The Mexico team
This is a long one, but I wanted to put more into the first part of this chapter, give Nathan's family a bit more screen time before we're going to focus more on the Team Fortress guys.
I made a mistake in the old version by constantly shifting the point of view on people. But in this version, I will try and stick to one or two people in each chapter.
Much to his joy, Lawrence brought good news when he returned from the workshop. The gunslinger was still there, overlooked by the Magisterium when they raided his workshop.
"I may not be as smart as you, but I could still see that robot hand is some mighty brilliant work." The Aussie admitted and Dell wholeheartedly agrees. His grandfather sure was a mind of brilliance, all the way up to his death. "I brought it to the ship, among other things. You will have to check and see if I got everything."
"I will when I can leave the bed without passing out." Dell remarks, not surprised his body needs time to recover from this traumatic experience. A pain as if he still got the right hand, and all Dell can do is put the remaining hand on the stump. "If our 'friends' get scent on my whereabouts, you might have to help me out from here." Lawrence simply nods; if he already had that plan thought out or not, Dell can't really tell. Lawrence and Antoine have always been hard to read, though for different reasons.
"Anyway, I should give Saffira the heads-up that I can no longer have Nathan for hire."
"There's no need for that."
Both he and Lawrence turn to the door, and the mother of his assistance stands there. Her usual sat up hair hangs over her shoulders, makeup smudged, and it looks like she hasn't slept at all. Seeing her in such a frazzled state, Dell straight away fears the worst. "What happened? Is he alright?"
Saffira hugs herself and her usual proud standing lion-looking cat is hunched down, acting mighty scared. "He didn't return last night..." She explains to them both. Dell gasps while Lawrence is stoic like so many other times, only the pacing from his daemon reveals his worry. "The boys and I have been searching all night for him. I tried to call you, but when you didn't take the phone..." Saffira eyes both of them, her gaze hard but also incredibly scared. "What the hell happened?"
"Some people do not take no for an answer..." Dell replies, now firmly pissed. Not at the men who almost killed him and Lawrence. It was only a matter of time. No, he's pissed at whoever took Nathan. He wasn't part of this mess, "He wasn't with us when it happened." so the two things do not seem connected, though they could easily be viewed that way.
"Do you want me to help search for him?" Lawrence asks. His voice calm and collective, but without those yellow-tinted aviators, his true emotions shine through those brown eyes of his. It at times amuses Dell that Lawrence might have an indifferent mannerism, but that man is one of the most caring people Dell has ever met.
Saffira nods and the Aussie leaves, but before he disappears through the door. "News from him?" She asks quietly.
Lawrence hesitates, always a clear indication that he's debating with himself how much of his mission he can talk about. "He's currently tracking down a dangerous beast. I will join him as soon I'm done here." and with those words, the man is gone.
Watching the spot where the Aussie left, "I'm going with him." Dell voices.
"You're going to fight?" Saffira asks, though she does not sound overly surprised by this.
Dell nods, "Yup, the Magisterium should've known not to piss off a Texan; we do not fight unless provoked and when we fight; you'll get hit twice as hard." More so when the enemy has dared to go after his loved ones.
She smiles weakly at that, "Knowing you, Dell. Whoever pissed you off; they're gonna need a lot of coffins when you're done with them."
"I pay them with bullets." She laughs at that small dark joke; it seems to cheer her up, if just a bit. Naira steps over to her and the woman's daemon, though addressing her; "Whatever happened to Nathan, we will find him."
"At least you've helped me more than the police." Saffira smiles, though quickly replaced with a scowl. "Bastards wouldn't lift a finger when they realized who asked. refused to help a gang member." Her daemon growls from her frustration.
Dell wisely didn't say anything about that, he can fully understand Saffira's worries, but he can also see why the police refused to help, however, how immoral that is. So instead, "We will find him." he repeats, sincerely hoping they will find him alive.
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It didn't take him long to find and put Saffira's older boys up to date that he's here to help. And as this city is on their turf, "This is your area, so," Lawrence eyes each of these young men. "do you have names on people that might want to hurt Nathan?"
"Yeah, I mean, most people don't like Nate because of his daemon." John voices, frowning at this aspect that the whole city might be against their younger brother.
"He is kinda a freak" Bernard remarks.
Lawrence sends that young man a look but decides not to waste time lecturing him. Instead, "You have to shorten the list. Are there people who want to hurt your family?" and please do not let it be someone from Antonie's past. He got enough shit to deal with at the moment.
"What about Lokk's gang?" Dean asks. Lawrence turns to him, brow slightly raised and the young man with the dog daemon explains, "He's been extremely pushy getting into our territory. And not long ago, Nathan picked a fight with him and won." He eyes the other brothers "Might still be pissy about it." the others nod in agreement.
"And some rumors say he's working for the Magisterium." John adds.
That is something he can work with. "He's our first target." Lawrence lets the older brothers show him where this Lokk is located and they bring him to an old apartment complex, long abandoned and filled with graffiti and people being aggressively loud.
The people being here did quiet down as he and the brothers walked through. Lawrence notices that many of them are giving the brothers the stink eye. Laraine shifts so she can keep a sharp eye on those they pass, as he's really not in the mood to get bashed over the back of his head. They reach a dilapidated playground, where, among some burning barrels is the man the brothers talked about. He's quite small compared to the rest, but he definitely makes up for it in muscles. The guy wears worn yet expensive-looking clothing and Lawrence figures this Lokk didn't get this clothing the honest way but rather took it from some poor bastard.
