The chop of the helicopter rotors nearly deafened SuperSASS as she walked into the helicopter launch bay with the rest of Grizzly Team. Not ten minutes prior they had been ordered to scramble and board a helicopter, part of the hastily assembled airborne force to track the Sangvis Ringleader. It was an urgent mission, urgent enough that the normally taciturn Type 81 was flustered as she gave them their orders.

"So we just set down here and watch for the Ringleader – for Gestalt?" Grizzly had asked. Type 81 nodded quickly.

"Yes, and send an alert as soon as you see it. This is basically a net we're casting to make sure it doesn't go untracked."

"Seems pretty juvenile," said Grizzly, crossing her arms. No one in her echelon had fond memories of the last encounter with Gestalt, and they wouldn't have K5's team to take the brunt of the attack like last time. RFB had made sure to pack AP rounds this time around, but SASS was still doubtful. The Ringleader was no joke, and facing it in the snowy wilderness was not an exciting concept.

SASS saw their two pilots climbing into the helicopter as they approached. "Great," groaned Grizzly. "Andrei and Volodymyr. Why are those two crackheads even flying such an important mission?!"

"They fly just as well as any others," M590 reasoned. She knew just as well as SASS that Grizzly was especially high-strung for this mission given its important, and this was her way of relieving some of that tension.

"Sure, yeah. They talk too much."

"Just ignore them!" M590 had to shout over the rotors as they climbed into the helicopter cabin. Ingram and RFB settled in positions as the doors slid shut and the helicopter briefly taxied back out onto the exposed landing pad and shook as it began takeoff. The one advantage of S09, SASS mused, was the Western Black Hawk helicopters, a much better ride. Griffin didn't want to buy anything it didn't need, so when S17 was started, the old Mi-8 helicopters still in the base facility were co-opted for the PMC's needs. The aged aircraft made for an uncomfortable ride, but SASS had gotten used to it.

Contrary to Grizzly's complaining, neither of the pilots said anything less than what was needed during the flight. It was a short ride, just to the other side of the mountain, and in no time at all SASS was watching the white-green of the mountain forest flashing by underneath the window.

"Look," Grizzly started. "I want this to be quick. We're not going to lose anyone here, not like Yew, and if we do see the Ringleader we phone HQ and then we boogie."

"What? I was going to fight it. Been looking for a little payback…" Ingram's hand wrapped around her knife's sheath, her other fingers tapping incessantly where they rested on her thigh.

"This isn't a fight. I'm not interested in sticking my neck out like this when this Ringleader as such a high kill rate. Nuh-uh, not going to get shot in the head like K5."

"Grizzly." Her eyelids flicking open, M590 looked to her team leader. "This is a little more important than self preservation. Remember how Type 81 said the Ringleader had neural cloud data?"

"Might, she said. Might." Grizzly raised a gloved finger as if she was making a great point, but seemed to realize her position and let her arm drop back into her lap. The nervous, exasperated expression left her face as she sat back in the seat, sobered up. "Might."

"Let her have the data. We'll just make new backups," RFB said. "Save the respawn point."

"Yes, but Gestalt destroyed at least some of the database. The neural clouds the Ringleader has – might have – could be the only backups those dolls have left. It'd be permadeath if they die before we get the backups back," M590 explained.

"So… what if the Ringleader doesn't have the data at all? This could be for nothing," SASS pointed out. "The Commander– well, Makarov could be making the wrong call."

"We have to do it anyway. We don't risk something this important." Grizzly's tone put an end to the discussion.

The helicopter began lowering as they neared the dropoff point. SASS pulled her coat about her to ward off the blast of cold air that came in as the doors slid open, gazing out at the snowy evergreen treetops reaching up towards the helicopter.

"Let's hope she doesn't have us out here for more than a few hours," M590 shouted. "It's gonna be night soon!"

Grizzly laughed. "I'm calling the chopper back before sundown no matter what!"

Then the helicopter exploded.

