reports, South Korea remained steadfast in its opposition to establishing a Watchpoint within its borders.

Without a permanent base in Busan, Overwatch left the city. Liao and Lim shared their findings, leaving monitoring equipment at sea to alert both Overwatch and the Korean military to any developments in the area. Liao's professional transcripts from this time period show the usually quiet scientist infuriated by the government's decision; a frustration growing among many agents at the time. Overwatch had the ability and desire to do good, but the Korean government allowed politics to interfere with Overwatch's mission and, thus, endanger their own citizens.

Every few years the omnic would return, assaulting South Korea and its neighbors. The omnic learned from these encounters, often reconfiguring itself in a different form and appearing with new weapons and capabilities. Each incident ended in a stalemate, with the Colossus defeated but not destroyed. MEKA, initially providing defense via drones, was forced to replace its drones with human-controlled mechs, as the omnic managed to disrupt the drone network.

As the conflict wore on, the attacks from the Gwishin began to occur every few months. In addition to the Colossus, the Gwishin deployed were aquatic and squid-like in design (due to the underwater nature of the omnium). MEKA found itself struggling to keep the Gwishin in check, as they continued to adapt and become stronger. In an example of this, the Gwishin launched an attack on Busan one week after their last, rather than the previous gap of months. Having to deploy solo, Hana Song was able to destroy them but at the cost of destroying her own mech and a broken arm and leg in the process.

Types

Gwishin omnics

At least three types of Gwishin omnic are known to exist:

• 'Omnic Colossus': The first known Gwishin. Bi-pedal, capable of reconfiguring.

• 'Airborne omnic': Small, flying, squid-like omnics. Highly maneuverable, capable of firing multiple missiles at a time.

• 'Infantry omnic': Bi-pedal omnic equipped with two hand blasters.

Additionally, the Gwishin Bastion skin may indicate that the East China Sea omnium is also producing its own variants of the E54 Bastion.

Trivia

Gwisin are ghosts/spirits that exist in Chinese and Korean folklore.