Chapter One: Engineer 2.0

Disclaimer: I do not own team fortress 2, if I did, then I would have already made the weapon seen in this chapter a reality (although perhaps only I would have it).

SNIPER Introduction: The Huntsman

It was another day, and another battle. I had shot off a few heads, but we were running out of time. It was time for me to leave my nest and help finish off the survivors. I climbed down the ladder and into the pipeline.

Years ago, battles had been fought for a bit of sport, with teleport devices implanted in our bodies taking us out of trouble whenever we were close to death, courtesy of Dell, our engineer, and a device to instantly heal us when we arrived back at HQ, courtesy of the Medic. Now things had changed. Now, dead was dead. It used to be a pair of headquarters across a river from each other, ridiculous set ups like that, squabbles between Builders League United, and Reliable Excavation Demolition, where I had started. Now, times had changed. Those squabbles were mere tests of who would run out of funding first. Now, everything had changed. There were massive battlefields, spanning miles, there were still two headquarters, but it was no longer capture the flag. Now, we were going for the kill. These headquarters were temporary establishments, creating massive sidelines in attempts to keep the enemy from getting to the real base. Our mission today was to get across the no-man's land between these temporary headquarters, so we could establish a forward position to launch the real attack. We needed to take down their defense grid dividing these two lines in this massive war.

I usually stayed in the nest, knocking the heads off of anyone who attempted to cross the no-man's land. But today, we had already pushed forward so far, that I had run out of prey. I learned from my time in Africa, that when other hunters are taking all the game in your area, you don't compete for the resource, you simply push forward. That was exactly what I was about to do. I put down my beloved Machina Rifle, and picked up something I had crafted, just for this occasion. It was a simple bow and arrow. At the long ranges that I shot from in the nest, it was next to useless. However, where I was going, it would be exactly what the team needed.

SNIPER Part 1: The Pipeline

After dropping down the pipeline, I nocked an arrow, but didn't yet draw. I didn't want a misfire, and a waste of an arrow. My primitive weapon seemed useless compared to the bullets that we all embraced, but it was far from such.

I was walking through, and I saw movement near the end of the tunnel. It was a BLU scout. I pulled back on the drawstring and let an arrow fly. This pipeline had been built under the battlefield years back. At first, we hadn't known about it, and BLU was able to use it to get right to our position. But for a company that specializes in demolition, Dell, our engineer, sure knew how to build. After 24 hours, there was such a complex safety grid covering the tunnel, which not a single BLU who went near came out alive. Eventually, BLU seemed to abandon it, but eventually, BLU Spies took down enough of the grid to allow more units through. We had started wiring entrances and exits with Tavish's bombs, but he was on the front lines right now, so he had not had a chance to replace them.

I let fly the arrow, just as the scout was going to fire his shotgun, and his head was pinned to the wall. It doesn't matter how it's done, dead is dead. I continued along the path, but felt troubled. What could have happened at the front lines that BLU could spare scouts to send to our side?

I emerged from the pipeline, directly in the middle of a firefight. I nocked and let fly three arrows in a row, and three BLU heads were pinned to the wall. I looked around, I saw bits of blood and gore everywhere, but then, I saw pieces of metal and bits of machinery scattered throughout the area. I wondered what could have happened. I looked to the right, and saw Dell running out, seeming to be seriously injured. I looked down. And saw a severed hand, wearing a bright yellow glove, holding a wrench. I saw the doc running out of the building, he was turning on his medi-gun, getting ready to close flesh and heal wounds. I remembered meeting another sniper years ago who had lost his trigger finger in a firefight, he had to be a scout for the rest of his days, unable to accurately shoot anymore. The medi-gun couldn't re-grow limbs then. That was bad news. An engineer who couldn't build is only good as a scout. I ran after the Dell and the Medic. We came into daylight, and before the Medic could start healing, dell pulled out a funny looking wrench, held it up, and vanished. I turned to the Medic.

"Where did he go?" I asked.

"'e used zat new invention of 'is to teleport back to 'is lab. 'e placed a teleporter for uz to get back to base around zis corner. Let us go! I must stop zee bleeding!"

The Medic and I ran to the teleporter and went through, one after the other.

MEDIC Part 2: The Gunslinger

After arriving back at base, we ran down the stairs to the door of the engineer's lab. I pounded on the door, "Open up! I must stop the bleeding or you vill die!"

There was no response. I was afraid it was too late.

I called for Tavish to come as soon as he restocked on bombs, but then I heard the sound of metal being shaped. Clang, clang, clang, came over and over from inside, then more precision sounds. I heard small tools and precise instruments performing unknown operations. Then I heard the sound of glass breaking and a bloodcurdling scream. Tavish came down the stairs, drunk as usual, and asked what he needed to do. I told him to get us into the room. He began to wire up many more explosives than were necessary, when we finally heard Dell.