The moment the red-haired noticed them, he pushed the young woman he was having fun with away and gets up from that makeshift throne, "Well, isn't it the pack?" he "welcomes" them smugly, "You seem to get smaller in members every time I see you."
"And yet we still manage to kick your ass." Bernard remarks, making the gang leader's smirk wane for just a moment. "Speaking of which, did you sic any of your lackeys after our freak?"
"Dude, stop calling Nate that." Ken grumbles to him, only heard by Lawrence and the other brothers.
Lokk smirk returns "Why? Aren't you happy to be rid of that abomination?" several of his lackeys chuckle. "Perhaps you should thank me."
"What did you do?" John demands, his basilisk lizard whip his tail in agitation. Lawrence stays calm, though ready to get very violent if it calls for it.
He notices several of Lokk's members are closing in on them, and emboldened by this, the man with the fox daemon spread out his arms like a twisted ruler. "Now I wish the rest of you are like him. I would've been living among the higher class by then!"
That's enough for him; Sniper draws out his kukri and in a swift move reached that gang leader and forced him close to one of those barrels, keeping him there with the blade against the neck. The other members stare dumbfounded at him, startled over such a quick reaction. "What is it going to be?" He asks the now wide-eyed man deadly calm, exactly like when he's about to take a shot. "Throat slit or burning?"
"Tell us where our brother is!" Dean shouts, the other brothers are glaring at the gang members surrounding them. Those members are shifting on their spot, unsure if they should attack or back off now that their leader is in grave danger.
When not getting an answer straight away, Sniper cuts slightly into the neck and pushes the gang leader further to the fire. That did the trick. "Alright, alright! I'll talk, just—" Lokk looks at him, horrified. "make this psycho back off, will ya?!"
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Sniper muses, mostly amused by what this punk called him. "Speak." His daemon stares coldly down at the terrified fox that is unable to help her human.
"The Catchers took him, I don't know where." Sniper presses the kukri a bit closer, drawing bit of blood. Got Lokk into a state of panic from realizing he is not messing around. "That's all I know! I promise, I don't know where he is, they never tell us!" Sniper believes him; this punk has no reason to lie. Not like he has anyone to protect other than himself. He throws this red-head to the ground and starts to leave. "We're done here."
"Don't let us catch you in our area." Bernard warns these people, no one argues. They all stare at their leader, who is scuttling away from them in horror while holding over the small cut he got from him.
"What now?" Ken asks on their way out from Lokk's area, fortunately, no one tries to stop them.
Lawrence hates to give them more bad news, but... it's best they know instead of worrying from obliviousness. "The Magisterium has been taking kids for a while now. My co-workers and I have been trying to find them, and if we do, then chances are that Nathan is with them."
"Any clues?" John asks quietly, adding, "Is there any chance we can help?"
Unfortunately, they can't on this part. "No, you have to leave that to me and the others." What they can do, however, "You should focus on supporting your mother." again he dislike saying this, but it is unfortunately a possible reality. "Nathan might not return alive." That made all the brothers' eyes wide from shock.
"Wait are you saying... he might get killed?" Ken asks slowly.
With Bernard adding his own question. "Why would they do such a thing?"
Lawrence eyes them hard, surely they must have realized. "Why do you think?" It only took them a moment, and they all, Bernard especially, realize; it's because of his daemon.
"He won't allow it." John speaks up, no need to say the name. Lawrence is well aware of who this older brother speaks about.
"Suppose he won't" He replies back and leaves the brothers. Lawrence needs to inform Saffira what he has found out and the situation might be more complicated than she thought. He finds Saffira at her home, and after having explained what this Lokk has said, Lawrence has to admit. "We don't know where the children are being taken. And with so few of us around, chances in figuring that out now are less so."
It's clear she struggles not to start crying, Lawrence sincerely sympathizes with her. If it was his kid, he would've been just as upset as her. "So you're saying I might never see him again." she asks, although it sounds more like a statement.
He hates to say yes, but as things are now... "Yeah." He replies her softly and does glance to his daemon when she suddenly suggests; "What about the alethiomist?" he realizes that person could be of use. Sure might have to torture them, but nothing he hasn't done before. "Maybe there is a way." Lawrence tells Antoine's wife, once again unsure how much he can tell. He decides to give her a glimmer of hope. Sure hell needs it. "Spook and I are currently hunting down a person who has an object that can reveal location on people. If we can get that person to work for us, we might find Nathan and the children."
"Let's hope." Saffira's daemon answers, he does sound hopeful, but Saffira too has been in this game long enough to know that things do not always work the way they want. "but if you find Nathan:" her blue meet his brown, "Tell him to kick those men asses."
He can't help but chuckle at this, well aware this is why Antoine fell in love with this woman, that and Saffira is a sucker to romantic people and Antoine happens to be a romantic dork. "I can give him one of my guns if it makes him feel better."
"Teach him how to use it first." Lawrence laughs but can see why. Can't have Antoine's kid end up shooting himself by accident.
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It has been hard for Lawrence to have kept him up to date, but from what he could gather. His friend did figure out what happened to Nathan but can't track him, so they would need the person he and Antoine have been tasked to kill. Hopefully, Antoine hasn't gone out and assassinated that person already, for if that happens then finding Nathan will become straight out impossible. They have to find him before their friend put his murdering skill to good use. Which means they are on a strict time limit.
