There was a slight shower of bark and needles as Shiloh came back down the pine tree, the empty flaregun tucked into a back pocket; Spy and Soldier waited silently until she was back on the ground.
"Did you see a road?"
"From up there it was pretty impossible to miss, even with the crappy light," she replied, handing the flare gun back to Soldier. "Assuming there's only the one road to see, there's this big stretch of snapped and damaged trees, I'm guessing if those robots drove those tanks up the road-"
"-they didn't fit but didn't care," Soldier finished. He tipped his helmet back and peered up at the sky. "I do not have a light and it is getting dark. Suggestions?"
"Not afraid of the dark, are you?" Shiloh asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing scares this man, but I do like to see what I'm shooting at."
Shiloh offered Spy her hand and tugged him to his feet before sliding an arm around his waist. "Even if robots can see and we can't, we're going to hear them coming before anyone can see anyone else."
"How far away is the road?" Spy asked, putting his arm over her shoulders with a grimace as the cuts in his side pulled open. "Can we even reach it before it becomes fully dark?"
She shifted to settle his arm more comfortably. "Even if we don't it's not going to matter, I know where I'm going - just stay behind me Soldier, and try not to trip."
"You sound more confident than I feel," Spy muttered.
She gave him a sort of half-grin. "Getting around in the woods is sort of my thing, trust me."
"As if we have any other choice."
Rolling her eyes she began to walk, winding through the trees carefully; the going was slow since she had to account for where her feet were as well as Spy's but soon enough they found themselves picking their way through shattered, twisted, and uprooted tree remnants. There was a wide swath cut through the trees here, giving them a clear view of the sky above where there wasn't even the barest sliver of a moon visible; they had to navigate the mess in darkness until finally their feet hit the packed dirt of what had to be the road.
"See? Road," Shiloh said, panting a bit. Spy wasn't heavy - he maybe weighed the same as her duffel bag - but carrying him along was somewhat awkward and put her offbalance. "The factory-warehouse-base thing is at our backs."
"You are certain?" Spy asked, squinting in the dark.
She nodded. "I walked in a straight line from where we were to here, the base was always to my right so that puts it at our back right now."
Soldier began heading down the road and then promptly stumbled. "Watch your footing men, there's tread tracks in the dirt."
"Really? Good."
Spy gave her a questioning look. "How is that good?"
"If there's tracks then we won't blunder off the road if we stick to them, and there's going to be a lot of noise made if something drives over them."
Spy smiled weaily. "Thinking as a mercenary would, I approve."
She snorted and began down the road. "I'm thinking like someone who'd rather not be caught and murdered."
"One and the same, Miss MacKenna."
"What in the blazes happened to this road?" Engineer muttered, his face framed in the little window that opened into the cab of the truck. "Looks like a damn tornado went through here."
The headlights of the truck made the white of the snapped wood stand out harshly against the dark, and the truck itself was shaking and vibrating as it rumbled over deep tracks in the dirt road.
"Tank tracks," Heavy said quietly, as Engineer pressed in against the windowframe to get a better look out the windshield. "Would seem tank came through, did not fit. Is likely we run into tank at base."
Engineer chuckled and pulled away from the window to sit back down on the bench; across from him sat Demoman and Medic, both wearing nearly identical stony expressions. "We might not want to be in the truck when we find that tank."
"I'm more wondering how the hell we're going to find Soldier, Spy, and Shiloh in the dark, in the woods, and with robots and tanks and other stupid crap moving around," Scout snorted. "We ain't heard anything, right?"
"Well no, I don't think so. Been a pretty quiet ride so far."
Scout leaned back against the wall behind him, stretching out to rest his feet on the bench across from him. "Yeah, exactly. And I bet the three of 'em are going to be hiding if they're even alive - Soldier might be stupid enough to take on a base of robots on his own but I think Spy's got half a brain enough to get Shiloh out of there. We're not thinking we're just going to drive up there and find them waiting on us on top of a pile of blown up robots, are we?"
"'course not," Sniper grunted. "We're not bloody stupid."
"We are most certainly going to be seen if we simply drive up to the base," Medic finally spoke up. "We make for an exceptionally easy target."
"Aye, and we don't have a Spy to sneak up and see what's what for us, either," Demoman chimed in. "I'm not one to shy from a fight, but taking one right up the nose isn't my style."
"Not one of us ever said we'd just drive on up there," Engineer interjected dryly. "We're headed in that direction, sure, and we think they might be there, but none of that is really concrete is it? Might be that base is as abandoned as its ever been, we won't know until we get there."
"Look, it's dark - we're not getting anywhere near there without being seen," Sniper said, leaning forward and resting hands on his knees. "And there's not enough light out there for us to turn the headlights off either - we're riding up there with two 'we're right bloody here' beams of light shooting out the front of this truck. We might as well quit pointing that out and start thinking on how to still take any threats by surprise even if they know we're coming."
Scout elbowed the Australian. "What are you, stupid? We can't ambush something that knows we're coming."
Sniper returned the elbowing twice as hard. "Then you must not have much holding that hat up-"
"Easy, easy fellas," Engineer broke in, cracking his knuckles. "I think I might have an idea to that effect."
