Hey guys, Mr. Wang here, bringing you the latest installment of "The Most Dangerous Game." I know it's been a while, but I have to say, it was difficult at first, but I will say that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you can enjoy it. I must say, I am actually surprised at the reception this story is getting. The favorites and alerts on here are the highest I've gotten for a story in a while. And this is just some half-assed story I didn't really put much thought into, so I'm still caught off guard that this is getting good reception. Sorry it took so long to get uploaded, but I hope you guys can like it enough to tide by.
Sniper groaned as he headed towards the meeting room the following day. With Scout as the leader, and Catherine released and made a member of the team for that matter, he knew that the following days were going to be hell. Scout had warmly welcomed the Brit to the team, and some of the squad was actually enthusiastic about having a completely annoying, agitating, inconsiderate, mean, manipulative, and stupid she-devil join their ranks and become a member of the mercenary group that was their way of life. Sniper knew that Catherine was about to disrupt the rather sound and serene, yet war-like cycle of life that the REDs were so aptly contempt with. She probably was just another spy. Sniper knew he utterly hated spies, and while he hated the BLU and even the actual RED team spies more, the fact that Catherine had a couple more Y-chromosomes in her genes made her a lot more dangerous to be weary about. Sniper heard stories about a girl nicknamed Mata-Hari, a Dutch girl in the first war who used her feminine wiles to get close to people, and spied on several nations. She was subsequently executed for espionage. A fitting end, if Sniper said so himself. The Aussie assassin wasn't about to let this girl get away, or stab him in the back. Some might say the Sniper is paranoid of spies (hence his infamous Razorback invention) but in a world where you can be doublecrossed, and being a loner in a battlefield where you have no friends, it's always justifiable.
Sniper mumbled his thoughts to himself, as he walked through the blast-hole in the wall the team was so used to using (which was now being considered to keep) which lead to the briefing room. Sniper saw a few of the team in their respective seats, so the bushman walked off to his own. However, he noticed a peculiar thing; there were ten chairs. Sniper counted the classes on the team, until he realized the extra chair was actually Catherine's. Eying the empty seats, Sniper observed the emblems that were embroidered to each of the backrests, each matching the all of the squad members' respective duties. However, he noticed a chair right beside him that had a hastily-stitched emblem that looked like a half-assed combination of a Union Jack and a crosshair.
"Oh, bloody hell..."
Catherine walked in the room, a smug grin on her face, as she took her seat next to Sniper. The moment the two made eye contact, Catherine's grin turned into a cocky smile reminiscent to Scout, while Sniper looked away, grumbling about Sheilas and pikers.
"Well, top o' the morning to you, Roger..." she laughed. The Australian beside her didn't care to respond as he facepalmed.
By now, everyone in the squad was in their seats, save Soldier and Scout. As Catherine laughed on, Sniper noticed "the great leader," Scout, take a dramatic entry though the twin doors the team used to take before the gaping wall-hole was blasted in the party. Scout kicked open the doors, revealing himself wearing a carefully embroidered military jacket that was a couple sizes too big for him, and adorned with several home-made looking medals. He kept the baseball cap and headset. The jacket was obviously Soldier's. Said sociopath was standing at attention, and obediently following Scout as he neared his chair.
"Yo, atten-shun!" Scout bellowed in his best Soldier impression. However, his high, barely-past-puberty voice couldn't hold a candle to the way Solly was able to instill some strict order like a drill sergeant. Some of the team still snickered, including Sniper, who still couldn't take the fact Scout was a leader seriously.
"Hey, shut up, ya dumbass!" Scout shouted, pointing a finger at Sniper, as well as any other member of the team that was mocking him. However, his hand was comically covered up by a long jacket sleeve, loosely hanging over the end of his arm. This prompted even more laughing from the team.
"YOU WILL ALL SHUT UP AND STOP GIGGLING LIKE THE PANSY-ASS WOMEN YOU ARE!" Soldier yelled. Everyone was extremely silent in a flash, though many people were in disbelief. "Except Catherine, who erm... is a woman..."
