STORIES OF THE BADLANDS
PART 1: The Mercenaries Five nights of Fright!
Chapter 1: The Mission
*Ring ring*Ring ring*
Ms. Pauling stops her typing and looks at the phone.
*Ring ring*Ring ring*
'Who could possibly be calling at this hour?' she thought to herselfas she looks at the clock. 'It's 12:00 A.M.'
*Ring ring*Ring Ring*
Pauling picks up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hello, hello?" a male voice answers on the other end.
"Who is this?" Pauling asks with a paranoid tone to her voice.
"Um, hi! Is this Ms. Pauling? Of the Teufort Mercenaries?" he asks.
"Who's asking?"
"I am calling on behalf of Fazbear Incorporated and I was wondering if you and your mercenaries would like a job to earn some extra money?"
Pauling thought about this for a moment. She had never heard of a company called Fazbear Incorporated, and was a tad bit skeptical at first. On the other hand, her and the mercs had just finished their war with Gray Mann and his army of robots, and this might be an opportunity to make some easy money without any possibility of death.
"Well, that depends" she replies in a more curious tone, "what's the job?"
It's about a quarter to eight and Scout is sound asleep, drooling on his pillow and dreaming of him and Ms. Pauling on a romantic date. He is suddenly woken up by a sudden force flipping both him and his mattress onto the floor.
"HEY! Who the hell...!?" Scout yells, as he looks up to see Soldier and Spy hovering over him, both with huge grins on their faces. "What the hell is your guys' problem?! Why did ya throw me off my bed?"
"If you quit whining, then I'll tell you," Spy replies as he lights a cigarette.
Scout just pouts at him, gets up, wipes himself off and says, "I'm sure whatever GIANT issue you had could've waited 'till I got up myself! Man, and I was having such an awesome dream, plus I haven't been able to sleep in since..."
"Ms. Pauling wants to see us right away!" Soldier interrupts, "She said she has an important mission for us!"
Scout looks at him, "Well, what kind of mission? And why so friggan eaerly in the morning anyways!"
"She didn't say," Spy states. "Just hurry up and get ready."
"Fine..." Scout said as he yawned. "Can I at least eat some breakfast first?"
"Later," Spy said. "She want us to meet in ten minutes."
And with that, Spy turns towards the door and heads out, with Soldier close behind, leaving Scout to finish waking up as they make their way to the conference room.
"Alright guys, I have called you three here because I wanted just you guys on this mission," Ms. Pauling begins. "I received a phone call last night from a man who is looking for night time security guards at his company's newest attraction."
"What's the attraction?" Spy asks, puffing out a cloud of cigarette smoke.
"Well," Pauling starts, "the attraction is a house of horrors based off of something that happened at some pizza place like 30 years ago, and they need some security guards to keep an eye on the place since it doesn't open for another week. He told me some things have been moved around and they are still looking for things to put in to make it 'authentic.'"
"So why do they need mercenaries to be their night guards?" Spy asks.
"The man on the phone didn't give me a straight answer.",Pauling replied." But, c'mon guys, it's easy money on an easy job for a couple nights. The best part is that you won't be fighting off robots trying to kill you or anything."
"Wait wait wait, so your telling me that all I have to do is play guard for a couple of nights at some silly horror attraction? And nothings going to try and kill me?" Scout clarifies.
"Well, basically, yes!" Pauling affirms.
Scout pauses, then quickly answers, "I'm in!"
"Good! And Spy? What's your answer?" Pauling turns to Spy.
"How many nights?" he asks.
"Only five."
"How much money?"
"The man said that if their opening week goes well, that they will pay us at least 30% of their profit."
"Hmmm...that doesn't seem like much," Spy said unenthusiastically.
"Well, you guys aren't fighting robots fueled by money anymore and we are all still technically unemployed, remember?" Pauling states as she crosses her arms.
"Hm, good point," Spy replies as he finishes his cigarette and throws the butt on the floor. "Fine, but only to get me out of this vermin infested hell-hole."
"Alright then. And what about you Soldier? You have been surprisingly quiet through this whole thing," Pauling asks as she turns to see Soldier sticking his pinkie finger half way up his nose.
"Huh, what? We are defending the night against the communist horrors?!" Soldier exclaims as he quickly pulls his finger out of his nose.
"Um, well not exactly Soldier..." Pauling begins to explain.
"Then I am in!" he exclaims with enthusiasm.
"But Soldier, that's not what exactly what I was..." she tries to explain again.
"No need to explain Ms. Pauling! I already understand what the risks are! We will be going into enemy territory with sleepless nights, and maybe even no food! But that will not matter! I will go without either if it means keeping the night safe from those evil, food-hoarding communists!" Soldier states while holding his hand over his heart.
"Ugh...you know what? Never mind," said Pauling, shaking her head. "Well, now that that is all settled and all three of you are in, go and get some rest because you guys start tonight."
Spy, Scout, and Soldier were walking down the hallway after the mission debriefing from Ms. Pauling.
"Something doesn't seem right about this mission," Spy said.
"C'mon Spy. It's easy money, on an easy mission, and there is less chance of us dying! What's not right about this mission?" Scout asks.