"Something's coming up the road."
Shiloh paused as she said it, holding her breath to momentarily silence the panting she was doing. In the silence that followed Spy tilted his head and closed his eyes, straining to listen - he could hear insects around them, leaves rustling and things moving about in the underbrush.
"Are you certain?"
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You can't hear that?"
"I hear many things, if you mean the sounds of something moving through leaves."
She shook her head. "Hold your breath, listen - hear that?" Again she sucked in a breath and held it - she too was hearing the insects, the leaves, and things moving about, but under that and very faintly...
"...yes, I believe I hear what you are referencing," Spy said finally. "Something is coming up the road toward us - perhaps the others, or so I greatly hope." It really was extremely faint, but once his ears had picked up the sound of an engine running he could pick it out among the other sounds among the woods. "That it is coming from that direction and not the base behind us is a boon, at the least."
Soldier grunted. "I don't hear anything. And what if it's not them?"
"Miss MacKenna, do you think you could navigate us to the side of the road without someone ending up impaled on a tree?"
"Fairly certain, yeah. You're wanting to hide and see what's coming?"
Spy nodded. "Indeed, and even though you are doing much of the legwork I do feel I need to sit a moment and rest my leg." He didn't bother to add that he'd noticed his side was bleeding again, nor was he particularly keen on Shiloh noticing such.
"All right then...uh, here, Soldier-" She stuck an arm out, fingertips brushing the man's sleeve. "-you support him for a moment, I'm going to fumble a path through this crap."
Spy settled for balancing on his good leg with a hand resting on Soldier's shoulder to steady himself - he was not about to allow the man to carry him - and then they stood and waited, listening to the sounds of Shiloh moving about nearby; her breathing and the sounds of brush and leaves being shoved and kicked out of the way easily drowned out the sound of the approaching engine but soon Shiloh was back reaching to take Spy's arm and, with the silence returning, the sound of the engine was even louder - loud enough that even Soldier could hear it.
With an arm around Spy and a hand gripping Soldier's elbow, she guided them through the narrow path she'd made through the tree debris - there were a few large logs she hadn't been able to move and so they had to carefully climb over them, but some minutes later they were crouched together at the base of a giant ash tree.
They waited without speaking, the only sounds being that of the woods around them and the soft sounds of their own breathing.
In the control room of the factory there were only two fixtures - a bank of computers with a control panel, and a large teleporter that had remained inactive for nearly two months. Today, however, the teleporter began to glow and spin, and without fanfare a figure appeared atop the spinning disc.
It was a robot, built wide in the shoulders and wrapped in a hooded shawl of pastel purple fabric that covered it from shoulders to ankles, masking any other distinguishing features. Its feet clanked as it stepped down, glowing eyes surveying the gathering in the room - reports showed that a great many units had been deactivated at this site, and the robots clustered into this room may very well be the only ones remaining here aside from the pieces not yet assembled into functioning units that were stored down on the factory floor.
"-Hail Flagship.-" came the buzzed greeting from the group, all standing in stand by mode and awaiting orders.
Flagship scanned them briefly - these units were functioning properly. Good. That taken care of, the robot's gaze dropped to the pile of meat in the floor at its feet.
It was a human in a filthy blue suit, crumpled into a ball and laying in a pool of blood. Its face was bruised and beaten to the point that the man could barely peer out of one eye up at Flagship as it bent down to regard him.
"-Status.-" the shawl-wrapped robot buzzed.
A Medicbot rolled forward a few inches. "-Diagnosis: human. Male. Alive. Related: injuries life-threatening - death imininent within hours if not assisted.-"
Flagship tilted its head this way and that, then reached down to prod the male in the cheek with the blunt edge of a knuckle. The man did not respond, or perhaps could not respond - he was, after all, badly injured - but Flagship stood and pressed its metal hands together, steepling its fingers together.
"Oh dear, I do hope he makes the trip back home to brother dearest. He has been searching for you, you see."
The man's one visible eye widened at the sickeningly sweet, airy, female voice coming from the robot.
Flagship bent down to lock a hand under the man's armpit and effortlessly lift him; the man let out a pained moan and feebly tried to push away but Flagship pulled him closer and in an almost tender gesture held him close to its metal chest.
"There there... And the other? The woman? Do you know where she has gone?"
The man's one good eye shut and he remained silent. Flagship nodded, seeming almost sad.
"Well all right then, I still have the more important piece. My brother is a bit eccentric, you see - he must have goals to drive him forward. Imagine the delights and deliriums this will push him to! It is almost a blessing in disguise that the dear girl escaped."
The robot stroked a hand through the man's matted hair, then turned its face up to the gathering of robots. "And as for you, dearies, I'm afraid I have unfortunate news. Brother does not accept failure - he didn't program you for failure, you see - and so here are your new orders."
As Flagship turned to carry the captured spy toward the teleporter, it resorted to quickly relaying the orders through the control transmitters.
"-Designation: Return Package. Objective: evacuate viable materials - coordinates to follow broadcast. Completion of task: set charges and deactivate.-"
Flagship carefully settled the man onto the teleporter and waited patiently for the teleporter to perform its function before stepping up and turning to face the remaining robots.