In one moment, the rotor was blown off the tail of the chopper and the craft immediately began spiraling downward. SASS felt herself nearly pulled out of the seat and latched onto the edge of the chair with both hands.

"SAM got us! We're going to hit the trees!" someone – the pilot – shouted. Grizzly reached for the flare gun strapped to the wall behind the cockpit, and that was the last thing SASS saw before they crashed.

Her Digimind was a dark place. Not just conventionally dark, but oppressive in its emptiness. SASS supposed that it was something akin to human unconsciousness, and that she had been "knocked out" by the helicopter crash.

Which meant she was still alive.

With little effort SASS was able to call up a memory of Grizzly. "We have to do it anyway. We don't risk something this important," intoned the perfect replica of her team leader, standing stock-still in front of her. We don't risk something this important.

And they had crashed. The pilot had said it was a SAM – apparently Sangvis still had some old Soviet technology and was putting more of it to use, which didn't bode well for Griffin. SASS wished away Grizzly and the handgun disappeared. In her place materialized the pink-haired visage of NTW-20, complete with the enigmatic blank expression she typically wore.

"What would you do, senpai?" SASS wondered aloud. NTW-20 was unresponsive. Right, I don't have any memory of her that's applicable here… The rifle doll would probably say something witty like 'kill them all', or maybe something more wise, like 'shoot whatever Sangvis look important.'

No, that's not senpai at all.

She's coming around.

SASS, wake up.

Can I zap her?

"No!" Grizzly admonished, pulling SASS into a sitting position. The handgun doll's hair was ripped and singed, but her amethyst eyes shone just as brightly as ever, flames reflected in their irises. Flames… SASS turned her head to see the wreckage of the helicopter only a few steps away from the rock she was sitting against.

"What–"

"We crashed a little under half a klick short of the original destination," Grizzly explained. Behind her, RFB made little noises of disapproval as she looked over the helicopter carcass. "We all got out alive, though one of the pilots has a bit of shrapnel in his leg."

M590 crunched through the snow to Grizzly from where she had been conversing with the unwounded pilot. "Sundown in twenty minutes, half an hour at most. Andrei says the survival kit is intact, and there's four more flares in it for when we need them."

"That's good. How's Volodymyr?"

"Shot full of painkillers. He'll be good for the trip, as long as we don't go too far."

"Speaking of which…"

"It's ten, maybe twelve kilometers to the gatehouse. I guarantee that's going to be the best way to get back to the mountain."

Grizzly shook her head worriedly. "That's where Yew disappeared. What if–"

"Kerr's probably got the whole place locked down and full of patrollers – and besidies, the Ringleader can't possibly be lurking around anymore. That gatehouse forest is our best bet. Don't tell me you'd rather free climb the mountainside."

"...no," grumbled the team leader. "C'mon SASS, on your feet."

"What's the plan?" asked the pilot, Andrei, as he approached the three. He had lost the bulky pilot's helmet and taken on a backpack, presumably with the survival kit inside. Grizzly looked to M590.

"We'll begin moving directly towards Gatehouse Pavlov with Ingram and I leading the front. Periodic hails on the radio every half hour, I'd say, and the flare gun if we think it's necessary. I wouldn't put it past Sangvis to leave some stragglers in the forest, and with Volodymyr in the state he is I wouldn't like to get caught by SF."

"It'll be hard to navigate the woods like this," Andrei pointed out. M590 shrugged.

"It's going to be dark soon. We don't have time to walk to the edge of the forest or find footpath, but if we stumble upon either we can use it. Right now, though, we need to get back to base as soon as possible."

So they set out. M590 and Ingram took the front two spots, with RFB following them up, then Andrei supporting Volodymyr, then SASS, then Grizzly. It was slow going through the forest, but they were moving and that was all that mattered. Grizzly told SASS that they had already broadcast once with the handheld radio and fired off a flare. It was unlikely that Griffin would send out another helicopter, but perhaps a search team would be deployed to keep an eye out.

