Chapter Text
The year was 1968, the place was the waste lands of new Mexico. The 3rd generation of the gravel war. A war that has been fought for over one hundred years by the same two men. Twin brothers, Redmond and Blutatch Mann, sons of Zepheniah Mann. They fight over the other’s land left to them by their late father. All while being observed by the watchful eyes of the administrator.
One by one the new employees show up to this mess of a fort. It was called two-fort, for the two forts that were build on the land. Mercenaries, hired hands that only showed up for the money or they just wanted to fight. Some, no one know why they were there. First we have the Soldier, his clothes look to have seen better days. an off white t-shirt, tan cargo pants, and dust combat boots. he wore a dlats army patrol cap.
Name: Jane Doe
Class: the Soldier
Sex: Male
Height: 6'0"/p>
Weight: 200 lb
Race: Caucasian- American
DoB: October 2, 1925
PoO: Minneapolis Minnesota, USA
Short Description: a mentally unstable man that has loved war, buying his own ticket to Poland to kill Nazis in WW2, several year after it ended.
4 men showed up at the same time, all riding the same bus. Scout; who looked like he was fresh off the streets of the city, Demoman; he looked like he was going for a job interview are some big name grocery store , Spy; the most well dressed (maybe even over dressed) for the sweltering heat of the bad lands, and Heavy; a mountain of a man, he held a winter coat under one arm. But 3 of the men hadn’t seen Spy get on or off the bus.
Name: Jeremy Farwell
Class: the Scout
Sex: Male
Height: 5'11
Weight: 130 LB
Race: Caucasian- American
DoB: April 20, 1949
PoO: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Short Description: the youngest of 8 boys, tired of being last to the fight he learned how to run fast to beat out his brothers and win the fight before they get there.
Name: Tavish Finnegan DeGroot
Class: the Demoman
Sex: Male
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190 lb
Race: African-Scottish
DoB: August 17,1919
PoO: Ullapool, Scotland, United Kingdom
Short Description: a man from along line of blind demolition experts, kind hearted and hard working to take care of his elderly mother.
Name: [REDACTED]
Class: the Spy
Sex: Male
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 130 lb
Race: Caucasian- French
DoB: [REDACTED]
PoO: Lyon, Third French Republic
Short Description: world renowned french personal detective. Lover of women and cold blooded back stabber.
Name: Mikhail Smirnoff
Class: Heavy weapons guy
Sex: Male
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 441 lb
Race: Caucasian- Russian
DoB: May 29, 1911
PoO: Dzhugdzhur Mountains, Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Empire
Short Description: Russian gulag escapee, came to America as a hired hand to feed him family back in Russia.
The bus drove off, leaving them alone on the edge of the bad lands. They stood quietly for a moment, the Scout tried to strike up a conversation But they were all stoic and gave him no reaction as they waited for the rest of their team to show up. Yet he kept a whole conversation going all on his own. The next to show up was alone, driving a camper van. He was a long build, thin body, and strong face. his clothes looked bleached from the sun and stained in others part. He is the Sniper.
Name: Mick Mundy
Class: The Sniper
Sex: Male
Height: 6'2”
Weight: 132 Ib
Race: Caucasian- Australian
DoB: May 16th, 1948
PoO: Australian outback
Short Description: a wild bushmen from Australia. Living off the land for many years, honing his survival skills.
Not too far behind the Sniper a wedding catering truck pulled in and parked next to the van. a crude medical cross symbol painted on the side. A tall man stepped out of the Driver side, he had a single white dove perched on his shoulder and several more in a cage he was holding in hand. he was also well dressed, but he looked like he was looking for a job as a librarian. The German quickly looked over his compatriots and waved to then in a friendly manner. He swiftly caught the eye of the Russian man.
Name: Humboldt Ludwig
Class: The Medic
Sex: Male
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 170 lb
Race: Caucasian- German
DoB: December 3, 1927
PoO: Stuttgart, Germany
Short Description: Crazed German doctor who had his medical license revoked for several crimes against the human race.
From around the corner a short man wearing a hard hat and dark red overalls came to greet them.
