War is cold chapter 1
Hey everyone, Nightmareslurk here with the first chapter, but before we start I wanted to give a couple of forewarnings, first, expect updates to be inconsistent though I will try to do weekly updates, but no promises due to school and the like. Second be sure to correct me if you notice any bad grammar, I will go back and fix it later. Third I am looking for a beta-reader or two, so pm me or try my email, kaiser5578 . Fourth the Mann Co. no more comics are canon to this story so if you haven't read them I recommend you check them out before you read this. Lastly, I apologize if I offend anybody with the accents I am about to try but I have not got many ideas how to wright them, like Indonesian and Greek for example, so again pm or email with advice or criticism for that.
Okay that's done, so Sniper if you would do the intro?
"Sure thing, mate." He clears his throat "The following is a non-profit, fan made, production, Nightmareslurk owns nothing except for his original characters, weapons, and the plot." He then turns to me "So we've gotta do that every time, mate?"
Yeah… Now turn down the heat and let there be fanfiction! (also looking for a better catchphrase)
Chapter 1: This is gonna take some getting used to
I sat watching the black and white screen of the T.V., listening to generals answering questions at a news conference about how a mysterious 'monster' had been seen sweeping through south Vietnam during the war, leaving nothing but frozen land and corpses in its wake, yet suddenly vanished after the war.
"So, this is what media immortality is like. I love it, I should buy a blank trophy or something. And all for a practice round." I laughed before getting up and checking the clock
12:37 PM
The new-meat would be here in a while, one hour to be exact.
I took a quick glance around the visible base to admire all the work I had done. The base had been a pig sty, webs and filth everywhere, I had even found some of my own dried blood from when I had first started working for Red the first go around, and I had cleaned it all. Had to make a good first impression. We always did this when we had a new teammate, at least we did on my turbine days.
I had prepared the cots, wiped down the steel doors (replaced half of them due to being very oxidized and stained), and gotten every last drop of blood off the floor and wall… almost all of the blood off of the floor and walls… some?... okay that shit didn't want to come up. Why carpet? And why white carpet for the matter?
I walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of coconut rum to ease myself then look to the clock again…
12:48 PM
"Better get my ass in uniform for the new guys." I walk to my room getting on my Frostwalker gear, save for my helmet which I left on my desk
Proceeding to the front of the base I sit for the next seven minutes waiting for Miss Pauling's assistant to bring the others in that little purple Cadillac of hers. The minutes started to stretch, feeling more like hours, my subconscious practically begging for death's sweet release from the suspense.
Than the car came into sight, small and slick, resembling Miss Pauling's in a way but not really. I couldn't see my new associates due to the blacked-out windows of bullet proof glass (Pauling remembering the annoyance of doing her job while having to replace the windshield herself every time she was shot at made sure of this detail)
When they came to a stop in front of me I got up and watched as the quartet got out.
Miss O' Reilly was a short woman, about 5'6 with long red hair halfway down her back, freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, emerald green eyes. She wore a purple dress that matched the one Pauling had worn during her days on the kiss-up, assistant bus. Physically she had long legs for her height, large bust and wide hips, her arms were longer than average, stopping at her knees.
The Soldier was short chap, as tall as Miss O' Reilly, but just as fit as the old Sol, he was Asian (I prayed to whatever divine force felt like listening he wasn't south Vietnamese). He was in the basic soldier's attire, stern look included, save for a green barrette on his head.
The Pyro, towering over his was no different than the one I had known before save for the birdcage it wore over its head, along with shorter legs and arms.
The Sniper caught me by surprise, she was a SHE, and clearly so. We'd always had our suspicions about our old Pyro but we had never gotten a straight answer, save me, Spy, Engie, and Medic. This though, this was different, we had never had a clearly integrated team before, not that I minded, it was just a surprise… probably Indigo's doing.
She was either Northern Indian or Pakistani, with black hair mad into a low-ponytail that reached the bottom of her shoulder blades, caramel skin and eyes. She wore a beautiful red and brown colored… robe? It had many patterns and designs throughout. I made a mental note to ask who made it for personal reasons later. She was rather skinny and petite, long legs and fingers.
I had to say, I loved how they stuck to the idea of a diverse team of mercs. It would have been a little bit odd with it appearing as though we were sour cream in a blizzard, before Labor Day.
"Snow cone, lad, were in hell is your helmet?!" O' Reilly practically shrieked
"CHILL out, little red. It's COOL." I laugh at my own bad jokes "But for real though, it's all good. Pauling won't do shit, she's much more lenient than the old hag that used to run the show."
"Don't push it Frost, and don't call me little red" She glares
'aww, she hates me so much!' I laugh in my head
After regaining her composure, she says "Now take your teammates and teach them the basics, the Heavy, Demo, Scout, and Engineer will be here tomorrow at the same time." She than gets back into her car, flipping me off as she drives away
"Is she alvays acting in that vay?" Sniper asks
"You mean like a bitch? In which case, yes." I than turn to the base and start walking to it "Now come on I'll give you all the grand tour of Case de RED!"
They hurry to catch up with me at the steel garage door that leads inward.