"Don't blow the door," He said, "I am coming out."

Tavish dismantled the bombs and left, disappointed. The door opened, and there was Dell, covered in blood. Mundy turned around and left. He was used to seeing blood through a scope, he never had to smell it. I looked at where Dell's right hand had been. "Vat, vat, vat did you do?!" I yelled, in complete shock.

"I'm an engineer remember?" Dell began, "That means I solve problems. I had a problem, and now it is solved."

"You never showed me zis! Did you think to sterilize it? We do not know vether it is safe!"

"Aw come on Doc, you are always a hypocrite about that, all the boys know that you lost your medical license. Don't tell me about safe. Now I think this conversation is just about over."

"VAT! Zis conversation is far from over!" I yelled, but it was far too late, as he hit me with that odd wrench of his, held in his now fully functioning right hand, and I was teleported back to my operation room.

ENGINEER Part 3: Front Line Sentries

The next day, some of the boys were in the mess hall, finishing up their breakfast. I had finished testing the gunslinger, as I decided to name it, and was ready to unveil, not only it, but my latest invention. I walked into the room, and everyone looked up. They all saw me lose my hand that day, so they looked there, to see what had become of the arm, and decide whether or not I could remain as the team engineer. With no hand to build, what good is an engineer? I solve problems, and I had prepared for this one long ago.

"Yo! What happened to metalhead!" Scout yelled.

I smiled and began, "Boys, we have lost many in recent years. Remember our old sniper? Who lost his trigger finger and ended up getting shot the next day on scout duty?"

The room was silent, as the boys looked down, honoring our fallen comrade.

"Since that day, I made a plan for if that happened to me. An engineer without a hand is useless, so I made this."

I held up the gunslinger for all to see, flexing the mechanical fingers.

"Four fingers and a thumb, can build anything we need, and plays guitar pretty well."

I pulled out my guitar and played a few chords. Everyone was in awe.

"One more thing, we're going back in today, for one more hit on BLU. And I thought this might be useful."

I held up a small box.

"What do you have there engie?" The Soldier said, "Another new-fangled invention?"

"Heavy doesn't care what is in box," Heavy said, "Heavy just use his gun. Not even Mr. Fancy-pants College-attending Engineer can outsmart bullet."

I dropped the box on the floor. Instantly, a miniature sentry gun unfolded. It appeared faster that the scout could drink a soda, and that was fast.

"This boys, is the front line sentry gun. Each of you can bring one of these, and when you get to battle, drop it and start shooting. You do your thing, and the gun automatically does its thing." I smiled and observed their faces to see what they though. Heavy had gone back to eating. Soldier looked disinterested. Scout was downing a gallon of soda. Mundy was looking at the gun through the scope of his rifle, seeing if he could see a weak point. Tavish was passed out drunk. Pyro looked like, well, like pyro. No one ever could tell what Pyro was thinking. Only the Doc really seemed interested.

"Vy did you never show us zis before?" The Doc asked.

"I hadn't built it before Doc," I replied, "I did it just last night."

"Last night? But you had just gotten zat hand last night!"

"Right Doc, and it was exactly what I needed. Even a real hand couldn't work precisely enough to miniaturize all the firepower this thing needed. This hand though, it is precise enough to pickpocket a spy without him feeling it."

Spy appeared in the corner, "I beg to differ. One could never steal from a trained professional such as myself without-"

He stopped as I pulled his pocket watch out of my toolbox. Everyone gasped.

"In two hours," I said, "We go to battle!"

SNIPER Part 4: What Next?

I had built a new nest closer to the front lines, and I had taken at least ten heads so far. None of the enemy had been able to even get out of their HQ. Tavish had re-wired the pipes with motion sensitive bombs that Dell had made him, so no enemy was coming through there. I could see the battle on the front lines raging, every time I saw a head pop up, I took it off, but the majority of the fighting had moved indoors, where I could no longer help. I didn't hear them coming, until I heard the spy behind me receive an electric shock. It used to be that my razorback would just stun them when they stabbed it, and I would have to finish them myself, but Dell had upgraded it so it would just kill them instead. He even added a feature similar to Spy's cloak, so the enemy would never see it coming. He had been upgrading everyone's weapons lately: Spy could stab and still stay invisible, Medic had a crossbow that could assist us in fights and still heal the rest of us, Heavy had a pair of gloves with a field that would stop incoming bullets, Scout had a special ball that he could hit at the enemy and cause them to bleed out, Soldier had some kind of ray gun and a laser bazooka, and Pyro had a new flamethrower and flare gun that could do all kinds of crazy tricks. What would he do next?

While I was pondering this, I didn't notice a BLU Heavy coming behind me. He punched my head and it was lights out.

