Prologue: War's End

She woke up on top of a small hoodoo, surrounded by desolate wastelands and blazing sunlight. She coughed, her throat dry from the heat and dust. On her chest was a strange device emitting a weak yellow glow. From the dimness, she could tell she didn't have much time. Mustering all the will in her body, she slowly rolled over to the edge of the hoodoo and peered down. The drop won't be tall enough to kill her, but she could tell it was going to hurt regardless.

Bracing herself, she began to push herself off the hoodoo feet first. The craggy cliff side scratched at her jumpsuit before finally releasing her. Immediately, she flew into an uncontrollable tumble and with a surprised yelp, violently crashed into the hot sand below.

The sand burned her exposed face, causing her to snap out of her daze in a flash. She scrambled to her feet, the adrenaline giving her strength to at least sit up straight. She took a moment to catch her breath and scan her surroundings. There was a road in the distance. Right beside it lies a stretch of telephone poles reaching far into the horizon. Under one particular pole was a car. She could just make out the figure of a man standing beside that pole, holding something to his ear. That was what she needed.

"...Are you kiddin' me? Of course the Giants are gonna come out on top! They ain't got nothin' on the Rangers!" The man said into the phone. He suddenly looked up. A woman stumbling towards him caught his eye. Confusion and worry filled his visage. "Hold on, Clement. I gotta call you back…" He hung up and started approaching the woman. "Hey, missus! You feelin' alrigh-"

"I need the phone." She blurted out. "Now. Just one call." The man sighed and let her by.

"Ladies first, I suppose…" He took the receiver off of the payphone and handed it to her. She nudged her way in front of the keypad and glared back at the man.

"I need to be alone." The man recoiled at her cold tone. He chuckled nervously, rubbing his neck.

"I'll just… wait in my car, I guess." He muttered, slowly backing up towards his car's open door. She waited until he had fully shut himself in. She sighed with relief, thankful that the man gave up so easily. With renewed determination, she began to dial.

"Yeah?"

"Pauling here. I got an assignment for the team. Commencing ASAP."

"Hmm, our schedule's lookin' pretty packed for today. The boys and I are about to head out to the Gold Rush job. After that we're hittin' Dustbowl an' Upward. Sorry ma'am, no openings in sight."

"Make one. This is big. If you can pull this off, no one on BLU will ever need to work another day in this hellhole."

"...'Scuse me?"

"You heard me right. In my hands I have a multi-billion dollar, Gravel War ending, 10-to-11 hour lasting contract. For the sake of the Badlands, the Administrator needs you guys to do this."

"Florence. Y'know as well as I do that if there's one thing keepin' Helen goin' over her centuries of life, it's the Gravel Wars."

"Things have changed, Dell. In ways you and I can't imagine. The Administrator tasked me with putting an end to this conflict once and for all."

"...I swear that your voice sounds a bit higher than usual."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"...Let me talk to her. Put Helen on the line."

"..."

"Listen 'ere, whoever you are. You got five seconds to put Helen on the line before I track down your number an' give it to her myself."

"...Why are you protecting her?"

"I...what?"

"You know what kind of person she is. I know it too. She's been using you, your father, and your grandfather like tools for so long. Protecting her must feel like your duty by this point. Like it's a part of you."

"You of all people should know why I gotta. She's got somethin' big planned. Anyone not under her umbrella's good as dead."

"Dell, I know what she wants. I've seen what she wants. What I'm about to propose to you is a surefire, clean way to stop her from getting what she wants."

"...What do y' mean you've 'seen what she wants'? Helen would never spill th' beans to anyone."

"Oh trust me, she's spilled it. Let's just say that there's a reason why she hasn't told you in particular, Engie."

"...Is this really Florence?"

"Yep. Helen's number two."

"Which one of us Mercs has a crush on you?"

"Scout, sadly."

"What happened on that night Scout invited you to dinner?"

"We fought a giant bread monster."

"..."

"Engie?"

"...Tell me 'bout this 'ere...assignment."

On any other night, Spy would be taking a hot, incense-filled bath by now, sipping a glass of his finest 1921 Chateau Matador. This small bit of paradise would give a bit more spring in his step the following morning, allowing him to forget about the idiocy of his employers and teammates alike for the briefest of moments.

Tonight however, Spy felt better, more determined, and happier than he had in years. One final job. One last night spent in these worthless gravel fields. If all goes well, BLU team will be disbanded for good and Spy will be freed. Nothing was going to get in his way tonight.

And so far, nothing has.

Spy was already deep inside of Blutarch Mann's fortress. Though it is strong enough to withstand the onslaught of several tank battalions, there was nothing it could do to hold back a master of infiltration such as himself. By moving past patrols with his cloak and bypassing security checkpoints with his disguises, Spy was inching closer and closer towards his goal: Blutarch's Vault.

He had arrived sooner than he expected. Hiding behind a corner, he checked the entrance to the vault. Three Engineers and three sentries stood between him and his target. Each Engineer was reclining in their own chair. Two of them were asleep while one of them kept herself awake by reading. The three sentries are of different designs, each built and created by their respective Engineers. Spy sighed. They were not leaving any time soon. He activated his cloak and made his move.