"Um... When does Soldier listen to teeny commander? I thought you hated Scout for trying to fit his baby feet in your large boots," Heavy asked incredulously. The patriot gave a big scowl towards the large Russian. Soldier never really approved whenever Heavy talked. Or the Medic. Or any non-American for that manner. The soldier tried to stare down at the former Soviet, glaring at him agitatedly. The Heavy attempted to intimidate Soldier by staring back, though the burly Russian found it awkward to stare at Soldier due to his steel helmet covering the top-half of his face.
"Well at least we have an American leading this team, instead of someone like Crouton, or Oktoberfest over there. Especially you, Stalingrad," the Soldier sneered. "Sure, City-boy here is a rather green leader, but since he proved his worth and stood his ground, I have no doubt he will become an excellent leader eventually... unlike you sorry sacks of scum!"
"Wait, Soldier... You mean to tell me that you're loyal to him all of a-"
"You shut up, Bilbo Baggins!" Soldier quickly silenced Sniper. The Aussie was speechless, and most of all confused as to what the hell Soldier called him.
"W-what did you just-"
"Shut it!"
Sniper was left with nothing more to say, as he facepalmed again. He was probably one of two sane people, the other being Engineer. Still, Engineer hardly voiced against anyone, and pretty much went with the flow, even if he had objections. And that didn't make anything easier. Engineer was always was involved in any of the in-squad politics or rules that went around, often acting as a neutral party, and sometimes the peacekeeper whenever the team got restless. The entire team, even Spy, often listened to Engi as the voice of reason. He was always a good guy, but he never really took any sides whenever there was a conflict between two separate parties. Engineer's support would probably substantial in getting Catherine out of the team, but he looked like he rather enjoyed the idea. Sniper's train of thought was interrupted as he felt a nudge on his arm. He saw Catherine, now sporting a smile that she must have learned from Scout; that cocky, confident, just-as-annoying smile that practically screamed out 'Hey! You suck, and I'm better than you!"
"Baggins, eh? Maybe I should start calling you that now..." Catherine commented. She gave a teasing laugh, though Sniper groaned in response.
"Just shut the bloody hell up, Cathy..."
Sniper pushed Catherine aside, almost tipping her over in her chair. She clenched a fist, though the angered experession gradually died down. As everyone turned their attention to Scout, the Boston kid was sitting in what was once Soldier's chair, which was larger and had a dramatic swivel effect with the turn of a lever on the armrest. It was almost like a throne, which was unusual to see someone of Scout's stature sitting in.
"Okay everyone, jus' got word from da boss. The dumbasses at BLU command are sendin' us th' same group of losers we've been killin', and they're gonna want to try and beat da crap outta us. Poor bastards can't learn, can't they?" Scout explained.
"No, Sir!" Soldier exclaimed.
Everyone looked at Soldier questionably, who seemed to act completely the opposite of what everyone would have thought his reactions to Scout's uprising would be. Scout merely smirked, and pointed over towards the rocket-man.
"Yeah, Solly here's been made my advisah. I make decisions, he... advises 'dem." A small pause of silence allowed the team to take that in. "Anyway, I also want to discuss the... 'controversy' of our newest member, Catherine Drake. Go ahead and stand up and introduce y'self, erm... Miss Drake..."
It was odd how Scout tried used a bigger word like "controversy" and how his rather blunt and insulting nature changed to a more polite one. Of course most of the team knew that this was Scout's way of trying to give a good first impression, so he could get into her pants later. Catherine stood up, reiterated her name, waved to the team and sat down. Sniper was appalled by how they cheerily greeted her back.
"Scout, I'm sorry, but why do we even have her? We can't rule out the possibility she's a spy, and why the hell would the higher-ups in RED bring in another team member above the normal roster? And another sniper at that!" the bushman argued.
"Hmph... I'm not just a sniper, I can work with other weapons too... But afraid of the possibility of getting replaced, Roger?" Catherine teased. Sniper balled a fist shakingly, though his usual Professional's Standards prevented him from doing one of the most impolite things a man could do, hit a girl.
"Heh... Roger..." Scout chuckled to himself. "Anyway, I don't think da Administrator needs ta know. What's the harm done if we get another group member? I think you're getting jealous, Snipe's... or do ya prefer Roger?"
"Shut the bloody hell up, you spastic little gremlin..." Sniper grumbled, burying his face into his hands.
