August, 1966

I've been sitting here in the field for ages, but that doesn't matter. I was supposed to go and hang out with Laurel and John today, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that the BLU army gets theirs.

I read the news today, about the increasing hostilities between our RED Nation and the BLU Army, and I think we are pretty close to all out war. They say that the BLU army has stolen important state documents and is planning to sabotage many of our installations around the country.

Our prized security and resource depots of Badwater Basin, Hoodoo Mine and Gold Rush Hill are under serious threat and that if the BLU army was to attack that we would be under serious threat.

They have been mobilising for years, building permanent locations at places like Twin Fortress Complex (Known as 2Fort) and the Ulans Peak Hydro Electric Plant not far from my town.

Well, others may shy away from this conflict, but I'll fight them. Whether on the home front or abroad, I'll fight those BLU bastards and lead our RED Nation to glory. I've set my mind on signing up, and I'll get out of this town, go somewhere different and fight. But I'll take my guitar, of course!

September, 1966

Last month, after I wrote in my diary, I signed up for the RED army and I am now a helpful Pyrotechnic (they call them Pyros here, so I'll call them that from here on out). They assigned me my gear, and the suit fits well. Apparently the asbestos lining will help withstand my flames from my flamethrower and my gas mask will help me breath. Bit hard to speak with it on, my voice is all muffled.

I'm currently at a training ground, but the word around is that we recruits, that is our small regiment (20 to a regiment, 100 regiments at the training grounds, you do the math) is going to be shipped out to a low risk area, so we "rookies" can begin training our skills in case of a BLU invasion. The area is a factory on the outskirts of a big city, but it is known as "Well" to the rest of us. We are to hold the factory and the centre sheds from BLU infiltration.

I've made friends with some guys, like Pierre and Vladimir. Pierre is French migrant, came here after the World War, and he's a spy. He's a bit shifty, but still an all round nice guy. Vladimir is a funny, big guy with a big heart. He's a heavy weapons guy and is partnered with a medic named Klaus. He's always joking in his broken English and is slightly communist, but only slightly.

But as the tension increases, what was once small scuffles with BLU Army has turned into major conflicts. The Hoodoo Mine was blown up by a payload of explosives a couple of days ago, and today news came in of a RED general killed by a BLU spy, disguised as his advisior. There are spies everywhere, and no one can be trusted.

That's actually one of my jobs, to "Spy-Check" as it is known here. I let a small burst of flame out of my flamethrower and check corners and places for spies. I like being a Pyro.

October, 1966

Not long after my last entry, we moved out to the Red Shed Distillery factory in "Well" and began our training excerises. Our instructor, some old soldier with a bazooka, told us about the critical importance of five points in the area. If all the points in Well were captured, Well would be considered captured by both sides and we would be killed or forced to retreat. Sounds like something out of a game to me.

The supposed BLU facility is the Oil Refinery opposite the freight yard, and at night, when I'm on watch, I can see some lights in there, some movement, almost. Benny, one of the scouts, reckons its enemy pyros lighting stuff on fire, but I reckon it's engineers setting up sentry guns.

Meanwhile, the war is escalating, with more and more casualties but with many victories this week. We were able to push the BLU army out of ruined Hoodoo Mines and the Lucky Smells Lumberyard in the mountains. And even abroad, in the Egyptian Tombs, we have claimed the ruins for our selves. But a small loss at the Gold Rush Hill, with the defenders almost completely overwhelmed.

AND THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS! I'm one of three Pyros to be shipped out to a new theatre of war, called Gravelpit by the veterans. The intelligence they stole at the Sawmill in the mountains say that the BLUs will mount an invasion in a month, and will attempt to take over the area. Bless their souls; we'll have the upper hand.

Well, I'm putting my diary away in my suitcase; we ship out in the week.

November, 1966

War. War is a dirty affair, and I've seen enough war in this last month to last me a lifetime. Gravelpit was a horrible debacle, and many of us died. The day before, Pierre gave us info that the BLUs had arrived and were mounting an invasion on attempting to capture our control points.

We set up our defense plan, at points A and B in accordance with the General Defense Plan (Control Point Edition), and prepared the sentries and shipped metal out. We welded doors shut that would act as routes for the enemy and fenced off the facility.

They came through the concrete access tunnels, from the back of the base, but our defenses held them for an at least half hour, but then they were able to use their secret weapon, an UberCharge. I heard of it from a spy when we were in boot camp, and how it can make a person invulnerable for some time. The UberCharged Heavy steamrolled through our sentries, and ruined our defenses at Control Point A, I only just made it out.

I dodged the grenades from a Demoman, and I ran down a mine tunnel. It was here I killed my first enemy. A BLU engineer, heading to build a sentry at the newly captured Control Point, caught me as I retreated. He dropped his tool box and reached for his pistol on his belt. I whipped up my flamethrower and pulled the trigger, a burst of tragically beautiful red and yellow bursting out the end. The BLU Engineer burst into flames, screaming and crying, his skin melting.

His hardhat began to drip yellow plastic; his clothes smoldered and melted onto his skin, a byproduct of cheap labor clothes. He kneeled over and fell to the ground, almost dead. I'll write more later the siren just went off, time for battle.

December, 1966

It's Christmas Day, and we had a ceasefire for one day. How very nice.

When we woke up, all us REDS gave each other presents. Pierre and Benny (a scout) chipped in and got me a present of a melted hardhat, from my first kill. I hung it over my bed, as a reminder of the first Battle for Gravelpit.

I got Pierre a novelty voice recorder, which he can throw the speaker and speak through the portable mic to throw his voice. He used it today to mess around with Cletus, an Engineer, making him paranoid about spies and sapping.

For Benny I got him a wooden baseball bat, and a matching ball, stolen from BLU army. He's really taken to it, and he's been practicing hitting curveballs from the top of the Control Point C.

I've been given the order to leave Gravelpit, apparently my skill as a Pyrotechnic have been noticed by RED Army and I've been ordered to train up a bunch of Pyro recruits at Ravine. I'd best finish writing this entry; I've got to write up my lesson plan.