Intervention
By MixA4
Fire, smoke, and alarm sirens fill the air around you, but that's the furthest thing from your mind as you stare down the barrel of Infiltrator's rifle.
"Oh, Commander. My sweet, naive Commander. This is quite a predicament you're in, isn't it?" Her tone is both insulting and menacing. "You really didn't see this sneak attack coming, did you? Then again, if you saw this attack coming, my name wouldn't be "Infiltrator", now would it?"
You let out an agonized cough as the ash circulating in the air stings your lungs.
"By that metric, maybe they should've called you "Overzealous Bucket-of-Bolts." You retort.
"My, my! What a sharp tongue you have Commander! I'd almost say you should've gone into comedy instead of working for Griffin and Kryuger, but your jokes would have to be funny for you to gain any sort of fame." A crooked grin seems to almost tear across her face. "Maybe you would've met a better end in that profession though." She leans a little closer, her Cheshire Cat smile seems to only get wider.
"Oh, fucking hell.." You mutter. Out of the corner of your eye, you could swear you spotted a glint of light through one of the massive breaches in the wall.
"Playtime is over. When you die, be sure to tell everyone I've killed over the years that I said hello!" Infiltrator cocks her rifle. You shut your eyes, instinctively bracing yourself for the bitter end.
CRACK
You don't feel anything. You're certain you're dead, but yet you can still hear the popping of fire and the alarms going off. You open your eyes, still seeing the wreckage of the command room all around you. You take a breath and look at your hands and body, seeing no trace of blood. You look up at Infiltrator, who is now kneeling over in pain, clutching a fresh gunshot wound and barely managing to grasp her now-disabled rifle.
She had been shot.
"I'm gonna shoot you through the heart!" A strikingly familiar voice rings out. Another gunshot rings out, and Infiltrator drops on top of you in a heap of robotic viscera. Shock overtakes you, and you sit there, staring at the dead body of your assailant for a moment before you start to shamble to your feet.
"Commander!" You look to the hole to see SV-98 waving at you from a hilltop. You give a shell shocked wave back. She picks up her rifle and enters the smoky ruins.
"You.. You just saved my life.." You mutter. "I was certain I was a dead man!"
"Oh, please." SV-98's red eyes light up as she gives you a cute smile. "Did you really think I'd just let her kill my commander? We still have so many targets left!"
Without thinking, you pull SV-98 into a hug. She's caught off-guard, but quickly returns your gesture.
"Thank you." You whisper. "I was going to die if you weren't here." She giggles.
"You've always taken care of me and watched my back. I'll always be here to watch yours."
(A/N: Inspiration behind this one came when SV-98 saved a very difficult night mission from a heartbreaking failure with a last second Interdiction Shot. You beautiful woman who murders my enemies.)