Name: Dell Conagher
Class: The Engineer
Sex: Male
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 175 lb
Race: Caucasian- American
DoB: November 25, 1925
PoO: Bee Cave, Texas, USA
Short Description: man with 11 PhD and a family that has been in this war for 3 generation, originally hired for the BLU but works for both sides.
“howdy there fellas! I’m so glad to see ya’ll got here easy enough!”
The Engineer said cheerfully walking over to them, he a tool box hefted over his Shoulder. The others seemed less cheerful then him. Well maybe Scout and Soldier seemed pretty happy, but they looked like they were ready to get started. Soldier quickly saluted to the Engineer, shouting a ‘sir yes sir’ before Engie laughed.
“whoa there Soldier, you can stand down. I’m not your boss.”
“then who is hard hat?”
Scout piped up, his arms were crossed and his foot tapped impatiently. Engie scratched the back of his neck nervously
“well, there is supposed to be one more of yah’s and they ain’t here yet. But Miss Pauling should be showin’ up any time after that?”
Scout scoffed and shook his head
“a dame? We’re supposed to take orders from a dame. Like come on, stop pullin’ my leg.”
The Texan glared at the younger man, about to say something but a light purple car drove up to them. Kicking up dust as it pulled up in front of the mercs. dust threatened to choke them out. Some coughed and others just waved the dirt from their faces. Soon a young woman stepped out from the driver’s seat, She didn’t look much older then Scout but she had a serious demeanor. She walked out and around the nose of the car, giving everyone a clear look at her. The woman wore a flattering purple button up top and a tight black pencil skirt. Her glasses were a little crocked and her hair was slightly disheveled, holding her bangs out of her eyes was a little hair clip.
Scout could feel his heart thump in his chest as he watched her, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He thought he had fallen in love. The woman opened the back door of her car and everyone watched carefully, thinking that their boss was going to step out. But I was just their missing team mate, The Pyro.
Name: [REDACTED]
Class: The Pyro
Sex: [REDACTED]
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 175 lb
Race: [REDACTED]
DoB: [REDACTED]
PoO: [REDACTED]
Short Description: it loves fire.
The Pyro stood there quietly, looking from one man to the other. They seemed like a nervous child on their first day of school as they kicked the dirt and played with a lighter they had pulled out of their pocket.
“sorry guys, I was running a little behind this morning. ” Miss Pauling started before ushering Pyro to stand with the rest of the group. “my name is Miss Pauling, I come on behalf of the Administrator and I want to make this brief.” she added before standing before them and pulling out 9 punch cards, just like you would have for any other on the clock job.
“these are your work cards. don't. lose. them. but if you do you’ll have to buy for a replacement. A new card will cost 11 dollars.”
[11$ 1960 = 100 $ today.]
Everyone but Engineer were surprised at the price of a new punch card, Pyro had no change when told the price. Miss Pauling handed each man a card with their name on it and a sharp pin.
“uh, what am I to do with this Lass?” Demo chimed in. holding the pin up.
She looked at him like he asked some sort of dumb question. Walking closer to him, she pointed out a blank spot on the card. “I need you to put a drop of blood here.”
again Everyone was surprised to hear this, she just sighed and lifted the card up so everyone can see it.
“i’m guessing most of you didn’t read your whole contract... or you can't read at all... so I’ll have to go into more detail. This is more then just a punch card, This is your life line, your respawn code. You put a spot of blood on the card and you punch it in every morning before you go to work. This will insure nothing bad will permanently happen to your bodies.”
“wait, permanently happen?” Medic adds, Miss Pauling nods before telling them to hurry up and get it over with. She went to Pyro and whispered to them, they looked back to the other men.
“don’t worry about them, they’re not looking.”
Pyro nods then kneeling down with their back turned to the group, no one could see what they did but when the mute stood back up there was blood on the card. Miss Pauling thanked them and turned to the rest of the team. The rest of the team quickly got the message and did as they were told. One after the other signed in their cards and Miss Pauling pointed them to where they need to go next. Engineer was the last one to leave, she grabbed his arm.
“hey Engie, I got to talk to you about something.”
he nodded and stayed with her till the others were out of ear shot.
“what the problem ma’am?”