"Well, for starters, why would a company need mercenaries to guard a haunted house attraction for five nights? Before they even open?" Spy inquires.
"Oh your just over thinking things, like always. Y'know that's your problem! You always over think things that don't need to be over thought. You just need to relax and let lose, brother!" explains Scout.
"Oh yes, you mean like you? Just basking in my ignorance and never questioning if we might actually die on a mission to a place we know almost nothing about?" Spy replies.
"Ya, exactly! Wait, are you calling me stupid?" Scout said.
"Me, call you stupid? No of course not," Spy replies sarcastically.
"Oh, okay good!"
"No, I'm much classier than that so I'm calling you a moron."
"HEY!" Scout yells. Spy just smiles.
"I think both of you are dumb!" Soldier interrupts. "Are you blind to what this mission is really about?"
"Oh and you think you know Soldier?" Scout asks in an irritated tone.
"Yes! We are going undercover as night guards to find out information for Ms. Pauling to see if this might be and undercover operation for Grey to return and kill us all!" Soldier states with confidence.
Scout and Spy stop right in their tracks and look at each other, then at Soldier, both with surprised looks on their faces.
"Well," Spy starts, "that actually makes plausible sense Soldier."
"And then we can find out what the communists are really up to! They would have teamed up with Grey by now and we have to hunt them down and find out where their base is on the moon!" Soldier exclaims.
And with that statement, Scout and Spy scowl at Soldier, and continue walking.
"Well, so much for it making plausible sense," Scout retorts.
"Indeed. Gentlemen, as enlightening as this whole thing has been, I must be getting ready for tonight. I suggest you both do the same." Spy suggests.
"Ya, good point. Besides, I have sleep to catch up on. See ya fellas later," Scout said as he took of jogging to his towards his room.
"Right men, dismissed!" Soldier said a little too late. Scout was too far to hear him and Spy was no where to be found. Soldier then starts to make his way to his room, clear goals in mind
Soldier was a dedicated man from America's heartland. Desperately wanting to be in war, he tried for every branch in the U.S. military, but was rejected from each and every one. Undaunted, though, he took part in World War II by buying his own ticket to Europe, and upon arrival, taught himself how to load and fire a number of weapons in order to kill all of his enemies in a massive killing spree. Despite being not so bright and a bit crazed, he is very versatile, being able to be both offensive and defensive on the battlefield. That was why he was hand picked as a mercenary.
As Soldier was contemplating the best way to snap his enemies necks or make them explode, Spy was taking his time going over his equipment that he was going to bring with him. 'Pauling might have said this was an easy mission, but I still want to make sure I make it out alive,' Spy thought to himself.
Out of all the mercs, Spy was the most mysterious. The Spy, hailing from an indeterminate region of France, is an enthusiast of sharp suits and even sharper knives. He relies on stealth and trickery to aid his team. Using a unique array of cloaking watches, he can render himself invisible or even fake his own death, leaving unaware opponents off-guard. His Disguise Kit lets him take on the form of any class on either team, allowing him to blend in while behind enemy lines before stabbing his unsuspecting "teammates" in the back.* But above all of this he was also cautious. No matter how crazy a situation became, he always approached it with a calm and level head. All of this is what allowed him to be picked for the Teufort Mercenaries.
'With this being a "haunted house," I must be prepared. Ms. Pauling obviously knows something's wrong, or else I wouldn't be going on this mission,' Spy assures himself as he puts on his watch.
As Spy was finishing getting ready for the night's events, and those to follow, Scout was sound asleep.
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Scout is a fast-running scrapper with a baseball bat and a snarky 'in-your-face' attitude. He is the fastest mercenary on the battlefield unassisted. His Double Jump leaves slower opponents struggling to keep up and helps him navigate the terrain while dodging oncoming projectiles. Carrying a Scattergun, a Pistol, and a Bat, the Scout is ideal for aggressive fighting and flanking. He is most known for quick hit-and-run tactics for sapping away the enemies' health due to his ability to get in, do damage, and dash away before even being noticed. Being the youngest of eight boys, fights tended to end before the runt of the litter could get his fists up. So he ended up training himself to run, run fast and hard, in order to beat all of his older siblings to the fray.* That was what landed him a spot with these mercenaries.
As the day went on, the three mercs were finishing getting ready for their mission, unaware of the horrors that they were going to encounter, and as night approached, Spy, Scout, and Soldier hop on a bus and head towards Fazbear's Fright: The Horror Attraction.
"Well, we're here," Spy said as the bus came to a slow stop. The three mercenaries make their way off the bus and stand facing the entrance of a building that looked like it had been through decades of torment.
"So, uhh...this is the place, huh?" Scout said with a quiver in his voice.
"Yes..." Spy replies, "What's the matter, Scout? Still seem like an easy mission?"
"What? Yeah! Of course! Pshh, this place ain't scary!" Scout said as he crossed his arms to look tough.
"Enough chit-chat ladies! These communist bastards aren't going to kill themselves!" Soldier states.
As the three make their way through the front door of the attraction, the feel a slight surge of energy enter with them; almost as if something had breathed life into the building.
Tonight started the longest five nights of these mercs lives.