"Damn this thing's always been a bother, getting stuck at the worst of times…" I grumble as I fiddle with the door trying to find the right spot so it doesn't catch
Soldier then pushed me aside "Step aside, da weak sould keep to making sweet-buns." And shoves it upward with ease, casting a smug grin back to me
'Great he's just as arrogant as Sol and half as loud, Mango were in hell did you find these guys?' I think to myself
When we enter I show them around to the kitchen, living/ recreation room, bedrooms, med-bay, garage, dining room, surveillance room, pool, gym, and the armory nobody used, as we just kept our gear on us or in our rooms. I had explained the basics to them, how we rotated cooking nights, cleaning ladies come on Thursday while we are at work, work hours, and the basic objectives. Yeah, I had explained everything but respawn, and that was for a little joke we pulled on greenies like them.
They all seemed to understand pretty well, save Pyro which I couldn't tell. Hadn't learned it's mumbles yet. A Pyro's mumbles are comparable of a baby's cries and the team akin to the mother who knows every last one of them.
'Oh well just means a new bet on the firebug's gender.' I say mentally
When we got back to the rec room we all took a seat, left to right me, Pyro, and Sniper on the couch made from an expensive brown leather, with Soldier on the recliner of the same material. I than decided to get a better understanding of what they could do.
"So, what's your lot's experience level and such? Any strong or weak points I should be aware of before I wind up on the field with you?" I ask with a rum bottle in hand
"I have ha seven years practeace with various exploseave weapons ean my homeland of Eandonisa." Soldier grinned arrogantly
'Oh, thank you goddess, I'm not working with one of the guys I was shooting at!' I celebrate in my head before asking him "What kind of practice? This isn't exactly a safe environment."
"I use boulders for target practeace. I heat every time, this will be no deafferent." He pounds his chest
'Oh boy, a greenie. Poor son of a bitch, doesn't understand what he's gotten himself into.' I sigh and turn to the Sniper "What about you?"
"Vell, I have seveRal skills, including though not limited, heRbal knowledge, survival is second nature to myself, and I am having an obvious skill with a rifel." She says, her accent very pronounced
'Well her skill set seems good but…' I take a slow and deep breath "And experience wise?"
"I have vorked as an assassin for thRee years, and trained for another two." She grins kindly "Though I am lacking in the hand to hand combat."
'Oh, thank the divines! We have a real sniper!' I think and grin "Good to have somebody with experience onboard."
Finally, I turn to our new firebug "And you?"
"ll a av speerence n everel eilds…" it started before Soldier cut it off
"Wha was dat?"
Sniper tries to offer it a piece of paper and a pencil but it refuses, shoving them away and doing something our old Pyro had never done. It took off its mask.
For a moment, I just sat there in shock, this had never happened before. I had learned the old Pyro's gender, but that was only through snooping in Medic's files and even then, I still questioned it. I had tried to prove it on various occasions… still have the burns as souvenirs.
Her face was pudgy with rosy red cheeks and freckles covering her cheeks and forehead, her eyes were a mahogany brown, with a tired look to them and dark bags under them. Her brow was soaked in sweat, and her hair was wispy with a brown and black coloration, reaching into the fire-retardant suit. Her lips were pale and thin, a snaggle tooth very evident on the left-hand side.
"There. Better?" She asks
"Umm… yeah." I than recall the question at hand "So as for your skillsets?"
"Well I have about two hundred and fifty-three counts of arson, eighty-seven counts of manslaughter, and one count of grand theft auto. Sould I go on?" She gives me a wicked grin, causing me to shudder lightly.
"Okay so you have the buildings down, but how many of those manslaughter counts were armed?" I raise an eyebrow, regaining my composure
"Three. I like my playmates nice and helpless." She gives a small chuckle, her grin widening
"Well there is no easy prey here, so get used to fighting for your life. Because you will die. A lot. And painfully at that." This time it was my turn to laugh as the others gave a small shudder, even Sniper looked unnerved
"Vait, vhat do you mean, die? How could we do the dying moRe than once?" She looked truthfully confused
"Yes, how could we posseably, pass on multeaple times? Eat eas eamposseable." He scoffed at the very idea
Pyro merely nods in agreement with the other two mercenaries.
Suddenly a cruel and dark joke comes to mind.
"I swear we die more than once and on a daily basis for that matter." I stand and start to walk toward the door into the kitchen
This time Pyro did speak "You must think you half a really sharp tongue if you think we're going to fall for that sit."
"Is that so?" I walk into the kitchen and grab a nice sharp bread knife with a red, plastic handle before coming back in, holding it behind my back
"Yes, ve are certain that you can only die one time. That is how things are, unless you count being reborn." Sniper was quick to reply
I grin malevolently "Well then, guess I'll see you lot in the next life." And pull the bread knife up to my neck and sliding it across my throat
Sniper screams, Pyro's eyes go wide, and soldier gives an audible gasp before running over to me and holding my head in his lap.
"Don't you die on me you stupead sheat!" He shouts
I chuckled lightly but stopped as the blood slid into my lungs, the black coming to me, though suddenly one thought suddenly pulled me from my smugness. One question that really fucked this joke over.
'Was I back in the respawn system?!'
Fear began to encircle me like the thick coils of an anaconda, deep in the Amazon. Though I couldn't think much as everything was going bla…
Okay guys, that's chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it, because I sure enjoyed making it. Anyway, I don't have much else to say here this time so, until next time remember nightmares lurk.
~Nightmareslurk