I woke up in a dim room. I had to think fast through my pounding headache to remember what happened. I noticed that there was a red box still tied on with my ammunition belt. My gun and knife were gone, but I still had that. And even better, I had my bow strapped to my back under the Razorback. I noticed that the walls of the room I was in were blue; I had been abducted and brought to the BLU base. I was glad they had sent a heavy to nab me. Not even a Soldier would be stupid enough to let me keep these things

The door opened, and a medic walked in. He pulled out a syringe and said, "Don't worry, I promise I will heal you."

I quickly pulled my bow out from behind me and shot him in the head. An alarm went off, and I could see a pyro rushing towards the open door. I shot and missed, and was out of arrows. I then remembered the red box. I cut it loose from my belt, and dropped it on the ground. A mini-sentry near-instantly appeared and gunned down the pyro. I picked up the mini-sentry and ran out the door. I kept dropping the sentry and allowing it to gun down more enemies; its aim was always true. Eventually I found an ammunition closet and found a sleeper rifle and an SMG. I took them and kept going. I managed to work my way all the way down to the control room. I was amazed. I let the mini sentry set up again, and then turned to the control panel. I couldn't be sure exactly what to do to shut down their defense grid, Dell was supposed to be the one doing this. But I did find an intercom. I grabbed the microphone and shouted for assistance.

Ten minutes later, the rest of the team made it through, they almost shot me, but then they noticed the mini-sentry. They came in, and before explanations, Dell plugged a computer chip into the BLU control panel, then dropped another box. In about two seconds, a flashing red pole appeared on the ground. He pressed a button on it, and we were all teleported out.

It took us about ten minutes to swap stories. While they were fighting their way through hordes of BLU enemies, I took the "Easy" route, and distracted all of the BLU team with that shout on the intercom. They slaughtered them easily and found the control room. The device that Dell plugged in shut down the base entirely, including the defense grid that created the perimeter. It also gave the location of our final objective: the BLU cloning facility. We had been victorious.

ENGINEER Part 5: The Plan

We had been in the control room for 36 hours straight, drawing up the plans for the mission. Everyone looked tired except Scout and Pyro. Pyro, because we couldn't see what was going on behind the mask he never removed, and Scout because he had been drinking nothing but Crit-a-Cola for the whole time. Even I was feeling it. I hated the limitations of the human body. We knew where the BLU cloning factory was, we knew how we would get there. We even had a basic floor plan. But we would have no idea how to shut it down until we actually got there. That would be my job. I had created a new two-way teleportation system just for this job.

I finally announced, "Ok, the plan looks good, after Mr. Mundy's great success with the mini-sentry in the last mission, I would like everyone to bring them again this time, it might just save someone's life." I nodded at the sniper, "Mundy, you start things off by taking the heads of anyone you see through the windows of the facility or who comes out the doors to stop us. Meanwhile, I will set up the teleportation system and resupply system. Spy, you sneak in first and take down all of their sentry guns. Doc, you Ubercharge Heavy and charge in the front after Tavish blows the doors. Soldier, you follow close behind and finish off any enemy sentry guns left or other obstacles. Scout, when Heavy and Soldier have taken down the main defenses, you get in there and harass any remaining foes, then make your way here," I pointed to a spot on the map, "and drop your sentry. After that, the rest of you cover me while I get in and meet up with scout at what I believe is the main database, if not the control panel itself."

Everyone cheered and then turned to head to their bunks, everyone that is, except for me. I went down to the workshop one last time to finish the greatest creation of my life.

SNIPER Part 6: The Final Mission.

Before first light, we were already two hundred yards away from the facility. We could see its lights on. It seemed that they made new teams constantly. We began to set up the mission. Dell constructed a dispenser for healing and munitions, than began on the teleporter, I made a nest and settled in, Scout drank another soda, Medic charged his medigun, Heavy ate a sandwich, and Pyro set a twig on fire. Meanwhile, Tavish was sneaking towards the doors. Tavish gave the signal that he had finished wiring the doors, and the forward team ran to meet him. After they heard a few shots from me gun, and Tavish blew the doors, the mission began.

The fighting was bloody and chaotic. After their sentries were down, BLU just hit the assault team with a rain of bullets and missiles, but our pyro managed to deflect the rockets, so all that hit them was bullets. Medic cleaned them up in seconds after the initial carnage, and then joined in the fight himself with that crossbow Dell made him. Finally, Scout ran in to complete his mission. I saw Dell follow. Scout ran, clearing most of the path, and Dell ran as fast as he could to keep up with him. I saw through the window that a lone soldier was heading to meet them. I fired, and missed. I had taken over one hundred thousand shots in this war, and never missed. Now, I watched through the window, horrified, as the Soldier launched one rocket. Scout had jumped at the last moment, and it sailed under him, but Dell wasn't so lucky. The rocket found its mark. And Dell became a burst of blood and gore; blood, gore, and a curious red glow. I contacted the others, and then wept at the timing of my first ever miss.

