Hello, I'm here with another fic. Yes, I know I haven't finished or updated many of my other ones but I'm planning on it. I just had to get this out first.
Thank you to those who under stand.
Disclaimer-
Team Fortress 2 and all its characters belong to Valve. The only things that belong to me is the idea for the AU and location.
"Dell Conagher." The huge man in a military suit called out, while pacing.
"Here!" A short bald man called with a salute. Looking more nervous than he felt. Or was it he looked less nervous than he felt. He couldn't tell. This was going to be his first day out of training and he was being sent off with a group of soldiers.
He wasn't even an actual soldier. He did have basic hand to hand combat training and, what seemed like months, of physical training followed by gun practice. But to be honest he was in the TECH UPS. A group of, to be honest, brave nerds. They were there to create new equipment, make more effective weapons, and to repair the broken/worn out ones.
The unlucky ones got to be sent out in small groups, to travel with the units that were sent out of the main city. They and who ever was picked to be the doctors for that team were the unlucky few that only joined because they had to, and didn't want to be an actual solider.
Dell shifted uneasily as the rest of the short list of names was called.
"You are all being sent off to check on a small town to the north of here! Many of you are newbies! Straight from the patrol, or so I heard," A harsh smile spread across the man's face. His face was too angular for the smile to sit right and ended up looking creepy. His frown lines deepening and stretching. "I'm going to give it to you straight! It is not pretty out there. Many of you might die, but I want you to try your damnedest not to because we need as many of you as we can get. And if you run out there acting like a hero you are going to die. This is a search and destroy mission. If you save a few citizens, that's fucking perfect but if it's your life or a random civilian, save yourself. Because if you die to 'save' them I can guarantee you that they will just get killed after taking a few steps from your mangled corps."
That's definitely what every newbie wants to hear before their first mission. Dell thought, looking to the ground. He looked back up when the raving man turned around to pace back towards him.
"You techie! Don't you screw this up. These men and women are relying on your quick wits and fast hands!" The huge man bellowed down at the country boy.
"Yes, Sir!" He yelled back tightening his hands into fists. Wishing he could just pull his goggles down to cover his eyes.
"Do not let me down!" With that he turned again. "Now your navigator will lead you to your destination." He saluted them, they saluted back, then the group of nearly twenty people marched out of the large metal and rock war room. Down the long rock and metal hallways, out the huge rock and metal gates, and onto the main road. Which happened to be made out of long ago placed rocks. With the majority of one side lined with an almost as old wooden fence.
Dell was leaving the main city. An old but large and fortified place that he called home. He wasn't one of the kids who lived near the center, but out in the out skirts. He was a farmer for much of his life and then once his parents found out about his love for electronics and tinkering they had him signed up for school then, after working his way up, he became enlisted in the army.
He would now live out his life doing what he loved but also having to live the rest of his life fearing the attack of a demon more so than when he was safely inside the walls.
Dell marched beside a girl he had met at breakfast that morning. Her name was Mary, Mariam, or maybe it was Marty? He wasn't quite sure but she smiled over to him.
"So you're our Techie, huh? You're not much of a looker but you have a cute face." She smiled again. Dell could tell she wasn't trying to be rude just honest. She didn't have to point out something he knew, though.
He smiled back, weaker and less sincere than her own but he smiled none the less. "Yup, m' names Dell."
"I'm Maria," Oh so that was her name. He didn't pay attention to many of the names called. He had little faith that he would be using them any time soon or in the future. "I'm one of the teams medics."
Such a pretty young thing off fighting demons. She looked like she would do better being a school teacher or even a nanny. Dell glanced down at her hands. They looked soft and not quite ready for battle.
No use in making friends when they're just going to die. Maybe if he made it through his first mission he might invest some time and try to be social enough to become friends with some one. Right now though, no, no time.
They were being sent to check out a small town. There was a more experienced group out there a few days ago but from what he remembered the were called out to deal with another swarm of demons that attacked the neighboring town. Their job was simple. Check out the town, look for any villagers left, kill any lingering demons, and if they found a hell mouth report it back to base.
Their group marched on with few words. The thinned out trees helped to distract Dell from his horrible thoughts of death. The death that was waiting for him a few miles away.
He was nudged. It must be that Maria girl again. He looked over and saw her looking at him with a glint of pity in her eyes.
"You look worried." She said smiling again.
Of course he was worried. Okay, this wasn't the worst first mission he could have been sent on. There wasn't even a 100% chance of there being any demons. Dell was just overreacting. "Jus' a bit." He finally admitted after she kept her gaze strong.
"My first mission was pretty stressful too. I almost threw up a few times, but I got over it." She looked down to her gloves. She had pulled them off of her hands as soon as they had left the base and had taken to fiddling with them.
So this wasn't her first mission? That thought actually surprised the country boy. The thought of this girl with a doll face, soft brown hair that was pulled back into a loose bun, and gentle looking hands had been out and witnessed more death than Dell had. The thought scared him a bit.
"What was your first mission?" He found himself asking. He was a bit curious.
She looked over at him and pulled her gloves back on quickly. As if she had just realized she was playing with them. "Nothing big. I was sent out with a capture team to get one of those healing demons. I guess it was injured or something and they wanted it."