"Kerr," Grizzly said, "will know what we're up to. Welrod will, if the Commander doesn't."

"You know each other?"

"Yeah, we got assigned to leadership positions around the same time. Though she got promoted again afterwards."

"Right, she's field command. Though, isn't Kerr the Field Commander?"

"Technically, yes. Welrod is something like Lieutenant Colonel, technically speaking." Grizzly scoffed. "Kerr sure loved giving us ranks. I'm a lieutenant, did you know that? M590 is a sergeant."

"So why is Kerr Field Commander…"

"...if she never goes into the field? Humans are too weak, especially for someone her age. Though, I remember hearing about one or two hotshot Commanders who tried their luck on the field. Some survived."

SASS looked around her. It was quite dark, the only sound the crunch of snow underneath the group's feet. The doll did feel like they were being watched, but put it down to the aged evergreens and generally disconcerting nature of the forest. "I'm surprise anyone even tried."

"WWIII vets, mostly. Really hotheaded sometimes. They thought they could make a difference. Some did. Most, though…" Grizzly breathed deeply. "If they were out here today, nothing would've changed. You have to be a really good soldier or commander to really salvage a bad situation. And this was a bad situation of epic proportions. Makarov made the right call, but it didn't go so well."

Grizzly pointed to Volodymyr, whose foot was dragging in the snow. Andrei adjusted his grip to help him stand up better.

"We don't risk something this important," SASS echoed. Her team leader nodded.

"That's the cost of command. Sometimes your choices, however sound they may seem, end up in disaster."

"Wise words," Andrei said. Apparently the pilot had been listening in to their conversation. "The Colonel said that he was prepared to take the risk of launching air missions when we knew Sangvis had SAM launchers. Every choice is made with the knowledge that there may be repercussions."

"This one just happened to have a particularly big one." Grizzly shrugged. "It just happens. I wish it didn't, but… well, yeah."

"Grizzly!" M590's voice came down the line. Everyone in front of SASS came to a stop, and Grizzly, brow furrowed, hurried to the front.

SASS turned around and watched their backs as she waited for word of why they had stopped. It was always essential to have someone watching the rear, she had learned in training. "Training," as they called the brief information sessions surrounding the installation of the core. That core handled all the important stuff, really, though lots of supplementary material would have to be picked up later, like SASS was doing with NTW-20.

It was clear. The doll was mildly surprised that no one was following them, but happy nevertheless. Perhaps Grizzly was right that all the Sangvis had left the area by now, and M590 was just being paranoid.

She hoped so, anyway. SASS was not in the mood for a fight, and it was getting awfully dark.

Andrei and Volodymyr moved forward, and SASS hurried to join the group as they gathered around M590. The doll was crouched down next to a Ripper doll half-buried in the snow. SASS watched as the shotgun doll dug around in a bullet wound before pulling out a small bullet.

"Flashlight," she said, and RFB raised a flashlight. "This is 5.45x39mm. Soviet cartridge."

"Wait – none of the dolls who engaged the Sangvis were using a rifle in that caliber." Grizzly looked around as if she expected anyone else to speak. "Unless –"

M590's head snapped up, and she gave Grizzly a look of incredulity. "The FSB wouldn't send anyone near here, so don't even think about suggesting it."

Grizzly persisted. "Not the NSU, I agree that it's farfetched. But what if there was another team out here? Kerr doesn't exactly tell us everything. Or maybe it's a third party, lost dolls, whatever."

"Yeah, right," M590 retorted, but her expression said otherwise. "Well, we can report it to Kerr when we get back."

"If we get back," RFB grumbled, putting her flashlight away.

"Go to the rear," Grizzly ordered.

"She's right," M590 said to Grizzly in a low voice once RFB was away and they had resumed walking. "I'm not feeling too good about our time. I understand Kerr's policy about not throwing away dolls to rescue us, but at the end of the day it's nighttime, we're low on ammo, and we have two humans to protect. If Sangvis or Gestalt is here, it's game over."