"But th' Sniper's right. Yoo're avoidin' th' question, Scoot. W' can't just be sittin here like a' bunch a weasel's behind tae Administrator's back. We got's ta tell her..." Demoman argued. Scout raised a brow, though he looked like he completely disregarded Demo's suggestion.
"Ooh, so yah got the drunk backing ya up, Snipes. Whoop-de-doo. You're in good company," Scout insulted. However, this prompted more uproar from the rest of the squad, who seemed keen on wanting to tell the Administrator further course of action.
"I do not 'ink that getting on mon cheri's bad side with any tomfoolery regarding zis girl would be an appropriate action for a "great leader" such as you..." Spy retorted mockingly.
"Yeah, come over and say that to my face, tough guy- Wait, did you just call da Administrator 'my cherry'? Some kinda weird Frenchie nickname? What the hell is dat, you two gettin' it on?" Scout fought back
"Why yes, because your mother was getting tired and worn out. Zhe poor women could not take it anymore. What can I say? I am too much for ze ladies, and I have my needs that need to be... accommodated..."
"Ah, you stupid sonnova-"
"Ahem, movin' back on track here, partners... Ah'm not so sure that havin' this lady without permission from the Administrator's a good idea. Sure, Catherine's a nice gal, but we need to make sure before this can turn out to be some helluva problem," Engineer argued. "Uh, no offense to you, Missy. We're jus' trying to get our priorities straightened out..."
"None taken, Colton," she happily replied. The Texan gave a slight laugh before focusing his attention back to the team. Sniper and Scout absolutely hated how Catherine seemed to be acting with the Engineer, though both of them for two different reasons. For one, Sniper knew that if he was the one making that vocal argument with the same words as Engie used, he'd probably get a backlash from the feisty British girl. Hell, Engineer is a "Yank" and he still gets away with being able to use the nickname "Missy" on her, let alone Sniper calling her Cathy. It made him sick how seemingly innocent and polite she could be in the presence of the rest of the team. Hell, Engie was probably the start. She'd get the whole team eating out of the palm of her hand. Scout on the other hand, couldn't help angered by the fact that Catherine and Engineer seemed genuinely nicer to each other, and he almost felt threatened that the two might end up together in some sort of sick plot to deprive Scout of what he has solely deserved for so long: female companionship. It pissed him off to no end to see that only after about three meetings, Engie and Catherine seemed on better terms, and could even be called friends, when Scout was still trying to talk to her. What the hell was Engineer doing that he wasn't?
"Sir...? Sir...?"
Soldier managed to snap Scout out of his silent rage, causing him to come back to the real world. "Uh, yeah, let's jus' go ova to da comm room, an' see what da hell happens from 'dere..."
Everyone got up from their seats, and was ready to march out to room the team used to communicate with the Administrator. Sniper in particular was too overly excited to get rid of Catherine, and ended up walking faster than the rest of the gang, even pushing aside Scout in order to get ahead and inadvertently leading the group. Soldier offered to beat the "kangaroo-hugging bushman" with his shovel, though Scout declined. Still, the Bostonian could not see the logic in Sniper's mind that he wanted to get rid of this girl ASAP. And truth be told, Scout was actually enjoying the fact Catherine was annoying him. Sure, Snipes wasn't so bad, but the teenager could tell that he generally disliked him. They even got on each other's nerves from time to time. But Scout couldn't help but be entertained by their squabble. It'll probably die out when Sniper wises up and chooses not to get on her bad side, but for now, Scout would enjoy watching their fights. Now if only Catherine could focus her anger on someone like the fat, bald, dimwitted Heavy, or that smug, pompous, stuck-up Spy...
Entering through the two doors that lead to the communications room, where several computers, telephones, and television monitors lay neatly organized into several stations. However, the most spectacular aspect of the room, was the massive telescreen which dwarfed everything else in the room. The single monitor took up the whole back wall, was hooked straight to communicate with RED Command, and the Administrator herself. In front of the massive screen, stood a small console with several flashing buttons and a few levers, which were all too complex for the Scout to understand.
The Bostonian looked at the console and attempted to act like he understood how the machine worked, by pressing a few random buttons and pull a lever here and there, though all he got in response was a red flashing light that read "error."