Dell asked Lawrence to grab some painkillers while he got himself discharged from the hospital. He does not like stealing from the hospital, but with the life Dell is about to head into, lesser crimes such as this will unfortunately be the norm.
Dell puts his jacket over his missing limp, having no wish to attract too much attention to himself and saying his goodbyes to Saffira, Dell meets up with Lawrence outside of his ransacked workshop. He steps inside and quietly scans the destruction the attack left behind. "It's strange," Naira speaks up to him, "knowing we won't come back here." He nods in agreement, but change will come, even for a static guy like him. Dell casts a quick glance over to where he can get a faint whiff of decomposition but does not go over to where his right hand is lying, having no wish to see what has become of it. Instead, he grabs tools from the floor and puts those he knows will need into the toolbox. Dell would've liked to bring blueprints with him as well, but the Magisterium soldiers have taken them all, meaning he has to recreate those.
So instead, he focuses on gathering all of his tools.
Naira finds a tool under a pile of parts and hands it to him. "You should bring some of the parts as well." She suggests while pushing a few screws over to him, "Never know if you're going to use it."
So Dell picks up what he now can find. Only leaves when the toolbox is filled to the brim.
He stops at the broken door and gives his workplace one last look before leaving his former workshop and current life behind.
Lawrence is waiting for him outside, leaning up against the truck and patiently watching him put the toolbox onto the back. "Is there more you want to bring?" the man asks.
He would love to bring more parts, but Dell knows that will only attract unwanted attention. "No, I got everything I need." Lawrence nods and they both get into the truck, the Aussie has to drive though, much to Dell's chagrin. He knew the consequence, but the reality of what it meant to miss a hand is first now really starting to set in. 'The sooner I get the gunslinger installed, the better.'
Dell is not sure how badly he would've taken all of this if he hadn't the option of getting his right hand back.
The drive to wherever Lawrence left the airship happens in relative silence, but with fewer houses around, "You doing alright?" The other man asks, he does not sound worried but the question is still genuine.
Dell sighs and removes his hand from the right one, "Don't know." he admits as he honestly is not sure where his feelings are at the moment. "I knew what it meant to lose my right hand, but I guess…" He glances down to the concealed arm, "It's first now the reality has sat in that nothing will be the same anymore."
"Sounds more like you're troubled about the future than your missing hand."
This catches Dell by surprise, but now that Lawrence mentioned it… "Maybe." he muses and turns his gaze to the outskirts of the city he has lived inside these last eight years. "A bucket load of change in these past hours." Dell can't say he's scared, maybe a bit anxious but he's definitely not excited either.
Lawrence hums and after a moment of silence, "You won't be alone with this." and Dell is glad, not sure how well he would've taken this if he had been all on his own. They reach a small lake, at the shore, a middle-sized boat is docked. Here Lawrence stops the truck. "I'll let you know, I have taken very good care of her." He remarks right as the hunter leaves the vehicle.
Chuckling, Dell follows, though for a moment forgot he was missing half of his right arm, but out he got and going to grab his toolbox. "I'll be the judge of that Down Under." His wildlife friend gives him a look before carrying the box with supplies over to the docked airship. The first zeppelin Dell built.
It's one of his proudest work, this airship is disguised and can work as a regular boat, but with the turn of a switch, the sail will be replaced with the balloon and the ship will be in the air instead of water.
Approaching the airship, Dell can see it has gotten a few scratches over the wooden exterior, but nothing to worry about. It's clear this ship has been through a lot and yet, Dell can easily see that his two friends have been spending time to keep this small zeppelin in good shape. "Hm, looks like Dell does not have to bash your head in." Naira remarks.
"Told you she was in good hands." Lawrence replies from the deck and the lean man appears moments later, a grin on his weatherworn face. "The remains of your secret stash is downstairs." And he walks over to the router with; "You know where the uniforms are."
"Yup," Dell nods. He removes the rope that kept the ship docked, gets onto the deck, and rolls the ladder up. Lawrence activates the Anbaricity generator, which makes the hydrogen get into the balloon. It only takes about ten minutes before there's enough of the gas inside to lift the ship and with it in the air, Lawrence starts steering it to where their third companion is located. Which reminds Dell, "Where is Antoine?"
"According to what one of the Elite infiltration told us," Lawrence checks the compass beside the router so to be sure they are going to correct way. "the alethiomist should be inside a facility located in the Andean Nation."
"That's a large area to search." Dell remarks and does wonder if they have to search that whole country for that facility.
"Too bloody big, so it's a good thing we got one of the miss's there."
Ah, it seems that place has been under the watchful eye of one of miss "Tyrell" co-workers. It's a good thing that branch of the Elite is known to get much needed Intel and Dell is certain the one he dealt with has given the Headquarters information that he's no threat to the Resistance. At least he hopes that what she told them. "So what are chances that he already has found the place?"
"Not sure, he might not be in the nation as of yet."
That could also be a possibility, so now he knows where they are going, but something still bothers Dell. "We don't have much to defend ourselves. Hell, I don't even have a gun." And he's not sure if his wrench can be counted as a weapon.
Not missing the beat, Lawrence replies calmly, "That's why we will make a quick pit stop at team 51 latest location." he must've seen his confused look, for the sniper says. "It's the team located in Mexico."
