It's freezing in here… I shudder, tugging my lightweight sweatshirt around my shoulders. Can't this bloody airport turn down the air conditioning, just a little bit? I look around at the people sitting in the flight reception area, wondering how they could stand the temperature. They all seemed content, however, meanwhile I felt like the cold was seeping into my bones. I pushed my aviators up my nose, watching the groups of people swarming to and from their oh-so-important flights. There were all sorts of people here; eager, excited-looking travelers, exhausted tourists, frazzled mothers dragging children in tow, and a vast amount of businessmen running frantically to their flight gates.

I suppose you'll want to know what exactly it is I'm doing here. I've just flown in from Australia to the United States, pursuing a job. However, it's not just some average, run-of-the-mill job. A group that called themselves the Builders League United sent a message to me, stating that they had a job open for a sniper. So, seeing as I hadn't had a job in almost a month, I accepted without question. By the next week, I was packed and on the plane to Utah. And that's how I got here, waiting in a freezing airport lobby for someone they called "the engineer" to come and take me to the BLU's base. I certainly hope they'll get here soon, before I freeze to death. I don't have to wait long before I'm approached by a woman in a blue t-shirt and black jeans.

"Hey there, missy. I'm your ride." She says in a thick southern accent.

"Are you the engineer?" I ask, getting to my feet and picking up my baggage.

"That I am, darling. I'm BLU's Engineer. You're the new Sniper, huh?" I give a nod as she looks me over. "You're quite a bit taller than I imagined." She turns on her heel and waves her hand towards the door. "Let's get goin', it's like a meat locker in here. The van's parked just outside."

I follow her out, stepping gratefully into the warm, dry air outside. She leads me to a busted up old blue utility van that has several baseball-sized dents in the side, and slides the side door open. I throw my bags into the back, then climb into the passenger's seat of the van. It's surprisingly clean and well-kept on the inside. I lean back against the seat as the van starts, tipping my hat forwards to shield my eyes from the bright southern sun.

"Wake up, we're here." I feel a hand nudging my shoulder as I crack my eyes open. The sun's setting, I realize, as we step out of the van. I must've been asleep for ages…

"C'mon, snoozer, the rest of the team will wanna meet'cha." I rub my eyes, trying to push the sleepiness away.

On the way over, Engineer explained how things worked at the BLU base. Every day, we would gear up and head to the battlefield, where we would fight to get into the enemy base and get ahold of their intelligence briefcase. She also explained that if I got injured, I could call for the Medic, who would come and heal me with his medigun. When the question of death came up, she told me about the respawn system. When we get killed, we reappear in a building near the edge of the battlefield, at the very end of our base. All injuries are healed, and we're battle-ready as soon as we hit the ground. She also explained how we go about addressing each other. We don't go by names, but rather, by titles.

As I step into the base, I notice two distinct things at the same time; one, the place wreaks of cigarettes, and two, the common area we'd entered into contained three men, who were all staring at me. The first one to speak was a thickset man with a strong Russian accent. He broke off his conversation about guns with another smaller man to speak to me.

"Is this new Sniper?" He asks, getting to his feet. He walks over to me and holds out a hand. "I am Heavy Weapons guy. I use big guns and kill all tiny baby REDs." I take his hand and shake it, smiling up at him. I hadn't noticed that the slightly shorter man had walked up behind the Heavy. He was quite a bit smaller when compared to the heavy, but he was also fairly well-built.

"And I am ze team's Medic." He says, smiling at me. "It is good to finally meet our new Sniper." I give a wide grin, surprised by such friendliness; however, something about the man bothered me a bit. His smile reached his eyes, yes, but the smile seemed rather wild.

"Oi'll make sure tah holler for yah if I'm in a rough spot, then." I chuckle, silently hoping to myself that that won't be too soon. The two then return to the couch, starting up their conversation over guns once more. The engineer gives me a thumbs-up and then left to talk to a black man who was extremely drunk. As soon as she went, an eager boy comes, who looked to be no older than me. He jogs up to me with a flirty smile.

"Hiyah, toots." He says, throwing an arm around my shoulder. "I'm the Scout. I'm the fastest guy on this base, y'know? Plus I'm wicked fucking strong. Check it out." He lets go of me, flexing. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

I roll my eyes. "That's cute, wanka; but ah, not very impressive." I chuckle, waving him off. He merely shrugs, elbowing me.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart. How about you let me show yah around?" Before I can protest, he grabs my arm and drags me around the base. Just off the common room is a hallway that leads to the cafeteria, and as the Scout pointed out, the door at the opposite it leads to the respawn room. Just down the hallway is a set of several doors.