"Yo, a little help here?" Scout called out. He was dissatisfied when no one immediately came to help out, but pushing his way through the crowd was the RED Spy, who quickly shoved Scout out of the way. However, the teenager wasn't about to let Spy overtake his leader ship, and attempted to shove Spy back. However, the Frenchman quickly caught Scout's fist, and twisted his arm, causing the newly promoted leader great pain, accompanied by a girlish yelp.
"Move, you simpleton! You're in my personal space..." Spy said as he flung back Scout's now limp arm. Looking at the several buttons, the masked man rapidly pressed a select few in a gracefully quick manner, before a green light flickered on the console. Pulling down a single lever, the massive telescreen in front of everyone came to life, with nothing but static filling it. However, the static soon cleared with color, and eventually the REDs could make out the silhouette of a middle-aged woman.
The video feed cleared, and the woman coughed several times, and even through the static filled screen, it was obvious the Administrator's room was full of smoke. She continued to cough out her lungs, while occasionally taking every breath of air to smoke her cigar. It didn't even look like she was aware she was on camera in front of the RED team.
"Ahem, mon cheri," the Spy politely interrupted, though his voice was rather soft-spoken compared to the coughing tantrum the Administrator was throwing. "Madame... MADAME!" he yelled.
In the middle of her coughing, the Administrator paused for a second, before slowly turning her head towards the screen. The woman raised her brows high, and quickly furrowed them in annoyance. Her disgust at the REDs was noticeable in her face, and it was already plenty evident from the way she always yelled at them in combat. "What in blazes are you filthy, shameless, barbaric-" the Administrator's anger dissipated when her eyes met the Spy. "Oh, hello Pierre."
"Bonjour, Madame..." the Spy politely replied. Some snickering could be heard from behind at finally learning Spy's real name, though he payed them no heed. "Madame, it appears we 'ave a bit of a... situation..."
The Administrator put down her cigar in an ashtray (with several other burnt cigars accompanying it) and rested her head on her hands. "Really? The mercenaries from the Builders League United are retreating, so I hardly think you have a "situation." So leave me alone unless you wish to face the dire-"
"Yo, we need help with dis girl ova' here!" Scout shouted, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. The teenager grabbed Catherine by the arm and presented her to the Administrator. "We found her wanderin' around here da other day. Snipe's captured her and brought her in last night, and we took her in da squad... but... um, I thought I should bring 'dis situation up with you, Miss. I mean, I wouldn't want to do anything without your consent and stuff..." he insisted in his best kiss-ass voice.
Catherine wriggled free from Scout's grasp (which was difficult even for her) and stepped forward towards the large screen. The smoker looked down toward the woman, still clad in her neutral olive drab uniform. The British girl's stance stiffened and Catherine greeted with a salute. "Hello, Miss Administrator."
The Administrator paused, and her scowl replaced with an odd look of what appeared to be joy and amusement. "Ah, Catherine... I hope that the trip over here wasn't too rough for you," the Administrator said in a strangely personable tone.
"Yes, well I thought that parachuting out of the plane and into a warzone would be the toughest part... Never thought a bunch of Yankees would knock me out and throw me in a bloody cell..." Catherine trailed off, throwing another glare at Sniper before looking back at the Administrator. The middle-aged woman sighed in response, shamefully placing a hand on her forehead.
"Ugh... Freelancers... So, barbaric, so chaotic, so... disposable... Which is why I'm glad I brought you here, Catherine," the Administrator said, almost apologetically to Catherine, yet threateningly towards the RED team at the same time. There was now much more life in the crowd, as the team murmured and whispered this and that as to how the hell the Administrator knows Catherine, and even more so as to what she meant when she said she brought Catherin to Fastlane.
This time, Sniper pushed his way through the crowd of his team-mates and looked on toward the commander of Reliable Excavation and Demolition face-to-face. "What the bloody hell... Are you tellin' me that you actually brought this sheila in here?"
The somewhat personable expression on the Administrator's face quickly disappeared, and was replaced by her usual scowl when she noticed the rugged bushman. "Did you not just hear? Hmph. I brought Catherine here to be your example. I suppose you need to teach them proper manners first..."
"Yes, I've noticed that manners are a trait some members are... sorely lacking..." Catherine added, her cocky smile returning, as she felt totally in-control of the situation.
"Example...? What the bloody...?" Sniper was still trying to grasp that Catherine was actually brought on this team, and she had the Administrator backing her.