Good, that's good. Dell would like to know if the people from that team have survived, he does not know every member, but he has gotten quite friendly with their Engineer. Speaking of which, "I'll be downstairs." Lawrence simply nods, seems more preoccupied watching Laraine fly around the ship. Dell goes below deck to be greeted by the living quarters/kitchen he made for this ship. The interior has warm coloring; almost everything is in the red color scale. The walls have a slight tint of red, the couth, held by needle tree wood, have pillows with maroon fabric and the table might look like it's out of wood but in reality light but durable plastic. The kitchen is behind the couth, separated by a half wall and aside from the hob. The surface is made from wood, with the shelves out of the same plastic as the table.
Dell takes a seat on the couch, right before the crate Lawrence has put down here. Naira gets onto the table and sticks most of her head down said crate. She pulls out the gunslinger but right as she's about to hand it to him. "Better wait." He tells her, doubting he can do the procedure in his current state. "I rather would like to have another Engineer or a Medic nearby. In case something goes wrong."
She returns it to the crate, and taking a seat before him, "and if the whole team is dead?"
Well, then there is only one option, "Then I have to do it on my own." Dell answers her. He knows he can do it; it's just safer with people around.
Naira titles her head, now with a smirk over her muzzle. "You maybe should've thanked those men." He blinks, not sure what his daemon is talking about. "If I recall correctly, I did almost persuade you to saw your own hand off."
Ah, yeah, he remembers that. "And I stopped myself" Dell replies. Though it was close he almost did it, but his cautions won over his daemon's recklessness. But Naira does have a point. In the end, she got the last say.
"You can always thank them with a handshake, it should go right through their heart."
His daemon grins and he pushes her down from the table, refusing to admit she got a good point. The gunslinger is more than strong enough to pull off such an attack.
He leaves the crate and gunslinger, walking over to the small armory he made. It's too small for a person to stand in there as it's more a large closet than a room. Dell finds several boxes with bullets, most of them are for revolvers and submachine gun. He searches for a bit but does not find a pistol or a shotgun— his choice of weaponry. "Hopefully, the Mexico team can spare me one." He muses and turns to the shelf where the team uniforms are located. There are two uniforms for each of the nine classes, each waiting for someone to claim them. There are two colors to choose from; red or blue. Dell is not entirely sure why those are the colors the resistance chooses, but it's not going to change anytime soon.
He picks the blue uniform, mostly because red makes him feel like a giant target.
Holding the shirt, Dell can't help but reminiscence on the day all those years ago, back when both Antoine and Lawrence gave him the offer to join Team Fortress Resistance. Antoine had handed him a blue shirt as well, bearing the same logo he is soon going to wear.
Back then, Dell had declined; said he would aid the resistance but did not consider himself a real member.
"Are you ready this time around?" Naira asks him.
Dell eyes his daemon and recalls that she started to speak not long after that traumatic eye-opener his grandfather threw on him. He smiles down to her "Yeah." and begins to change.
It feels strange to wear the uniform of one of the classes, to soon be addressed by the same codename as any other person wearing the logo of a wrench. Yet, he also feels proud to be part of that group of people.
Putting the goggles over his eyes and his old hardhat on, Engineer heads upstairs and the moment his friend sees him in the uniform, he smiles.
"Looking good on you."
Engineer smiles weakly, admittedly it's still strange to be a full-fledged resistance member, but he cannot deny there is a certain excitement his former life never gave him. Does have some worries about being a member, "Do you think I am too easily recognized?" he asks.
"Nah, it's only those close to you would know." Lawrence replies and gesturing at his own face. "But I suggest you keep the goggles and hardhat on when on the field."
"Got it." He nods and wouldn't mind doing that at all. But right now, Dell takes both off and puts them on a crate, which he turns into a makeshift table. Out from the pouch on the belt, he pulls out a pen and blueprint and begins to try and recreate his former work. Quickly proves difficult without a right hand.
"Good reason to practice using the left." Naira remarks. Dell does not answer, merely going back to try and draw with his remaining hand. Unlike Lawrence, who can keep himself entertained by watching Laraine fly around or fiddle with his weapons, Dell needs a bit more than to keep the infuriating boredom this long flight will cause at bay.
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It took them about a day— plus a couple of hours to reach the last area team stationed here in Mexico last was seen. Lawrence puts the ship down in the middle of the desert and with Dell's help, hides it from unwanted eyes. "There's a town not far from here." He explains the Texan and starts moving to said town. They might be in 51's area but still too far walking, so they will need a vehicle.
With Dell's help, they manage to rent an old truck, and after have gotten a few supplies the other team might need, Lawrence starts driving to the other team's base. While driving, he tries to call the team, well aware that no team wants sudden visitors. "Team 51, team 51, are you in the area?" He asks through the intercom the many teams uses to contact one another. The long-distance communication is down. However, Lawrence hopes that the team still could receive their shorter distance calls. It is going through, which means the team is still using this frequency, so that's a good thing.
But no one is answering the call.
"Team 51, I'm a Nomad Sniper. I have supplies and a wounded Engineer with me. Do you copy?" Again, no answer. Lawrence hesitates but knowing another call will only resolve the same silent treatment, he turns the walkie-talkie off. "This is not good." Teams are not known to leave a caller hanging like this.
"Do you think…?" Dell asks quietly, Lawrence does not answer, but it looks like Antoine's warning wasn't able to save this team either. His friend understood his silence "Should we continue after Frances?"
"No, we need weapons," Lawrence replies, and although he's starting to hate this, it better than they lie and rot. "and we need to give them a proper funeral." Dell simply nods. He continues to where the team was last seen by him and Antoine. This town is long abandoned, but the resistance had made it look active by pretending there was still ore inside the mine. It had been a good cover and knowing this base, which was known to be one of the more secure ones has been hit. It leaves Lawrence with a bad taste in his mouth.