"These are the sleeping quarters. That's my room, right there." He indicates the first door, which has a shining number one nailed to it. "And y'know, if yah ever have a bad dream, yah can come in by me." He gives a wink, and all I can do is laugh and roll my eyes.

"Oi assure yah Oi'll be fine by mahself, kid." I glance at the doors; nine total, meaning each team member got one room to themselves. "Which room is mine?"

He leads me to the end of the hall, to a room with the number 8 on it; it's right next to the resupply. Damn, that's pretty bloody convenient. I notice that hanging from my door handle is a key; no doubt the key to my room. I grab it, and after briefly struggling with the stubborn lock on the door, open it and step into the room. The moment I set foot in the room, I feel my jaw drop. It's a small room, about the size of an average hotel room; however, it appears to be a fully-furnished apartment. I look around, stunned. I take no time in quickly looking through the wall covered in cabinets, finding a closet filled with what I think is the standard uniform; A white undershirt, blue button-up shirt, gray jeans, and a black vest. There's a desk situated underneath what at first appears to be a small attic-ish space; but as I look closer, I realize it's a sleeping nook, with a full-size bed laden with a pair of soft-looking pillows and a thick fluffy comforter. Off to the side, there's a small door I that leads to a pint-sized bathroom, complete with a Barbie shower and separate room for the toilet.

It's as I'm going to check out the bathroom when I notice the Scout had followed me in. "What're you still doin' here, mate?"

"Just enjoying the stunned look on your face. 'S pretty cute, y'know."

I glance at him, with his smug little smile; and roll my eyes. "Shouldn't Oi be meetin' the other team members? Surely there're a few more?"

"Oh, yeah, right." He shakes himself, snagging my arm again and dragging me out of my room before I can lock it. He pulls me outside now, out onto the abandoned battlefield. Out here, there are a couple other people. One of them is a short, stocky man in a blue military uniform. Another is a tall slender man in a formal suit and tie. The man in the suit has a mask covering his face, leaving only his eyes and mouth visible. The two appear to be arguing, over what though, I don't know. Between them, apparently trying to separate them, is a man who is completely covered in head to toe with a fireproof suit and gas mask. As we approach, the man in the suit turns to face us. I notice the cigarette poised between his lips, and I put two and two together.

"So I assume you're the one who's ben stinkin' up the base?" I say to him, catching the attention of the other two men. The man in the uniform steps forward, and I'm nearly blown away by his loud voice.

"You're right about that, young lady. This bratty Frenchman's smoking has tainted our base, and I'm sick and tired of it!" At this point, he turns to the man in the suit, glowering. "I demand that you smoke outside of the base from now on! Not all of us want to die of lung cancer!" I stifle a laugh, looking curiously around at the Frenchman.

"So, who the bloody hell are you all?" I ask, looking back at the loud military man.

"Ah, ma petit, you must be ze new Sniper." The masked man says, smirking. "I am ze team's Spy. Eet is my job to pick off the stragglers of ze ozzer team."

"Yeah, he's a backstabbing snake! I'm the Soldier, and I outrank everyone on this team!" The loud man waves off the Spy. I look past him at the last man, the one in the fireproof suit.

"Wot about you, mate?"

"Mmmph mmph mmmmmph!"

"Wot was that?" I ask, taken aback.

The Spy steps up, shaking his head. "Zat ees ze Pyro, ma cher. He says he's glad to meet you. He can't speak very well through his mask."

I turn my gaze onto the Pyro, who gives me a friendly wave in return. I smile and wave back. He seems nice enough… I don't have much time to dwell on these three new men, however, as my thoughts are interrupted by a certain loud Soldier.

"I assume you've already been briefed on you mission for tomorrow?" He asks, booming across the field. I nod, and he continues. "You'll have to be careful, though! The REDs have a rather nasty Sniper on their side! He's a slippery bushman, and he'll take you out before you can even load your gun! Make sure you take him out first!"

"I assure yah, mate, he'll be out before he can fire a shot." I say, smirking at the thought of taking out another poorly-hidden sniper. That what sniping is all about, anyway. Finding a good hiding spot.

"There's also a Spy on their team!" The soldier goes on, as tough he hadn't heard me at all. "He's got a thing for taking out our Sniper, so make sure that pesky Spy isn't behind you!" I merely nod, waiting for the Soldier to finish. It takes quite a bit longer than I thought, and as I walked away with the Scout, I made a mental note not to get stuck listening to one of the Soldier's "briefings" again.