SCOUT Part 7: Engineer to Eternity

I was horrified at what I saw. I had seen bullets and what they did to people. I had hurt people with bullets. I had watched Soldier hurt people with rockets. This however, I had never seen. I saw as right in front of me, Dell was hit by the rocket. There was nothing left but a bright red spatter. I saw as a mini sentry unfolded next to the spatter and finished off the BLU soldier as he tried to reload. But I did not think it was funny. I always laughed at the pain and death going on around me, but we had never lost a teammate so violently before. Why didn't he have some sort of gun out? He had that new gun, made to break rockets and stuff, why didn't he use it? He was just carrying his new wrench. I lost it. I collapsed on the ground, and remained like that while I waited for the others to arrive.

Eventually, they came, and I told them what had happened, assisted by a sobbing sniper over the radio. Eventually Spy appeared and walked into the control room, "Complete the mission at all costs," was all he said. I wanted to hit him with my bat. We had finished off the BLU troops, killed every last one that we encountered, and now Dell wasn't there to tell us how to shut the thing down. I saw spy at the computer trying. Eventually, he put one of his zappers on it, and punched a command. He informed us that we had about four minutes to get out, before the place was blown to bits. We turned, and went back to the sniper's nest. We sat around the Engineer's dispenser, in a period of silence. There was an enormous explosion behind us, but we couldn't celebrate our victory.

After the explosion, a group of BLU soldiers began to charge towards our position. We didn't notice, we were so absorbed in our silence.

? Part 8 Prelude

I awoke, I was in, it worked. It started with a gunslinger, and then two, now, it is done. Never will the limitations of humanity do anything to harm me. It was time to return. I saw through the dispenser, they were in trouble. I needed to return. I went to the teleporter. And I returned.

SNIPER Chapter 8: Engineer 2.0

The teleporter sparked, there was an enormous red glow, and something appeared. In the darkness we couldn't quite tell. But the enormous mechanical hulk charged down the hill towards a group of BLU soldiers sneaking up on us. We watched awestruck, as fifty rockets all found their mark on the mechanical mass, and it just kept charging. It ran to the nearest soldier, and ripped him in half. It then punched the next soldier, breaking his spine. Soldier after soldier fell, turning the area into a killing field. The mass came towards us. And spoke.

"Evenin' boys," It said.

We all gasped, it was Dell.

I looked around. Scout had fainted. Spy had for once dropped his look of complete calm. Soldier's draw dropped. Medic was staring at the sky in wonder. Heavy had dropped his sandwich, and Tavish had dropped his scrumpy.

A band of pyros came charging up the hill. Dell just turned around and dispatched with them. Next came demomen, and finally heavies with medics, all gone.

When we arrived back at base, we were still in shock. We asked for a story, but Dell simply told us that the next mission was upon us, and it was time to get some sleep.

I couldn't sleep that night. Usually that was because I had drunk too much coffee, but not tonight. We had just had one of our own as good as come back from the dead. It was too much to bear. What on earth would we be doing now? I had all my plans for all kinds of scenarios on the battlefield running around my head, but none of them fit this scenario. Finally, I got up and went to see spy, the only one with more plans than me.

Halfway there, spy materialized in front of me and said, "Awake at night again I see, Sniper."

"Even you didn't see that coming Spy."

"I have to admit. No, I did not."

"What on earth could have driven him to do this?"

"He did say he had planned for the robotic hand the entire time, perhaps this was the same."

"Does he really fear death that much?"

"None of us fears death, or we wouldn't be here. Dying however, that is a fear we share."

"I think it is more than that though, what could he possibly be planning?"

"Once again, even I cannot see that."

"Well can't you find out? That is your specialty."

"That is why I was up. In his new form however, the Engineer does not require sleep, and has hearing better than you or I. I was unable to find anything, even while invisible. He found me, lifted me off the ground, and teleported me back to my room."

"We will need to find out when he tells us then."

"Yes, have a good sleep my friend."

"You are rarely this informal Spy."

"Mundy, this is a time when the group needs to be stronger than ever. I have a feeling that our true final mission is on its eve."

MEDIC Chapter 9: The True Final Mission

After a shaky sleep, I went to the meeting room, in which Dell had called a meeting. I walked in to find I was the last there. This was highly unusual, as Tavish, Heavy and Soldier usually slept in. I looked at them and saw all three of them had been hitting the Dalokohs bars. I looked to the head of the room, and Dell was there with a map of the world displayed on a screen. As I sat, he began to speak.

"Boys," We have received one more mission. We have received intel on the location of the BLU grand headquarters in central Siberia."

We were all shocked, but he continued, "It's time to pack up our base here, and move off. We have over 3000 miles to move, so we better get started."

To Be Continued. . .