"Looks like an old mining town" Naria remarks, and Dell asks; "Wouldn't it be hard hiding among mineworkers?"
"All a façade." He replies to his comrade and stops the truck. "Stay here." Sniper jumps out, making sure to both have the walkie-talkie and his rife. He walks into the town, Laraine is on a sharp lookout for danger and is too tense from possible attacks. Now inside the town, Sniper can see clear signs of battle. Many of the abandoned building walls are littered with bullets, checking inside through the broken window, he spots two dead Magisterium soldiers. The bodies have already made a big feast for the flies, and the stench has sat in too. Sniper does a quick check, but he moves on when he does not spot any team members.
"Most of the bullets were aimed at the inn" Laraine tells him. She's right, most of the bullet wounds on the buildings are aimed at the once inn of this town. Sniper notices the building has several signs of reinforcement, so the team had tried to protect themselves.
Picking up his radio, he approaches the building. "Team 51, do you have survivors?" He hears his voice inside the building from the other radio. With a pit in his stomach, Sniper steps inside. The smell is terrible, the sign they have been dead for a couple of days. A sleeve over his nose to cover most of the poignant stench, Sniper walks inside and his heart drops when he finds the team's Pyro near the door, several bullet wounds at the chest. He kneels before the body, like the other times, it's always hard to see someone he considered a friend like this. This Pyro— Ayo, he took his job so seriously, as much as Sniper did and it had become a running joke between them. It's going to be weird not having this prick to greet him anymore. "I'm sorry, mate." Sniper muses and quietly moves on, knowing more sights of fallen comrades will meet him.
He spots the Medic, half his torso missing and by the looks of it, the man had been trying to save the Soldier, but it seems the enemy took them both out with a grenade. He barely knew the Soldier, guy liked to keep to himself and Sniper respected that, well aware he is very much the same on that part. The Medic was hard to get along with; man had that loud African attitude and Sniper didn't really care about Medic's view that the whole world was against him. Hence why he let Antoine deal with him when they came with supplies to this team. He leaves the two, noting to himself. 'I'm going to need a sack if I wish to gather all of their parts' It is gruesome, but there are limits in how much rotting guts Sniper wants over himself.
Checking the rest of the building, Sniper takes note of two things; one, from how the bodies are located, the Magisterium hit them quick and hard and two, he only found their Spy, (he looks to have bled out from the bullet he received in the thigh) the rest are nowhere to be found.
"they might have survived." Laraine speaks, and Sniper does a quick sweep for this possibility. He finds a hidden path, most likely an escape route. There is a blood trail, so he decides to follow it. However, barely three steps out and Laraine makes her warning sound. He quickly leaps back inside, draws his rifle and carefully checks for the other shooter through the secret passage.
He spots the person Laraine warned him about behind some rocks, the scope reflecting in the sunlight, which is a bit unusual. 'He wants to know I'm aware of his presence.' Sniper realizes and must say that the intimidation works, for he's not going to leave this building with that guy around.
"I don't have time for this." He grumbles, some member of this team might be bleeding out as far as he knows. He aims at the other sniper, but when he gets the man in his scope, Sniper removes his finger from the trigger. He knows that person.
Not sure if this other Sniper has recognized him or too paranoid about checking, Sniper takes his hat and throws it outside.
A painful moment of waiting, the other Sniper whistles, signing he got the message. Sniper leaves the building and waves up to the man on the cliff, who returns the gesture. The other Sniper gets down, making that hooded cape of his bristle behind him. His daemon, a bobcat easily gets down from the rocks and a happy trot, approaches them. This blue dressed Sniper pulls down the stone-colored hood, revealing a middle-aged man with messy blond hair and beard, it is starting to grey at the sides but that's pretty much the only sign of his age. "Sorry about that," the man apologizes with a smile, making the scratch mark scars bend over his face. "thought you were one of them." He scratches the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle "Good thing you got a good eye, or I might have shot you."
Yeah, maybe he should've put on his uniform before approaching a battle zone with survivors on high alert. "That wouldn't have looked good on your record mate." Sniper returns the smiles, and the other Sniper laughs at the small joke with his daemon rolling almost playfully on the dusty ground between them. He's glad to see this man is still kicking. By far, this blue Sniper the one he got along with best. A handshake and he asks this team Sniper, "Can you tell me what happened?"
The blue Sniper frowns deeply, "Well, after your comrade warned us. We reinforced the base, but it wasn't good enough." He explains and his daemon, still lying, looks up to him with big troubled eyes. "They came out of no-where, got Pyro before we could react. Tried to retaliate but after they hurled grenades at us from all sides. Boss told us to flee. Spy got shot as we did. Heavy tried to grab him, but I think Spy told him to get out from there, for he left Spy behind." The man sighs and leans up against the rocky wall that would've given those who fled some cover. "In all my years, I have never experienced an attack such as this. it was like—"
"They knew exactly how to find and kill you." Sniper finishes for him, he has heard that one before. Scottie, the Engineer from the team once stationed in Colorado said the same thing before he died. It's bittersweet, knowing this team got hit, but at least some of them survived. "You are not the only ones who got attacked like this." the blond Sniper eyes him, and he explains. "The team from Florida and Colorado got ambushed like you were."
"How many survived?"