"What are you? Are you a parrot who ate a bowl of stupid this morning? Dear me, Roger..." the Administrator sharply cut off. When she was met with silence, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Ugh... I suppose I do owe you inbreeds and explanation now, do I?"
The REDs murmured and whispered some more, though when the Administrator cleared her throat, the noises and chatter died down.
"We at Reliable Excavation and Demolition are conducting a... little project... We've been noticing that we've solely relied on Freelance mercenaries as the primary bulk of our forces. However, we feel that we need soldiers with proper military experience, combat experience, weapons expertise, have some degree of formal education, and served in a branch of your nation's military. Which is to say, most of you lack at least two of these qualities when we recruited you. Which is why we are bringing in new soldiers into our employ who show the true nature of what it is to be infantry working with us. Plus, I thought this squad was lacking some female intuition. Well, most squads are, but I found this one in particular to be sorely lacking. Which was why Catherine was chosen in particular."
"So wait just a darn minute... So yer sayin' that you brought Miss Catherine along here... so show an example of some sort?" Engineer asked, waving his hand as high as he could in the center of the crowd.
"Finally, one that can listen. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. See? I knew those four PhD's of yours didn't go to complete waste," The Administrator said, though Engi was confused as to whether she was praising him or mocking him in that single sentence. Or both.
"You Freelancers are all murderers... outcasts... deserters... low-lives... barbarians... You all lack the finesse, the expertise, and the efficiency of a true trained soldier. We find the elite, and we have currently added them to every RED team station. These special individuals, exemplify everything that is to be expected of our employees..."
"Hey, aye object te' that!" Demoman shouted out. "I mean, she's a nice girl, but makes her better tan us? What's te' lassie got that we don't? ...hehe... 'sides te obvious..."
Even though Demoman did have a point, the team felt that Catherine was already better than the Black Scottish Cyclops in a few ways, chief of which was that she wasn't drunk at the moment. The man could barely stand, yet tightly held on to his bottle of scrumpy.
"First of all, she doesn't reek of alcohol... But please. Catherine has much more training and discipline than any of you bitwits could hope to imagine. What she lacks in actual combat experience though, more than make up for the elite training regiment she went through, he leadership skills, and her expertise in handling of multiple weapons that don't simply restrict to your "classes." I'm sure even you knuckle-draggers have heard of the British Special Air Service?"
While the name of that organization caused a few people to scratch their heads, a few people, namely Sniper, Soldier, and Spy, were shocked and had their eyes as wide as saucers. "Mon dieu... Madame, you mean to tell us zhat zis girl is an SAS operative?" Spy asked. Not too many things were surprising to the Frenchman, but this had caught him off guard.
"An SAS girl? Crikey... Never even knew the Special Air Service took girls in their ranks..." Sniper mumbled. However, as soon as the words left his mouth, the Australian could almost feel himself being glared at.
"They don't," Catherine interrupted. "I was born a few years back before WWII. When the fighting started, my father was a member of the SAS, and over the course of the war, Daddy was able to train me to be able to defend myself. He and several other operatives were able to train me since I was eight. Since the war's end, I've been decorated an SAS member since my training, though I'm not really officially recognized. I'm covertly working for RED to help shift the power balance and civil war to a peaceful state, so I doubt you'll read about Britain's first SAS woman in the next decade's textbooks. But no way in Sam hell am I afraid of this. I mean, Who Dares, Wins, right?" the British girl continued. Most of the team listened to this information, mouths agape in surprise.
"So you see? I believe that Catherine Drake's addition to this squad is a nice addition to this team's... colorful diversity..."
"Te' bloody hell that's supposed to mean?"
"Ugh, shut up, Demo... I do not zhink zhe Administrator means zhat kind of color..." Medic quickly silenced. The German rolled his eyes, as he watched the Scot take another swig of Scrumpy.
"Right... Jus' checkin'... Tankfully, I already don't remember this..." Demo said, wobbling on his own two feet.
"Well then... If there is nothing else, then I ask that you all get along. She's family now... Treat her just like you would a brother... No scratch that. Treat her like the bloody Queen of England, because your manners already suggest you'd be adequately rude anyway..." The Administrator proclaimed, ready to cut off the transmission.