Grizzly glanced over her shoulder at SASS, who quickly turned her gaze away. "It doesn't matter. We keep going. No choice."

"I'll try the radio again." M590 held the receiver up to her mouth. "Fireteam Grizzly to Throne, do you receive, over?"

The radio crackled ineffectually. A cursed word slipped from the shotgun doll's lips, and Grizzly put a hand on hers reassuringly. "We can try the flare gun next time, if it'll make you feel any better."

Without a word, M590 shrugged Grizzly off and continued forging ahead. SASS flicked on her night vision on the scope just in case, continuing to scan on both sides for any more Sangvis. Grizzly and M590 occasionally murmured and pointed at more downed SF dolls, all of which seemed to have been taken unawares.

The sun had been fully set for a while by the time Grizzly pointed forward to a dim gray shine between the trees. "Look, there – a structure."

M590 frowned in confusion. "Funny, I figured that structures would've been torn down if they were this close to the base. Tactical hazard, or something." The heavy breathing of Andrei and Volodymyr reached the front as everyone slowed down to peer at the small building.

"We should investigate," Grizzly said quickly.

"No. We don't waste any time." M590 nudged her team leader in the arm. "Like you said, we keep going. No choice. Everyone's slowing down."

Grumbling, Grizzly picked up the pace. "Everyone, keep both eyes out! Nighttime means increased risk!" M590 she lightly punched on the shoulder. "Look, maybe an hour more and we'll be out of this. Sangvis hasn't shown so much as a pinky since we crashed – I guess Kerr scared them off."

"Do you remember anything from that hangar three weeks ago? Sangvis isn't stupid. Whenever that Ringleader isn't in our sight, it means SF is planning something."

Grizzly quieted up after that, and SASS wondered why M590 wasn't the team leader. Perhaps it was something like experience or accolades. After all, she'd heard that Grizzly had been a hero during some past operation, Firestorm, or maybe even prior. She and M590 had been together almost since they joined Griffin, SASS knew. She had never really had a friend like that.

As they trekked through the forest, the rifle doll started to become aware of every small action around her. Beyond the crunch of snow was the tapping of RFB beating out a tune on her rifle with her fingers, Andrei muttering words of encouragement to Volodymyr, Grizzly sighing and the joints on M590's variable shields rustling ever so slightly. Tree branches thick with snow hung low to the ground, ready to break at the slightest disturbance. SASS heard herself breathing a little heavier than normal – her air-cooling system trying to keep up with the continued exertion. SASS was well capable of handling intense periods of combat that sometimes stretched hours or days, but like all Griffin dolls who were civilian unit converts, she would need fuel or a recharge after a certain point. Given their few packs of survival rations, there wasn't much of the former, and there certainly weren't any recharge stations in the middle of the forest. And since this wasn't a full combat deployment, SASS hadn't received a full recharge like she had for the convoy mission or nighttime raid.

Suffice to say that, if they got into a battle, she would be cutting it close to get back to base still conscious.

SASS's pensive moment was cut short when she nearly bumped into Grizzly, who had come to a sudden halt. The handgun doll held up a hand to signal everyone else to stop, cocking an ear in response to something. "Do you hear that?" she whispered to M590, who merely made a face of exasperation.

SASS strained her own hearing, and was rewarded with the almost imperceptible sound of snow creaking as someone shifting their weight. "I hear it too."

Wordlessly, Grizzly drew her pistol and M590 raised her shotgun, both slowly turning around to see if their unidentified follower would show themselves. Nothing happened, however, and the only thing SASS could hear was Grizzly constantly adjusting her grip on her pistol. After a while, Grizzly lowered her gun and sighed. "Well, maybe that's just–"

It was M590's turn to point, raising her flashlight simultaenously. "There, on the left!"

The two shadowy figures exposed by the light were certainly not Sangvis. The first one grasped an AK-12 in both hands while the second had a Mosin-Nagant held under her shoulder with one arm. Both looked battered and beaten, wearing Soviet fatigues and streaked with dirt and snow.

