Well, here we go, guys. (Originally posted on TF2chan, just putting it here for kicks)
Crater was a small base. No nearby civilization, no one to fight, no fighting allowed, period. Up in Crater, BLU didn't exist. Hell, it was easy to forget the rest of the world existed up there. Crater was a maintenance base and it was utterly unremarkable, apart from the fact that it was located directly on planet RED, outer space.
"Why the hell do they need us up there, huh? We should be down here, fightn' BLUs," Scout protested.
"They need us to take care of their equipment for a little while," Engineer explained, taking his confused teammates' faces in stride. "It's only temporary."
"The runt is right," Soldier said, ignoring Scout's indignant, "Hey!" "We are soldiers! Men of the battlefield! I refuse to become some sort of maintenance lackey!"
"These are our orders, Soldier," Spy interjected. "You would do well to obey them."
"But piss, gettn' relocated to space? Seems a bit drastic, don't it?" Sniper muttered with a frown.
Demoman slapped him heartily on the back and took a large swig of scrumpy. "Aye, but that's because you're not thinkn' of it as an adventure."
"Da, vill be fun!"
"Mmfmph!"
"Vat is it ve are supposed to be taking care of again?" Medic asked.
"Some sort a missile launchn' contraption, I reckon," Engineer said, grinning. "M'not entirely sure. I helped design the base and the ship that'll be takn' us up there, but not the machine itself. I figure that sort of stuff is top secret." Several raised eyebrows were traded across the table, but no one objected. The general acceptance of their new mission came as a relief to Engineer, since he had been appointed the task of breaking it to them and hadn't expected it to be easy.
"So what exactly do we hafta do?" Scout asked. He was tapping his foot against the floor with impressive speed, much to the annoyance of those sitting around him.
"Well, according to the gal on the phone, it's real simple," Engineer said. He reached into his overalls pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. Despite what a simple job it was supposed to be, their informant had suggested for him to write the details down, lest he forget. Engineer had doubted something so important would slip his mind, but it never hurt to be cautious. Now, he looked down at his folded piece of graph paper and was secretly glad that he had taken her advice.
"Says here we need to check up on the machinery once a day at a certain time," Engineer said, lifting his goggles to his forehead. "Make sure she's runnin' alright, put on the right settings, 'n no malfunctions. We're to be temporarily replacin' the group that's usually up there. Somethin' about them takin' their sick leave."
"What, all at once?" Scout interrupted, his foot beginning to tap faster. "I bet they caught some sort of space disease or something stupid. Haha, serves them right for bein' all geeky and in space and... and bein' space geeks."
"You do realize what you are implying, don't you?" Spy questioned. He smirked and took a long drag on his cigarette as Scout's eyes suddenly widened in realization.
"Aw, shit, that means we're next!"
Sniper, sent over the edge by Scout's quickening foot tapping, reached over and swatted him across the top of his head, scowling.
"Shut yer gob about this space disease," he snapped. "I ain't been 'alfway 'round the world and I 'ave enough sense to know you're just bein' paranoid. Go to hell, Spy, you're just as bad for egging him on," he added in response to Spy's snickering.
"Hate to break it to you, son, but Sniper's right," Engineer chuckled. "Anyway, as I was saying, they're not sure how long we'll be needed up there. Could be a few days, could be a few weeks." When he looked up from the paper, he was met with several troubled frowns.
"A few weeks in space? Oh sure, that's no problem. Except I'll be bored outta my freakn' mind!" Scout said.
"Whtt rrbht mrr trrvrr shrrs?" Pyro asked.
"If I can't bring me scrumpy," Demoman slurred, "'m not goin'."
"Don't you worry about any o' that, fellas," Engineer said, raising his voice above the concerned murmurs. "She said it was alright for us to each bring a few personal items." When Scout opened his mouth again, Engineer hurriedly added, "Items like a baseball and a bat."
"Hell yes!"
"Mmd mm fmfhmr?"
"Sorry, Py, what was that?" Engineer asked.
"The flamethrower, laborer," Spy said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh. Well, sure, I don't see why not."
Pyro hummed what Engineer assumed was a satisfied response before leaning back in his chair, hands rested contentedly over his stomach.
"Alright then, that's about it," Engineer concluded as he tucked the paper back into his pocket. "Any questions?"
"Ja, I vas vondering vun zing," Medic said. "Vhere has Soldier gone?" At once, all eyes shifted to Soldier's seat, which was now no more than an empty chair.
"Huh," Engineer murmured. "Well ain't that the million dollar question."
"Oh, you didn't notice?" Spy drawled, smirking as usual. "He left some time ago, after you mentioned the object of our mission being top secret."
"Hell," Engineer grunted. "Alright, while I go 'n find him, the rest of you might as well go get packed."
The team uttered noises of general agreement as they rose from the table in unison and filed out of the conference room before each heading off in separate directions. Heavy and Medic went side by side towards the infirmary, Sniper made a beeline for the loft, and Spy cloaked before slinking off God knew where. Everyone else hurried for their rooms- everyone except Engineer. He had someone to find.
Really, he thought as he began to scour the halls, This is probably just another case of Soldier overreacting. The man does have the tendency to blow things out of proportion, after all. Still, something quivered in Engineer's gut as he searched. To the team, maybe, Soldier was a crazy old man with a war complex but to Engineer, he was something else, something sane. And sometimes, he could be the sanest of them all. Engineer just hoped that now wasn't one of those times.
"Soldier?" Engineer called. He opened one of the cafeteria doors a crack, poked his head in, and was surprised to find Soldier sitting at the far end of the table, head tilted down. Engineer let himself in and cautiously sat down across from him. He let a few beats of silence pass before saying, "Somethin' on your mind?" Soldier shifted slightly, giving a noncommittal grunt. At first, Engineer thought that was all he was going to get out of him, but when he did speak, Engineer almost wished that he hadn't.
"I don't like it," Soldier said softly. "The base is wrong. The mission is wrong. This is notsomething we should be doing, Engie."
"I know, Soldier," Engineer said, leaning forward slightly. "I know you want to be down here fightn', but we-"
He flinched when Soldier suddenly slammed his fist down on the table.
"No, it's not the fighting!" he snarled. "This has nothingto do with fighting."
"Then what is it?" Engineer said, trying to keep calm. "What's the problem?"
Soldier leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and muttered, "I don't like it." Engineer heaved a sigh.
"C'mon, Soldier, I'm tryin' to help you here. Now, you can tell me what you don't like about it, or I can leave and you can go pack your bag. Either way, we areleavin' tomorrow afternoon, whether you and I have come to an understandin' or not." He paused before continuing in a softer tone. "But I really would like it to be the former. What d'you say, pardner?" He offered Soldier a friendly smile, but the other man's frown barely lifted before sinking back into a grimace.
"We shouldn't be doing this," he said over Engineer's frustrated sigh.
"You should get ready for tomorrow, alright?" Engineer muttered. He rose from the table.
"This is wrong, Engie, you'll see!" Soldier called after him. "And then you won't like it, either!"
Engineer exited the cafeteria and let the doors slam shut behind him, effectively drowning out the rest of Soldier's ill-tempered speech.
Coming from Soldier, this was a typical reaction: Shouting about things, refusing to explain exactly what might be ailing him- but he had never questioned orders like this before, and that was the disconcerting part.
He's probably just overreacting again, Engineer thought wearily, pulling his goggles back down over his eyes. Nothing to worry about.