Chapter 7: Various Meetings at Mountain Lab
When Freddie woke up, he was in a feathered bed inside a log-cabin. The first thing he noticed sitting up was Gerald standing next to a window that overlooked an area covered in pinewood forests and scattered buildings. When Gerald looked away and saw Freddie staring at him, he smiled.
"You've been out for three days, Freddie," Gerald said, stepping aside to reveal Steve sleeping in a chair next to the window. "And during that time, Steve never left your side."
"Uh, that's nice and all, but what happened? Why didn't you show up in 2Fort?" Freddie asked, struggling to get out of bed.
"I was…detained. The man who I thought was an ally was really working for the enemy," Gerald replied. "Fortunately, luck was on my side, so I escaped and came here."
"And where is here?"
"Mountain Lab."
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Later, Freddie reunited with Mickey and Patten, who gave him the whole story of how Ava Ebony showed up just as the Androids were closing in on them, and drove like mad to Frontier while Aonghus kept them busy by throwing bombs at them. Then when they reached Frontier, Ava Ebony activated a train engine that hadn't been used since the days of RED and BLU, which crushed the Androids in its metal teeth. But after Freddie had passed out, Saxton Hale and Gerald conveniently showed up in a van and brought them all to Mountain Lab. While Freddie listened to the two Scouts with interest, he noticed a familiar Scout lying underneath a telephone pole up the dirt road.
"Hey, Bobbie!" Freddie shouted.
Immediately, Bobbie got up, and waved at Freddie. This gesture prompted Freddie to get up from the docking platform he and the other two Scouts were sitting on, and ran over to Bobbie. The old Scout laughed with joy as the two embraced.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Freddie said.
"I'm sorry I left you so suddenly," Bobbie replied, and broke out of the embrace. "But I needed to get away so that I could finish my book. I was originally going to head all the way to Thunder Mountain, but sadly I'm too old to make the journey alone."
"Since when did you start writing a book? What's it called?"
"I started writing it shortly after I got back from my quest to Thunder Mountain, now tell me all about your adventures."
So Freddie told everything that happened to him since Bobbie disappeared from Harvest, until the sun started to sink past the zenith point. Then Freddie went back to his cabin and found Steve waiting for him with a full backpack. But what was even more surprising what that Steve was also holding Freddie's own pack.
"Um, why are you all packed?" Freddie asked, trying to hide his confusion.
Steve tossed Freddie's pack to Freddie and said, "Isn't it obvious? We've completed our task. We brought the bomb here, where it will be safe, so logically, we can now go home."
"But how do you know this place isn't being watched by Robots as we speak?"
"If there were Robots watching the place, Saxton's Snipers would've taken care of them by now. Besides, you nearly got killed carrying that bomb. Don't you want to go back to a simpler, easy-going lifestyle again?"
"Yeah, you got a point there, but let's at least let Gerald know."
Meanwhile, Gerald was having a secret meeting with Saxton, who had not changed much physically since the days of RED and BLU or even the Machine Wars. The reason for this was because he had an artificial body similar to the ones Redmond, Blutarch, and Gray Mann used before their deaths, powered by the same Australium substance. He listened carefully to Gerald's account of Merasmus' treachery, and how Gerald himself barely escaped. Then he said, "We never should've trusted that damn wizard to begin with! He used to attack mercenaries every Halloween, for god's sake!"
"I will admit his past history did make him questionable, but if it weren't for his teachings, we'd all be living in the dark ages," Gerald said hesitantly. "But with his loss, we must find new strengths to combat the threat that looms over us."
Saxton looked at Gerald wearily. "Like who? The Engineers are only concerned with reclaiming their lost prowess as inventors, the Pyros are all mumbling maniacs, the Spies only want more money for their services, the Heavies and Soldiers have got problems of their own, and the Demomen are all but extinct!"
"But we still have Aonghus, and he is the heir to Iomhar's legacy."
"It's for that reason I don't entirely trust him. I was there, you know, when Iomhar killed Gray Mann and obtained the bomb. While the other mercenaries were busy finishing off the last of the Robots, I took Iomhar into the Moving Fortress so he could detonate the bomb in there, and how does he thank me? By not doing the one bloody thing that would've ended Gray Mann and the Robots for good! He selfishly held onto it, and that's what got him killed! So for that reason, my faith in these cloned mercenaries has died."
"Now that's a hypocritical thing to say, considering that you still rely on the descendants of cloned Medics to maintain your artificial body, and the descendants of cloned Snipers to defend this fortress you've hidden yourself in," Gerald said coldly. "If we are to survive this upcoming war, then you must have faith again!"
In response, Saxton sighed and said, "Guess we shouldn't keep the council waiting."
After the two parted, Gerald went and found Freddie, Bobbie, and the other Scouts. He told them that Saxton was holding an important council with representatives of the other Classes in order to decide what to do with the One Bomb, so Bobbie and Freddie were allowed to attend. However, Steve, Mickey, and Patten weren't invited, but they managed to sneak into the command room unnoticed. In there, several men Freddie didn't recognize stood all around the room, sticking to members of their own Class, while Saxton Hale sat in a chair near the old control panels. Aonghus, on the other hand, was leaning on the rails of the command room, and gave a brief nod to Freddie. But soon, the other men noticed, and stared at Freddie from all sides.
End of Chapter 7