Dell was speechless. Her first mission was to go out and help capture a demon. What happened? Were they short on medics or something. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Been on any more missions?"
She thought for a bit. "Nope. This'll be my second. I don't have as much experience as some people think." She chuckled. The rest of the trip was silent.
"ONLY A MILE FROM OUR DESTINATION, SOLDIERS!" A loud female voice boomed from some where at the front of the line.
Something felt off. He could see smoke bellowing up into the sky. Leaving parts of it thick and gray. As if it was trying to tell Dell that something wasn't right. Maybe it was his nerves acting up again.
There was the sound of bushes rustling. "WATCH OUT!" Someone screamed to his right. Dell fumbled for his shot gun. It caught in its holster. His hand slipped off of it from the sweat.
"Conagher, get down!" Before he could look around for who called him a taller man with short blond hair tackled him tot he ground.
"She said down!" He shouted into the shorter man's face. He was off of him and pulling out a larger gun from his back. Dell just sat there not knowing what to do.
He pushed himself up on unsteady arms. The gun at his side came out of its holster smoother than he thought was possible.
An explosion behind him knocked him off balance. He stumbled forward before crashing painfully onto his face. He didn't need to touch his face to know it was badly scraped and bleeding. Pained screams ripped through the air. Someone in the distance was yelling his name. Someone else yelled for a medic.
Dell forced himself onto his back to relieve the pressure form his ribs. Deep breaths. He told himself. Deep breaths. Smoke, he smelt smoke. It was thick with the smell of blood and dust.
Dell opened his eyes. Foggy with the red of blood, he looked to the sky. Something skinny. with a long tail glided through the smoke thickened sky. He followed it with his eyes and caught it landed ungracefully on an unsuspecting soldier. They screamed before a crimson spray erupted from their throat. The person next to them turned around just in time to get covered. Time seemed to slow as the tailed beast jumped from the limp body with its tail swishing back and forth to keep balance, much like a cat. The blood covered girl pulled the gun from her side launching several rounds directly into the monster.
Dell closed his eyes before the demon landed on the girl. The scream fell on deaf ears as Dell forced himself over and back onto shaking legs.
A flash of light caught his attention. He blinked away the shock before he noticed a thick arm was holding Maria up by her throat, just some odd feet in front of him. Where did that arm come from? Dell glanced over, still dizzy and shocked from everything. His eyes widened at the sight of a dark red, muscular human shape. It had short stubbed horns and a sharp toothy smile.
The light was coming from Maria's chest and was quickly moving up her throat. The demon sucked in sharply and the little light pulled its self right through the skin and muscle of the doll faced girl's throat and right down the demon's gullet.
Dell had had enough. He was too young to die. He would rather run back to the base and tell them of how much of a coward he was than become one with a demon. A white colored gem pushed its way through the rough skin on the demon's shoulder.
The country boy turned on his heels. Blinded by the blood in his right eye and the thick smoke and dust that shrouded his surroundings. His legs carried him blindly into the forest. Not just into the forest, but farther from the city he called home and closer to the thicker woods.
He wiped at his face franticly after clumsily placing his gun back into its holster. He slipped and tumbled down a dip. A small sharp bush crashed into his side. Or rather he crashed into the bush with his side.
A yelp of pain escaped him as he slid to a halt at the bottom of the ditch. He curled in on himself. How could this get so bad so quickly? Why couldn't he have just continued his meaningless talk with that Marion girl? Why couldn't he have not turned and ran away like a fool. Why didn't he help?
The tree's shadows ended at the top of the ditch so Dell was bathed in sunlight. It felt nice on his sweat covered skin. He rolled over onto his back so he could check his injuries. His side was on fire so he must have broke something , his face was sticky and covered in dirt so it was scrapped worse than he thought.
Dell looked down to examine his legs, but a loud fwooshing noise caught his attention. That sounded like fire. Not just a little bit, but like someone just flooded an area with it. Oh no. He could see the flames from where he was. Tall, dark, and menacing. Some instinct deep in him forced him back to his aching feet. He crawled up the side of the small trench.
Where was he planning on going? The answer was any where but where the flames were.
His feet carried him through the woods, over several short jumps, around trees, and finally to a road. He slumped over, arms resting on his knees, breathing heavy.
The air smelt strongly of burnt flesh and smoke. Dell peeked up from the ground, wide eyed and unsure.
The ground was littered with the scorched corpses of demons and human's alike. It seemed no one was spared from the terror of the flames that burned so hot and so high. Dell had seen them from were he fell.
What monster could have done this? He asked himself, scanning the road for any survivors. There were none.
He heard loud labored breathing coming from behind him and a large shadow grow over his own and envelop him in what felt like a shroud of darkness and pain.
When he turned around he was going to die. He knew it was going to happen.
I promise I'll update another one of my stories soon then I'll update this one. If you have any ideas for anything don't be afraid to ask.
I might not do it but its better to know than never know.
The reason i made Dell a bit more of a wimp than he is in the normal TF2 universe is because he was raised a bit differently.
Please inform me of any errors and I will try to get around to fixing them.