"-Initiate.-"
The robots turned in unison as Flagship broadcast the coordinates for drop off of whatever remaining production materials were here - they would complete the task of moving everything out within the hour, and then set explosives to bring the entire warehouse crashing down on itself. No reason to leave a trail, after all.
Headlights were visible now, and Soldier had made the decision to stand at the edge of the road - visible, but not IN the road - and wait it out to see who, exactly was coming. Shiloh and Spy remained crouched at the base of the ash, grim and silent, as time seemed to drag and slow to a standstill.
Finally the headlights lit up the figure of Soldier by the road, and the vehicle stopped with a door opening.
"Soldier?"
"It is in fact me. Is that our Heavy and not a robot impersonator?"
There was the sound of two more doors opening, and then the noise of several people exiting a vehicle. Soldier shielded his eyes against the glaring light of the headlights and stood there as they approached him; Shiloh and Spy could see little more than backlit figures, mere silhouettes, but they could hear voices - if these were robots, they were spot-on in their impersonation.
"Soldier, you damn idiot - where's Spy? Where's Shiloh? What the hell are you doing?"
Scout's voice carried and Shiloh smirked a bit as Spy pinched the bridge of his nose. "That has to be them - no robot could possibly be programmed to be so grating."
"If you are robots I am here by myself."
"Soldier, cut the crap - where's Spy and Shiloh?"
Shiloh slid Spy's arm off her shoulders and stood. "Back here," she called around the tree before stepping out from behind it. There was a scuffing of boots in the dirt as the mercenaries turned around to look at her, then there was a flurry of movement as Sniper, Scout, and Medic all together waded into the mess of wooden debris toward her.
"Are you two all right?" Sniper asked, vaulting over a log and reaching the tree first, the other two still navigating through the splinters.
"We're breathing, if that counts," Shiloh replied, leaning a shoulder against the trunk. "Spy's in pretty bad shape."
Medic stopped attempting to get to them and began to pick his way back toward the road. "Get them both out of there and to the truck, I will look them over there where there is actually light to work by."
"You grab him, I've got her," Sniper said, giving Scout a push around the tree trunk.
Shiloh raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "You've 'got me' eh? I'll point out now that I'M the one who carried Spy here, not the other way around. This damsel is not in a lot of distress, thanks."
Sniper opened his mouth to reply, but then pressed his lips together and spun on his heel to stomp around the tree and help Scout get Spy back onto his feet. It took the two of them to manuever the third out to the road - apparently Shiloh's little path wasn't so readily noticeable in the shadows cast by the headlights - with Shiloh following along behind. In the harsh light from the truck Spy looked absolutely awful but Medic ushered both him and Shiloh into the back of the truck and began poking and prodding at their injuries.
Shiloh scooted to the end of the bench that lined one side of the truck and sat with her elbows propped on her knees, bent over with her head in her hands and her feet dangling off the edge of the truck's floor. Outside she could hear Soldier as he told the others about his little trip through the teleporters and his rescue of Spy and Shiloh; she nearly twitched herself off the bench when Sniper seemed to just appear out of the dark next to her.
"You all right?"
"Bruised, bloody, can't work my left hand, but like I said - still breathing," she replied quietly.
"What the hell happened? I thought you were right behind me."
"I was until a robot dragged me through a window and drugged me." She reached up to pull the neck of her shirt down, displaying the bruise at her collarbone. "It's kind of hazy after that but I think Spy jumped through after me...then I woke up stuffed into a locker and by the way the rest of this is a long story that I think everyone needs to hear at once."
"Yes, it is," Spy called from where he was laying on one of the benches with Medic tending to the cuts along his side. "Once again this situation has gotten stupidly difficult."
Sniper's gaze had flicked over Shiloh's head to Spy as the man had spoken, then dropped back down to Shiloh afterward. "...I'm sorry, sheila. For getting you dragged into this, and for letting them drag you off."
She inhaled and then exhaled, reached up to run a hand through her hair, then gave him a weak smile. "I don't even know what to say to that, to be honest...just, I guess - if I don't die or end up horribly maimed, no harm no foul?"
"You're pretty forgiving for someone with a bullseye on their back thanks to me."
"You were ordered to bring me back, right?"
Sniper shrugged. "I wouldn't have left you there regardless, it wouldn't have been right."
"The point is, you'd probably be stuck with me regardless of some nutcase trying to murder me, so uh... I'm not sure where I was going with that, actually. I think my brain's had enough for the evening," she huffed out a short laugh and put her head back into her hands.
Sniper tilted his head as a shackle-like object on her wrist caught his attention. "What's that?"
She flicked a few fingers in dismissal, head still down. "Part of the long story."
The four of them in the back of the truck flinched together as, in the distance, there was a flash of light above the trees and a resounding blast of a detonation. "The bloody hell was that?" Sniper asked, pushing away from the truck to walk around to the front.
The rest of the mercenaries were staring up the road, equally confused.
"Well lads," Demoman finally spoke up. "I'd be willing to bet a bottle on there not being a base left when we get there."