"None." The other Sniper drops his head. But at least there is some good news. "One of the Elite infiltration team got whiff on why this is happening: a new alethiomist have turned up, and we're on our way to get rid of them."
"Good," the blue Sniper nods, and crossing his arms, "the sooner the better, we can't take another attack like this."
So there are more survivors. "Did more of you survive?" The blue Sniper nods, that's wonderful news. "I have bit of medicine and food, but I am in need of help." The other Sniper blinks, so he explains. "I have an Engineer with me; he lost his right hand but got some fancy machine to make up for it. We're both in need of weapons and ammunition."
"I'm sure we can spare some." The other Sniper replies, nodding slightly. He then glances to the inn and a mournful expression appears on his features "Before I bring your two to the others. Could you…"
No need to hear the rest, Sniper knows this man would like to give his comrades something that resembles a funeral. "Of course, but we really don't have time for a proper one." He warns the man. He and Dell need to reach Antoine before that spy finds the alethiomist and slit their throat.
"Of course." the other Sniper nods. He follows him over to the truck, the moment he spots Dell. "I'm team 51 Sniper, a pleasure meeting you, though I wish it was under better circumstances, eh?"
Dell nods in agreement. "Yeah, are you the only survivor?"
"No, my team's scout, heavy and engineer are still alive." Blue Sniper replies and right as Sniper pours some of the gasoline into a tank "Did that happen when your team got attacked?" Presumably talking about the missing hand.
"I don't have a team, not yet at least." Dell chuckles faintly, Sniper is not sure it's because he fully committed to the resistance recently or Dell is wondering what kind of team he will be stationed in.
"Oh, so you're new?" Blue Sniper sounds a bit suspicious.
"Yup."
Knowing his fellow sniper is still on high alert, Sniper remarks as he hands the other sharpshooter a small tank of gasoline. "He's been supporting us for years, the reason he lost the hand." The other Sniper takes the small tank, gives Dell one look before he follows him over to the inn. Out of Dell's hearing range, he tells the man from Canada, "Don't worry about him. I trust this man."
"Sorry to ask, but how much do you trust him?" Understandably wary, Sniper would too if it has been the other way around.
"With my life." He replies, and that seems to calm his fellow sniper down. They pour the gasoline around the inn and the other Sniper lights the whole thing with an incendiary arrow. They both watch the flames taking hold on the entire building, becoming the members inside's flaming grave. Sniper lets the other man have a moment, before he requests the other Sniper "Bring us to your team."
**Half an hour later.**
"We're here." The blue Sniper says and Sniper stops the truck, right outside another mine. The man eyes him quickly "you better get into your uniform." He gives his fellow teammate a look and blue Sniper replies, "otherwise you will be shot."
Ah, looks like they got a sentry stationed nearby. They don't take any chances, but Sniper does not blame them one bit. "Right." They get out of the truck, and while the two others handle the supplies, Sniper puts on his uniform and his different shades of brown sleeveless jacket. He feels more at ease with it over his uniform. With everything set, the blue Sniper takes the lead and approaching the mine, Sniper can hear faint yelling. But he does not mention it, figure tension is quite high after what this team has been through.
Down the tunnel, the yelling gets louder, Sniper notices Naira seems ready to make a remark, but a look from him and she wisely keeps her mouth shut.
The tunnel splits and on the left side, a sentry gun is stationed. Turning back and forward with the occasional beeping. Sniper notices the smile on Dell's face and meeting his friend's gaze and smirks back. 'Yeah, we sure have put your work to good use'
The blue Sniper must've noticed that small exchange, he does look a bit confused. "You act like you have seen such a sentry before? I thought you said you're new." His daemon shifting her gaze from Naira to her human, unsure what to do.
Dell turns to the Sniper, still smiling. "Yeah, and this is the first time I see it on the field." That only confused the other Sniper more. "I'm the inventor of this machine."
That catches the caped Sniper off guard. "You.. invented the sentry gun, eh?"
"Yup, with the help of your Engineer, of course."
"Ohh… so you're the one." This team's Sniper speaks in realization of who he got before him. Sniper is quite amused but happy to see his pal open up to his old friend. Starting by folding out his metal bow and showing it to Dell. "Recognize this?" and the Texan's face lit up as if he just received a million gold dollars.
"Ah, I remember, good project to sink my teeth in." Dell takes the metallic bow, one his fellow Sniper requested from Dell a couple of years back. Unlike most snipers, this one prefers using a bow, which does allow him to be closer to the team, but it also removes their long-range attacker. Of course, Dell does not care about that, he simply built this bow for the challenge's sake. "I reckon you're the fella Sniper spoke about; he said one of his fellow snipers preferred using a bow instead of a rifle and asked if I could build a stronger bow which can be hidden very easily as well."
"Yeah, that's him." Sniper chuckles, exchanging a look with his fellow class mate, who returns it with a smile.
Dell draws the bow, but it's clear he does not know how to use it properly since he's aiming incorrectly. "It doesn't shoot as far as a sniper rifle, but I'm sure the incendiary arrows I made will make up for it. It's firing well I hope?" Dell returns the weapon back to its owner.
"It sure is." the Canadian smiles, folds and returns the bow under his small cape. "I do have a few... let's say suggestions." Well looks like Dell got this one on his side. Good, can't have animosities among the members. Got enough enemies to worry about.
"What do you have in mind?" Dell asks, his eyes might be hidden but Sniper only needs to look down at Naira to see he's excited to build something new.
"Can you build arrows that can hold tear gas?"