“there’s no problem, yet. Look I need you to keep an eye on Pyro. They are… special. And things could go every wrong if they aren’t watched over.”
“so… what yah want me to do with the little guy?”
“just… keep an eye on them. Thats it.”
the Texan agreed to her terms, still wondering why Pyro needed to be watched. But he tipped his hat to his new boss and caught up with the others. Soon they all shuffled into a locker room, there were 9 lockers and each one had a different symbol. Quickly everyone realized what they had to do and got their new uniforms on, matching their respective classes. All except for Engineer and Pyro, who had shown up with their uniforms.
Moments later a voice of an old woman spoke over an intercom.
“welcome to the Gravel war Gentleman. Grab your equipment and be ready to defend.”
just as quick as it happened, the announcement was over. everyone grabbed their weapons and walked to the door, some stopping to talk to each other.
“do we have a plain?” the Soldier shouted
“umm…” the Heavy added, trying to answer but he was just as clueless as the American. The Engineer clearing his throat.
“well fellas if you look over here these a clip bored that tells us what we’re doin’ today… looks like we’re protecting our intell and tryin’-”
the Texan was quickly pushed out of the way so Soldier could have a clear shot at the chart.
“hmmm... ALRIGHT MAGGOTS!!! TEN HUT!!! today we are defending our intelligence and seize the enemy intelligence! Do I make myself clear!?”
Everyone stood quiet for a moment before Soldier screamed at the top of his lungs.
“DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”
slowly everyone agreed to his demands.
“good!! now ready yourselves men!! we’re heading into war!”
the intercom chimed again, counting down from 5 to 1. then the doors opened and everyone rushed out.
Well, this was really a first day. Dell knew what he was getting into, His father and his father’s father would talk sometimes of the work they did for mann.co. But he didn’t think it was anything like this. It was one hell of a war out there, no one knew what they were trying to do. Engie stayed back to defend their intel, while everyone else was just trying to kill as many of the other team as they could. But in the intel room their were very quiet and the only thing that kept Dell company was the beeping sound of his sentry gun.
Engineer could hear the distant sound of screaming and gun fire, but nothing close enough to worry him. It was down right boring down here. He would get the occasional BLU visitor mostly Scouts, other then that he was very much alone. Until his team’s Pyro came back and started mumbling something at him frantically.
“wha-, i-i’m sorry but I can’t quiet understand yah.”
the Pyro grabbed his hand and tried pulling him out of the room, something just didn’t feel right about this. But he followed the Pyro out into the hall way.
“hold on there Pyro! What is so important that you dragged me all the way out her-!!!”
Before he knew what hit him, the Pyro’s facade blows away to show a man in a blue suit and ski mask then felt a sharp knife pierces his skin, cutting his spin. Dell was gone before he hit the ground. Damn, his first day and he was already dead. Seconds later he felt the solid ground beneath his feet, blindingly white lights, and fresh air quickly filling his longs. He was alive once again. Dell knew of the ‘respawn’ but he thought it was just a bunch on nonsense to get stupid people to sign up for this war. but it was true, all of them really couldn’t die. Dell stood for a second before being alerted the his sentry had been sapped. He ran back to the intel room as fast as he could ‘why hadn’t he placed a tele down’, reaching the intelligence moments before his sentry exploded.
What is saw he didn’t expect. Pyro was down there, hunched over a freshly dead Spy, pocking it with the back end of their blooded ax, and the intel untouched. Dell walked in closer to the savior, Pyro stood there watching him. Engineer looked down at the spy and nudged him slightly with his boot.
“thanks there Pyro.”
Dell added, holding his hand out to Pyro. They took a step back and looked at his hand like it was going to bite them. The Texan stood there for a moment longer before taking his hand away with an awkward smile and timed cough. Pyro looked at him tiltin their head slightly, then slowly walked down the hall and out of sight. 'What an odd lil thing' he thought as he got back to building his sentry once again. After that he didn’t see much of Pyro, but he did notice he didn’t have anymore trouble with Spies.
The fighting went on and on, until the RED team was declared victories. Seize the BLU intelligence.
“RED is victorious! Sudden death!”