"Wait! Administrator!" the Sniper shouted. "Y-you can't just leave this sheila here without any sort of warning, or notification? You're just leaving her on our doorstep! This ain't bloody fair!"
"Well Roger, when someone makes more money than you, nothing is fair..."
The Administrator smiled evilly, and was about to cackle like a madwoman, before she clicked a button. With that, the entire large screen went blank. The crowd in the communications room dispersed, as group members talked about this "project" thing, and the fact that they now had an extremely well-trained woman in the base.
Sniper however, was left looking at the dark, blank screen and was still left in silence. He heard the footsteps echo throughout the room, before Sniper realized that he was the only one left. He could overhear the team making more introductions, and even commencing a tour of the base. The Aussie Outbacker facepalmed, now completely out of ideas and hopes to get rid of this girl. Regretting the time he switched to tranquilizer rounds last night, Sniper almost clenched a fist with his free hand, though he calmed down. Now, the girl who was such an annoyance, was a full-fledged soldier in the REDs ranks. She was going to live every day with them.
"So... this is the way I'm gonna die, is it? I ain't going down without a fight..."
"I think zhat is the sound of paranoia, is it not, Bushman?"
Sniper looked over his shoulder to see Spy, though Frenchie didn't look like he was there to annoy him again. The Australian assassin looked over toward his European rival, though the Spy didn't have his usual smug look about him. It was somewhat more sincere, if that was even possible.
"Ah, leave me alone, ya bastard... I can tell my life's gonna be hell from here on out, and she's almost been worse than Scout has ever been over the course of day..."
"As much as I detest you, I cannot blame you, Bushman... Zhere is something, how the American's say it...? Fishy. Zhere is something fishy going on here. And even if the Administrator is 'good-willed' enough to send us zis mentor, I do not trust her."
"What're saying?"
"Just... do as you always do. Watch your back... We'll keep an eye on her. Who knows, maybe we can put all zis trouble behind us, and laugh about zis in a couple days," Spy said, in an almost comforting tone. It was odd to hear this from anyone, especially Spy of all people. The Frenchman gave Sniper a hearty pat on the back and offered him a hand to get him back up straight again. Sniper nodded, and accepted as he was hoisted to a standing position. "Now that zhe mushy stuff is all over with, we can be our normal selves... Ahem, you are a smelly, piss-throwing jar man!"
"And you're a gutless snake without a shred manliness!"
"There we go. See? It's not like you to be crying over zis one girl. Jealous of Scout, are you maybe?"
"Hell, Frenchie. I think you're the one who's jealous! Scout's got the only real girl for miles, and I know how touchy and sensitive ya get when it comes to sheilas!"
"Haha... Yes, well I suppose his mother will have to do for now, won't she? Come now; all zis talk about women and insults is making me a bit hungry... let's go to zhe mess hall, and get something to eat," Spy smiled slightly, as he walked off outside of the communications, with Sniper soon following suit.
"Right, but no way in hell you're cooking frog legs, and snails, or any a' that crap! We're doing food my way! Shrimp of the barbie!"
Sniper picked up his pace, and pushed Spy aside. Times like this, even if they were complete dicks to each other, at least people on the team help look out for each other. Even backstabbers. But even more, at least Sniper didn't feel alone when he had his suspicions at Catherine. She's probably not really a spy anymore, but she would no doubt cause hell and and ruin the harmonic balance of the team. At the very least, Sniper knew that the presence of a girl would cause some havoc.
Shaking his head, Sniper wanted to remove the thoughts from his mind, as he went off to do some cooking, one of his favorite past-time hobbies, aside from hunting. The thought of some of his own famous fresh barbecued shrimp was enough to put an appetite and savory feeling in his mouth to ignore the presence of any British girls in the base. Confident, Sniper planned on at least cooking for the rest of the team when they got back from touring Catherine around the base. Who knows. Maybe the stubborn sheila might appreciate a cooked meal enough for Sniper to get back in her good graces. If not, there was always a small bottle of rat poison nearby to add some... extra particular flavor to Catherine's meal.
So, Sniper's stuck in a bit of a predicament here, eh? Please note that if you happen to see some oddities or errors in this chapter, let me know, since I'm actually uploading this at 2:40 AM. I'm naturally going to be drowsy, so there are naturally going to be some things I might have overlooked. Anyway, until next time guys...