"I can, but I would need two hands for it." Dell replies, gesturing at his missing right hand. "And I would need your engineer or medic's help for that." He didn't notice it, but Sniper did see that his fellow class mate's smile fade at the mention of one of the deceased.
the man does quickly push those feelings aside, "Our Engineer might help you." the other Sniper heads down the other tunnel, where the yelling is coming from. "If she does not tear our boss's head off first."
"Should we be worried?" Naira asks, and Dell looks a bit worried.
Sniper chuckles, "Nah, she likes smartasses" and walks inside to the team's current base. At the entrance, the team's Heavy is standing. He's a decent-sized man, got as many muscles as he got fat— which seems to have saved him from the many blood spots on his arms. The man's daemon, a boar, turns when they enter, but soon lies down again. The man does not move from his spot, more set on keeping his dark eyes onto the floor. Sniper notices this Heavy got a mournful expression from how much his brows furrowing. 'He must've been hoping Sniper would've returned with the Spy.'
They seemed close as he always found them talking, and with the man gone, this team's Heavy will have difficulties as he hasn't learned the language.
Sniper would like to give his condolence, but due to him being bad at words and Heavy here wouldn't understand him anyway. Sniper instead puts a hand briefly on the man's bloodied shoulder, catching his attention and Sniper taps his chest with a fisted hand.
The Heavy drops his gaze slightly but returns the gesture and do a small bow—his way of saying thanks.
He leaves the man, Dell follows and they approach the two having a shouting match. One of them is the team's Engineer, the only woman on the team, but that hadn't put her down for one second. This team Engineer is of African descent like the Medic was as well and that showed in her daemon's form, which is what she said is called an aardvark. Sniper still chuckles how Antoine had described her daemon; that God decided to mix a pig with a rabbit and gave it a stumped rat tail. Sniper joins his fellow class mate, who wisely keeps his distance. Sniper does too, for by the looks of it, the female Engineer is still as feisty as ever.
"— I don't care, he's my brother!" The female Engineer snaps and the team's Scout, like the rest of them, quite beaten up from the attack, but how much of that blood on his blue shirt is his, Sniper is not sure. This Scout, like any other of this class, is slender and decently muscular to have the speed the scout class is known for. His right eye got a slash wound, and Sniper is surprised the man hadn't lost his eye from it.
The female Engineer glares at him, her gloved hands fisted and she looks ready to punch Scout's face. "No way in hell I am letting him get eaten by vultures. He deserves a proper burial!— they all do!" Her daemon starts digging his powerful claws into the dirt in the sign of her frustrations, utterly ignoring the grey fox yipping angrily at him.
"Don't you think I want that too?!" Scout retorts at the mostly red-dressed woman. He points to the entrance, inwardly at him, blue Sniper and Dell. The action made the dog tags around the man's neck swing around. "They were my comrades— my friends as well! But I am not letting anyone leave before I get a report from Sniper!" The man is so busy with this shouting match that he hadn't noticed that his team Sniper has returned along with two more. And Sniper is not going to try to get their attention, he learned quickly that getting between the two will end with a headache. "I am not going to lose any more people—" Scout begins to pace, here Sniper notices that the speedster has a limp, meaning the blood on the legs belongs to the man. "and you will stay fucking right here until I say otherwise!"
Scout steps over to the Engineer, making their faces be inches from one another, both glaring. She is the act of anger and defiance and he, reinstall his authority over this team. "Do I make myself clear?!"
They stand like this for several moments, and Sniper having no wish to break the tension. Well aware it's not his place to dictate how a team functions. The only sounds coming from them are their daemon. The aardvark snorting angrily and the gray fox with the misshapen face let out a wave of high-pitched barks, not backing down even though the much bigger daemon attempt to charge into her. Then the aardvark backs down right as the female Engineer yells a hard: "Fine!" and she stomps deeper into the mine.
The Scout lets out a long tired sigh and learns against the makeshift table, brushing his hand through his short copper hair and at that moment; he looks older than he probably is.
"Scout." Blue Sniper calls, finally getting the man's attention. "Sorry I didn't speak sooner but I rather not get between Engie when she's like that. You know what I mean, eh?"
A small frown over the man's forehead, "Yeah..." Scout nods slowly. He leaves the table and clearly pretending his leg does not hurt, the man stands tall and his blue eyes on him and Dell. "Who are they?— wait, I know the Sniper." He points at Sniper, "You're that Nomad Spy's companion." Sniper nods he indeed got that right. Scout strokes his hand briefly over his bloodied face. "Thanks for the heads up. Doubt the rest of us would've gotten away if not for your partner's warning." That's good to know. Sniper is getting tired to find only dead teams. Scout then turns to Dell, his eyes narrow and Sniper does not like how his fox daemon back bristle from apparent anger. "I don't need this shit right now." That's the only warning, Scout pulls out his gun and points it at Dell, startling everyone around them.
Sniper is quick to draw his own weapon and point the kukri at the Scout. Yeah, the man might be more paranoid than usual, but that does not give him a pass to aim a gun on his friend.
"Scout, what are you doing?!" Blue Sniper asks, clearly taken aback by his team leader's action. "He's the guy who invented the sentry gun and the signal." The Heavy and Engineer approaches, but neither sure what they should do, which is good for Sniper really does not want to kill any of these people. But he will if it comes to it.
Scout does not lower his gun, he continues to point the startled Dell. "I do not fancy having a Conagher in my base." This takes Sniper by surprise, how did this man know that Dell is part of that family?