A loud beeping woke the two Engineers up while alerting the third. They jumped out of their chairs and instinctively grabbed their wrenches. Sure enough, they saw their sentries being sapped. The Engineers sprang into action in an instant, lunging at their endangered sentries. This commotion provided Spy with the distraction he needed. He decloaked behind one of the Engineers and sank his knife deep into his back. The Engineer cried out in pain, drawing the attention of the other two. Upon seeing who they were dealing with, they were shocked.

"Egads! What reason is there for a Team Fortress member to find themselves here?" One of them exclaimed. Spy removed his knife from his victim's back, letting his body crumple to the floor. The female Engineer looked at his partner.

"Sound the alarm, amigo! I'll take care of the Spy and our sentries! Go! ¡Rápido!" Her bespectacled comrade nodded and raced for a nearby alarm switch. Upon seeing this, Spy took out his revolver and fired. He nailed the male Engineer in the back and sent him sprawling to the floor. With a growl of rage, the female Engineer grabbed her pistol and took aim. Spy quickly charged into her with a shoulder bash before she could fire, knocking her down onto her back. He flicked open his knife with lightning speed and jabbed. The female Engineer grabbed his wrist, stopping the blade just short of her face.

Suddenly, a series of pistol shots interrupted the struggle. Thinking quickly, Spy grabbed the female Engineer and rolled onto his side, swinging her in front of him. The bullets hit the female Engineer, successfully shielding Spy from harm. The male Engineer gasped, ceasing fire just a tad too late. His visage then turned into a scowl of anger. Before he could even act on his emotions, Spy poked his revolver out from underneath the female Engineer's arm and fired, finishing the last of the threats off with a clean headshot.

He threw the female Engineer's body off in disgust, making sure to tidy his suit up while rising back up to his feet. The sentries had finished sapping by now, each of them erupting into a shower of metal and wires. He took a deep breath. Now was time for the easy part.

Spy approached a small keypad located beside the vault door. The moment of truth. If Miss Pauling gave them the wrong codes, he will join the Engineers in death. Bracing himself, Spy raised a finger to the keypad.

Immediately, several turrets popped out of the walls, their sights trained on Spy's head. A small petri dish extended out from below the keypad. "DNA SAMPLE REQUIRED" An automated voice boomed. Spy ignored it, knowing it's all a diversion. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He entered the seven digit override code on the note into the keypad and watched as every turret powered down and retracted. With a loud metallic clunk, the vault's lock released. With bated breath, Spy grabbed the handles and swung the doors open.

His team was waiting.

The airfield had been abandoned decades ago. It was built by Redmond Mann in 1926 to help create an "air force" within his mercenary legions. Sadly, every plane he had launched out of that airfield crashed, mostly because he kept fueling them with gravel. Frustrated, he deemed the airplane as an "intricate nonsensical fad" and defunded the project. As a result, this kilometre spanning stretch of pavement and hangars remained forgotten by both teams over the years. Tonight however, the runways will be receiving their first and only successful user.

On the tarmac sits a private jet, ready to take off at any moment. The BLU team were huddled by the jet's doors, ready to get on. There was just one last thing to take care of first. She had promised to send the BLU team off before their flight. She couldn't show up in person, so Engineer got to work adding a loudspeaker to his cell phone.

"Ok boys, it's ready." Engineer said, breaking the silence. The team watched in anticipation as he dialed the number she gave him. After a few tones, she picked up.

"Congratulations, team." She said. "You guys are now the nine of the richest men in the world. How does it feel?" A variety of reactions erupted from the team.

"Hell yeah! I can finally buy Ma' that big, fancy house in Beverly Hills!"

"With this money, America can sleep safe knowing her most valiant defender can now afford a tank battalion!"

"Hrrm huh huddah huh!"

"This was just what I needed ta start th' family brewery back up!"

"Family no longer needs to freeze in Siberia. Heavy thanks Miss Pauling."

"Well I'll be damned. I was hesitant at first, but now my family's finally free from that old hag. Thank you kindly, Florence."

"Haha! I vill be heading back to Rottenburg zhanks to you! My clinic vill be back in business!"

"My parents can keep this cash. I'm goin' back into th' bush. Had enough human contact for now."

"It's not like I even needed this extra money, but I suppose it helps nonetheless."

She smiled at their remarks. "Due to the circumstances here, I'd like to keep our farewells short and brief." She cleared her throat. "It's been an honor working with you guys. The Administrator's gonna be pissed for sure, but she won't be able to find me or any of you." Scout nudged his way to the phone.

"Ey-hey, Miss Pauling. Now that you're out of a job, maybe you'd like t' tag along with me! I know this great diner that Spy told me about, though you're gonna have ta read th' menus for me…" The team expected her to brush Scout off like normal. Instead, after pausing a bit, she chuckled.

"Maybe in another life, Scout." With a final blown kiss, she hung up.

She fell to her knees, just barely managing to hang up the payphone before collapsing. Her legs were losing more strength by the second. She sat herself down, leaning against the telephone pole. She gazed up into the clear night sky, finally able to admire the stars. She smiled weakly. Never before had she seen such beauty. In fact, if she squinted hard enough, that tiny glint floating through the inky sky looks a bit like BLU team's jet. She looked down at her hands. They were already half translucent. She let them crumple to the ground. This was it.

As her body slowly disappeared, so did her fear. No longer did she see the fate waiting for her with terror. As far as she was concerned, this was a relatively peaceful way to die. In her final moments, a few worries would plague her. Did she do it correctly? Will her actions here bring about a better future? Those were all questions she would never find the answers to.

All she could do was hope.