Just half a year later. Mere four thousand three hundred hours. Squeezed between had been some off days, but generally, Ned had lived through six months of hell.
An infinite seeming loop of killing and dying. Uncountable rebirths through technology. Each free moment spent trying to get a hold of his displaced parents. Each foiled plan of establishing contact fueling his belligerence.
At least the village itself held enough memories to soothe him into reminiscing better days.
Until the dreaded letter was delivered.
The unsigned paper informed Ned of a thing called "location rotation", that BLU's and RED's time on Selbyen was up. Furthermore, they reported that the buildings of Selbyen had been riddled with bullets beyond repair that its upkeep was no longer a viable strategy for the company. Two small passenger airplanes would arrive the following day to take the teams “back” to the USA.
Petrified of forever leaving the only place he’d ever known, Ned’s flight instinct overpowered him once more – as it did when Team Fortress Industries had first arrived – and he crammed himself beneath the floorboards in his bedroom that usually held his secrets. That night, he was the secret.
An ever so disorganized stampede of indifferent mercenaries boarded the planes, navigated by administratively decreed pilots. A head count only came to one of their minds, halfway across the Atlantic at that. Short of one head – and a bit ashamed of not having noticed earlier – the “bravest” member of BLU was determined by vote and pushed stepped forth to gingerly admit their mistake to their purple pilot.
To not delay their arrival any further – transporting a bunch of assassins with twitching, trigger happy fingers and immense boredom was a hazardous job – administration decided to deploy their fallback.
Ripped from his Manndatory vacation, The BLU Pilot was tasked to either capture and return The Net… or “terminate his contract”.
Caught staring at the horizon that’d swallowed the plane containing the teammates he’d become accustomed to, the roaring of a small private two-seater plane from behind him left him exposed as a deer in headlights. Hiding quickly turned out to be a futile endeavor with every meter the plane crept closer to the short rocky path serving as an impromptu runway. After short, exasperated exhortation – The Pilot really had better things to do than chauffeur this stubborn fisherman across the globe – Ned agreed that the agonies endured and the time spent getting moderately accustomed to everyone in that half year would’ve been for naught, if he were to cast away his life contract, and therefore his family’s steady income, due to such rashness.
After whispering bitter farewells to the sand, the shells, the seagulls and smoking his last cigarette on Norwegian grounds, Ned and his entire life contained in solely the two suitcases they’d found in the cargo hold, entered the airplane.
Eighteen hours were spent in the air – it took Ned about four of them to cast a first glance out of the window, viewing the sea from heights he’d never been at in his life – and six hours in different airports for refueling the plane, their stomachs and their minds. After countless amounts of cigarettes smoked inside the cockpit and conversations made unpreventable by the confined space, but eventually appreciated and sought out, the airplane wheels touched American ground.
The Badlands await him.