"So you better give a fucking good reason not to blow your goddamn head off!"
His fox daemon jumps at Naira, and although the beaver is a lot heavier, the nimble fox quickly gets her jaws around Naira's neck and forces her to the ground.
"Back the hell down, Scout!" Sniper sneers and as commanding he can, but Scout does not have to listen, like him, this guy is a Second Mark. "He is one of us! I gave him the uniform!"
"Then you made one hell of a poor choice!" Scout retorts back, not once removing his gaze from Dell, who wisely stay still and his lift hand up in sign of surrender. "His family has been working— kissing up to the Church for generations! His fucking father tried to kill me!" A nod from Scout and Sniper glances down to the man's daemon. Giving that scar on her face a better look, he realizes these three large gashes comes from a bite; a beaver's bite. "We still deal with migraines from that." Scout explains him briefly and turning his full focus on Dell again. "It's surprising how deadly a beaver can be. Especially when she was just as nice and calm as yours is this very moment." Like Dell, Naira is not trying to pick up a fight, but it seems that it only makes it worse.
This is bad, really bad. Lawrence has met Dell's father, their mannerism is very alike, so convincing Scout that Dell is not like that old man will be hard. He tries to come with a good counter-argument, but word play has never been his strongest suit.
"I'm awfully sorry you had to go through that," Naira speaks directly to the Scout, catching both him and his daemon by surprise, but she does not move, wisely staying in a submissive stance towards the man. "But D- I mean Engineer is not like his father." She eyes the dumbfounded staring fox, addressing her. "and I'm not like the beaver that chewed on your face. For starters," She smirks "I would've shoved you into a wood chipper instead." Sniper facepalm that Dell just had to let his more twisted side out, now they won't get Scout on his good side. "I didn't mean that." Dell tries to save the situation, but of course, Naira has to ruin it. "Sure, and you didn't try and chop your own hand off." She turns to Scout, "If you're not too busy, perhaps we can be of use to you. Can't really be that if you decorate the walls with his brains."
A very long harrowing silence. Then, Scout snorts and a second later, he starts laughing. His team looks at him as if he has lost his marbles and Sniper is inclined to think the same. This Scout is not known for his sense of humor. Finishing up laughing, Scout eyes Dell, now with a twisted smirk "Alright, smartass, I'll give you one chance." He then eyes Sniper, who hasn't dropped his weapon "how much do you trust this guy?"
"With my life." Sniper replies without hesitation. Laraine is puffed up to look bigger and glaring at Scout for daring to endanger a friend of his.
"Good, for if he tries anything, then you will get shot." Scout limps away, "Sniper give me that god darn report— Engie, keep an eye on the smartass. If he tries anything;" He casts Dell a warning look "shoot to kill."
The female Engineer turns to where Scout is leaving, a large frown over her face. "Aren't you just a bit too paranoid?" She asks him and gestures to Dell's missing limp, "He's missing half his right arm."
'Might slow him down, but Dell can still be deadly— if he wants to.' Sniper muses to himself but does not voice those thoughts aloud. He rather not has to shoot team members.
"I don't think I'm paranoid enough with that man!" Scout calls back. "For all I know he can turn our weapons against us with a switch of a button. So don't fucking let your guard down!" and the man mumbles something Sniper thinks is 'I've lost enough people already' but he can be wrong.
Rolling his eyes, Sniper sheathes his kukri. "And that's why you never should make a Scout the boss. They let their emotions control their action." Yeah, sure Scout has any reason to be on his guard, it's only natural with this type of lifestyle, but he should've known that someone like him does not make mistakes. Not to mention, the other Sniper already said Dell is the creator of the sentry gun and the signal they all use. 'If he hadn't been on our side, Dell would've turned the signal against us a long time ago.'
"He has kept us alive so far." The female Engineer points out dryly to him. she glances to where Scout and Sniper left. "Even if he can be infuriating at times."
Dell chuckles at her words. "Reminds me of someone else I know, not a Scout mind you." She eyes him, her brow slightly raised. "He's a Spy."
"Oh, well spies are a pain in the ass too. Ours was especially, half what came out from his mouth pissed someone off."
Sniper snorts a laugh at the female Engineer way accurate description of the people in the spy class. "Same with the one I'm stuck with." He remarks, she smiles at that.
The female Engineer turns back to Dell and putting her gloved hands on her meaty hips, "Well, it's good to finally see the mug of my engineer partner. I would love to give you a good old handshake, but Scout might see that as a threat, so let's not push it."
Dell lets out an embarrassing laugh, "Yeah, let's not." he agrees. A gesture from her and the two Engineers head over to her makeshift worktable. Sniper does not follow, merely watching and listening to the two: "If your boss would allow it, I would like your help to attach one of my grandfather's invention onto my arm."
"It depends on how complicated it is. I'm more specialized in radio waves than the machine itself."
"Don't worry, I only need an extra pair of hands."
Sniper leaves, feeling safe enough to leave the robot arm attached to the more tech-savvy people. It allows him to speak with Scout if he and Dell can get some weapons and ammunition before they leave for
the Andean Nation.
I will put the gunslinger attachment to another chapter as that part should be from Dell's point of view.
And in case you haven't read the old version of this story. Team 51 or Mexico team members are OC's I created to give the TF2 guys allies that would help them out from time to time when the protagonists need more hands on deck.
I have put them in another story, so if you're interested in reading them as rivals/reluctant allies to the TF2 guys, try and read "Living Darkness."