Respawn of the Dead

Chapter 5

"This is RED Engineer, Announcer, do you read me?"

There was nothing but silence from the other end of the radio. Engineer had been trying to contact the Announcer on and off for the past few hours. She was their go-between to the RED HQ, and was largely in charge of scheduling the missions and the arrival of the supply trains. And yet, nobody had ever seen her face; only heard her voice booming over the loud speakers, and she had been strangely silent since the beginning of the mission yesterday.

"Dang it, woman, would it kill ya t' answer?" Engineer grumbled to himself. He set down the transceiver and sighed.

"'Aving some trouble zhere, laborer?"

"GAH!" Engineer jolted and whirled around to see Spy behind him. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you startled me. Why can't you stop sneaking up on me like that an' knock like a civilized human being?"

"Because zat wouldn't be any fun." Spy leaned on his helmet and picked up the transceiver. "You are going about zis ze wrong way. Allow me."

"Good luck." Engineer scoffed. "She hasn't answered me once. I'm startin' t' get a mite worried."

Spy ignored the Texans warning, and pressed the call button. "'Allo, Madame Announcer? Zis is ze Spy. 'Ow are you today, my good lady?"

For a few moments, there was only silence. "I told you she hasn't been answerin'," said Engineer.

"Well, good afternoon, Spy," The Announcers voice purred from the radio. "How have you been?"

"I cannot complain too much. I'm sure you already know ze situation wiz ze BLU team." Spy cast a smarmy glance at Engineer.

"How did you even...?" Engineer was cut off by the Announcer before he could even finish.

"Yes, I am well aware. I certainly appreciate the enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this throws a bit of a wrench into our gears, if you'll pardon the expression."

The Frenchman laughed. "I understand, Madame. Engineer and I, we were simply curious as to 'ow we are to proceed from 'ere. What are your orders?"

"RED team is to hold their position at the base until ordered otherwise," the Announcer said curtly. "That is all. Announcer, out."

"Zank you, Madame. RED Spy, out." Spy placed the transceiver back into its cradle and shrugged at Engineer. "You 'eard ze lady. We are to stay put. Zat is all."

"Why'd she only respond when you called her?" Engineer asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've been trying on an' off since I got up this mornin'."

"Per'aps, Laborer, it is because she simply does not like ze uncouth, uncultured working man." Spy snickered. "Eleven PhDs and no charisma. Such a pity."

Engineer stood up from his chair and glared at Spy. "Hey now, that's just uncalled for. Why can't you just-" Spy cloaked before Engineer could finish, leaving the Texan standing there with his jaw hanging open. He shook his head and sat back down at his desk. "Goddamn good-fer-nothin' Spah," he muttered, before turning to his blueprints.

Soldier was pacing around the War Room again. He had more room to roam, since he had stuffed the table and chairs in the closet; the chairs were stacked on top of each other, and the table was too long to fit, so it jutted outward, making it hard for anyone to open the door to come in since they would inevitably bump into the table. This suited Soldier just fine, since he didn't want to be disturbed.

"Nobody left to fight, Shovel," he grunted. "We blew them all up. Don't get me wrong, I loved every second of it! It was glorious, Shovel, glorious! Goddamn, we're never going to have another victory like that again!" He stopped pacing for a second. "We're never going to have another victory like that again. And that's exactly the problem."