The old woman yelled from over head, then the doors of the BLU’s save haven opened without resistance to the RED team’s onslaught. It was over in seconds, the rest of RED stood unknowing what to do next. Then the voice called out again.
“congratulations. Report back to your drop point.”
What a first day indeed. Making it back to the drop point, where they first showed up. There was a letter left for them to read. Scout was the first one to grab it and proceed to struggle to read the envelope. Medic rolled his eyes and snatched the letter away from the younger man, cutting his eyes at him. Scout just crossed his arms and pouted.
“I didn’t wanna read it anyways.”
he said sharply. The letter was instructions and directions to their Barracks. Those who came with vehicles had to give a ride to those who didn’t. Heavy rode with Medic along with Engineer, Soldier. Sniper took Spy, Demo and Scout. Pyro on the other hand looked confused at the situation. They stood and looked from one car to the other, just standing and staring.
“come on mumbles!! what are ya waitin’ for?!”
Scout added but Pyro still didn’t move from their spot. They looked like a deer caught in head lights. Engineer look at them worried, then Pyro turned away and looked back to where Miss. Pauling’s car had came from. Then it dawned on Engi, he hoped out of the van and stood close to Pyro’s side.
“hey Pyro. Are you waitin’ for Miss Pauling?”
the fire starter look at the shorter man, then nodded slightly. Returning their eyes back to the car lines in the dirt road.
“you know that she’s not comin’ back here, and she would want you to go home with us, right?”
Dell spoke like he was talking to a scared child that lost their mother, or a spooked animal. Pyro looked down to the ground bellow their feet before nodding again and adding a small hum. Engi held out his hand and gave them a reassuring smile.
“don’t worry buddy, I’ll stay with you.”
Pyro looked down at his hand then finally accepted it. Slowly Dell lead them over to the Medic’s truck, till they stopped dead in their tracks, keeping a good grip on the Texan’s hand. Before anyone could say anything to them, Pyro started Pulling Engineer to the Sniper’s van. No one could protest the Pyro’s chose, but Scout tired to.
“hey no! There’s not enough room in here for both of yous!”
Pyro looked up at him, tilting their head, then shrugging. Grabbing Scout by the collar his shirt and ripped him out of the van to make room for themselves and for their new friend. Scout on the other hand bit the dirt, when he cleaned himself of dirt he mouthed off for a while then moved the Medic’s truck. The drive to their new home was fine for some and too much for others. Those who had to ride with Scout had their ears talked off, while those with Pyro had to deal with them playing with a lighter. Sniper was worried the little mute was going to burn his van down.
Their Barracks where hidden in a hole in the landscape, Dell was amazed that no one had found this place. Soldier was the most excited to find out their had shared living quarters, better chance at bonding as he saw it. Everyone filed in one by one to check the place out.
Heavy looked in the kitchen first, nothing but canned foods and powdered milk. Food shopping was the biggest thing on his to do list. Scout quickly found their rek room, it had a couch, small tv, vcr player, and empty shelves meant for books and games. All their was on the shelves was an old, beat up set of cards. Scout wondered if any of the others knew how to play black jack.
Everyone had a room of their own listing from attack, defense, to support. Sniper found his room at the very end of the hall, but knew he wasn’t going to be using it anytime soon. he already had a place to put his head, Plus the bed they gave him was too small.
Pyro stood in front of the door meant for them, looking up at the flame symbol on the door. While everyone got their rooms in order and running off to do their own thing, Pyro just stood there. Engi came over to them and put his hand on the door knob.
“this is your room.”
he said softly opening the door and walking in. Pyro looked at him then pointed to them self before hesitantly walking into the room. It was just like the rest of the room, empty, holding nothing but a bed and a chest of drawers. Pyro slowly walked around the room, pulling out each drawers, then testing the bed. It was hard for Dell to tell what was going through this little guy’s head, but when they looked up at him it seemed like they were thanking him. Tho he could just be anthropomorphising the fire loving mute. Engi smiled and nodded before leaving them alone. He didn’t see head nor tail of Pyro from the rest of the night.
It didn’t bother him to much tho, he had found himself a perfect place to set up his workshop and got right to work on some blue prints he had been given by the Administrator herself.