CHAPTER 1: The start of the Beginning
The base for the RED mercenaries was quiet. Usually the Scout would run around in the halls, talking about the stuff he wanted to talk about, and just being an annoying boy.
But it was silent, and it had been so for a couple of weeks. A fault in their respawn machine had resulted in one of their teammate's life. A fault had happened before, but the teams Engineer were able to fix it in time, just before the weekly battle.
Inside the base, the now eight mercenaries sat around a round table. Most sat with hung heads, not daring to look at the fellow teammates. It came as a shock for them. They thought they had fixed the mistake years back.
A sigh escaped from the youngest of the bunch, and a mumble followed. ''I… This may come as a surprise, but I…'', he stopped, gulping down some of the saliva that had unexpectedly come to his mouth, ''… I actually kind of miss him.''.
The other mercenaries mumbled out their agreement. They had gone over this a few times in their own minds, but when the youngest, Scout, had said it out loud, they agreed finally for the rest of the room.
To think that a class they used to, kind of despise, had fallen. And they missed him. If the Administrator had heard them, she would be in a rage. They weren't hired for this sappy stuff! They were killers! Trained to not feel anything if a teammate should fall!
Luckily she could only see, and not hear.
She apparently hadn't guessed that in the years the men had worked together, they would become like family for each other.
A crackle over the speakers could be heard, and the voice of a woman who had smoked too much in her years was heard. ''Mercenaries! In about 30 minutes, a new mercenary will come! Show some kindness please,'', the word 'kindness' was spit out with sarcasm. A new crackle was then heard, but nothing followed. It was just to show that the Administrator left.
A new kind of silence emerged, this one of pure confusion instead of the dreary one before. The Sniper spoke up, his head rising from its hanging position. ''A new mercenary?''. He basically asked the question everyone wanted to ask.
The Medic turned his head, and looked at the clock across the room. It seemed like they had sat in the surprised silence for too long, and they only had 20 minutes left to welcome the new Mercenary.
20 minutes away from the base, a single van was driven by what looked like a burly man in his mid forty's. A voice spoke from the back of the white vehicle. ''Are we there soon?''. The man, thought about the question, and answered. ''Soon. But remember what I told ya'! You will have to walk the last 5 minutes! I won't go near that place.''. The figure in the back nodded, its face shrouded in shadows.
After the 15 minutes were gone, the unknown person stepped away from the van, and the vehicle drove away in haste. The unknown person shielded its eyes from the dust that the van left behind. It removed its hand after a while, and a sigh escaped from its lips. After standing for a few seconds, the figure moved forward, following the dusty road that would lead to what is known as 'Teufort'.
Though the figure wasn't on its way to the city part. No, it followed the other road. To the 'Teufort RED Base'. The figure followed the road, until it stood before a clearly painted sheet. Before it stood a woman dressed in purple. She wasn't as old as the woman who called the person, but the elderly woman over the phone told the person that it was to meet a 'Young woman clad in Purple attire'.
When the woman in purple saw the unknown person, she jogged over with a small clipboard. She adjusted her glasses and smoothed out her knee length skirt, and then began to speak. ''Hello! You must be the new mercenary! You may call me Miss Pauling.''. The woman, Miss Pauling, scrunched her eyes a bit, pursed her lips, and continued with her speech. ''I… I can't really see what gender you are, but please follow me Mr…'', she looked down at her clipboard, and was surprised to see no name, nor last name on it.
She shrugged, and made a gesture with her hand to the figure. The shadowed person followed the woman, and together they paced forward to RED Base.
As they reached the Base, Miss Pauling opened a door that was most likely the backdoor, and gestured for the person to walk in first. When the person had walked in, she closed the door after her, and she lead the way to what would be the Meeting room.
The eight mercenaries inside the base had hurried around the base, not knowing what to do. They in the end decided to sit in the meeting room, all lights on making it seem unnaturally bright in contrast to what it normally was. It was strange seeing one of the chairs not have its owner sitting in it anymore.
They sat and waited, and when a knock was heard they all looked to the door. It opened, and at first they only saw Miss Pauling. They looked at her, and when she sighed and moved so she could say something to the person with her, she stepped aside, and let the figure walk in. She then walked in directly behind the person, and closed the door.
The quiet atmosphere was broken by a sigh from the unknown person, which wore a coat to hide all curves and facial structures from view. They weren't able to see anything because of it.
A clunk was heard, and a duffel bag fell to the floor. It had a decent size. Scout leaned forward to get a better look at it, and a chuckle was then heard. It wasn't a chuckle of neither feminine, nor manly sound. It was neutral. A voice rang out from the coat. ''Always the curious one, eh?''.
Scout gasped, he could recognize the voice. After all, it was one he had heard almost constantly as a child. Though the smile on his face first came when the coat fell from the persons shoulders. ''Cyrille!''.
Beneath the coat was a woman. She was tall, nearly standing at 6 feet. An angular face with a slightly hooked nose was present. Her lips were thin, but not reptile like, they were pleasant to look at. Her eyes were shaped in such a way that if she wanted them to they could either look soft and kind, or they could be seen as sharp and intimidating. The color of them was a stormy blue, and the color of it could nearly make one shiver. Her eyebrows were raised slightly, but in the end they were pretty average, not too thick, nor too thin. The hair was short, boyishly so. It was slicked back, except a small piece of hair that hang in front of her eyes. The hair was in shades of dark-brown, and small hints of a lighter tone could be seen every now and then.
Her body wasn't very curvy. One would say that it had a certain manliness to it. Her hips were narrow, the waist was slightly muscular, her chest was smaller than average, and her shoulders wider than they needed to be. The legs were long and thin, but you would be able to see that they belonged to a woman.
The youngest mercenary ran from his chair, and dashed with as much speed as possible towards the woman. She was clad in a simple black blazer, a white shirt underneath it, and black suit pants rested on her legs. When Scout had reached her, he threw his arms around her and crushed her to his body, despite the woman being taller than him by a few centimeters.
She backed slightly in surprise, and a hoarse laugh escaped her lips, before she also embraced him. ''I thought I was never to see you again!'', came from his lips.
She smiled at the young man, but then dropped it when a cough was heard.
''Miss Pauling! What is this… Woman, supposed to do here! Wasn't we supposed to get a new Mercenary?'', asked the ever so strict Soldier. He wasn't in the least bit happy that a woman of all people were to know about them.
Miss Pauling didn't get the change to answer them, as the voice of the Administrator was heard over the speakers again. ''Please welcome our newest teammate.''. And then she was out again.
The men of RED Base were shocked to say the least. A woman? Working for RED Team? It had to be a joke! Even Miss Pauling seemed to be surprised, but quickly got out of the stupor.
The Scout seemed to be the one taking the news the hardest. ''W-what?'', was all he could get out, his arms loosening from the woman, Cyrille, and then went completely slack and returned to his sides.
A groan came from Cyrille. She had expected this to go smooth, not end in a total disaster. ''Yes,'', she got out, and continued. ''I am your new mercenary.''.
A hand rose from the men, and Cyrille looked to the male. She nodded at him in a 'Go' fashion. The male began to speak, and a German accent rolled from his tongue. ''May I ask, Cyrille…'', he stopped there, tasting her name on his tongue. It sounded weird coming from his lips, and she grimaced. ''… What is your… Class?''.
At that question, all eight male eyes rested on hers, and the gaze of Miss Pauling was also present. She coughed in her hand, and her voice flowed out in an accent they all knew too well. After all, their former teammate owned it. ''From what I was told… I was to be your new Spy.''.