Grizzly whipped her pistol up to point at the newcomers. "Identify yourselves!"

The one with the Mosin-Nagant glanced at the other, who shook her head, silver hair jumping around slightly. "You don't need to know."

"Yeah, right," replied the handgun doll. "Tell me or I'll shoot both of you where you stand."

Before SASS could blink, both of their confronters had pointed their weapons at Grizzly, quite unwavering with their grip. "We're not looking for a fight," the one continued. "You're not Sangvis – but they're around here."

"Jericho said this area was cleared just yesterday. They couldn't possibly have returned so quickly," Grizzly muttered to M590.

"If we don't get going soon, they'll catch up to us." Setting a hand on her compatriot's AK-12, the second figure spoke up a little to keep Grizzly's attention. "We ought to move now. We can show you a safer route."

"We can't even trust you!" Grizzly spat, utterly baffled. She cast a glance to M590, who wore a look of trepidation. "Oh, don't tell me–"

"Maybe if we were on our own," M590 said, gesturing to the two pilots. "I'll trust them on this. Though – I think I already know who we're dealing with here."

The one with an AK-12 huffed and turned away to head into the forest, apparently done with the conversation. Grizzly turned to M590, eyes narrowed, but followed after a moment. SASS went behind the shotgun, and soon they were all back on the move.

"You know these woods?" M590 asked the one with the Mosin-Nagant, her blonde hair pulled back into ponytail.

"Fairly well."

"...I guess that means you've gotten a bit of experience, then."

"You could say so."

She obviously didn't want to disclose much at all. SASS caught M590's eyes and the doll gave her a look of resignment – after all, they were getting a better way through the forest, and in the end it was worth the weird guides. We'll be interrogated about it endlessly, SASS thought. S17 was, after all, quite the large sector, and any number of people could be residing in the woods and abandoned Soviet bases, though how they escaped detection by both Sangvis and Griffin was something else entirely. SASS felt as if she was better off not knowing the details of these two.

Behind her, Andrei huffed and puffed as he helped Volodymyr navigate the forest undergrowth. The pilot was doing quite admirably for a human, she believed, though SASS was acutely aware how little she really knew about humans beyond basic physiology and training. "Would you like any help?" she asked, keeping her voice down.

"No, but thank you." Andrei smiled at her and looked to his copilot. "Volodymyr's doing most of the heavy lifting anyway."

"Piss off," the other pilot mumbled, standing a little straighter.

"You owe me a bottle when we get back. I know you've got a stash…"

"I don't have anything since the bastard Grigori lifted half of it off me in that last poker game. You can ask him for some on my behalf."

They sound just like M590 and Grizzly. Or maybe M590 and Grizzly sounded like them – that would be the right order of things. The two pilots were probably ten times as old as the two T-dolls, but you wouldn't know unless you thought about it.

SASS kept her rifle up, peering down the scope from time to time so she could get a green-washed view of the frozen forest, as everyone had turned their flashlights off to avoid detection. The two unnamed girls stalked at the front of the line, carefully leading Grizzly and M590 between the trees while SASS and the others followed behind. Occasional messages zipped from Grizzly to the dolls at the back of the line to keep them apprised of the situation, so when the blonde girl gave Grizzly a muttered command to halt, everyone stopped moving in near unison – save the humans.

"Why are we stopping," Grizzly asked through closed teeth. The blonde girl put a finger to her lips and looked to the other, who had gone stock still and appeared to have her eyes closed. "What the hell's going on here…"

"Quiet!"

"Look, if you don't tell me–"

The blonde girl turned around and pushed her finger against Grizzly's chest. "You need to be quiet," she said, her tone instantly turning from patient to authoritative.

Before Grizzly could get out another retort, the other girl opened her eyes and turned to the blonde, pulling her around and launching into a brief series of hand gestures. Her eyes flickered to SASS for a brief second before making more signs.

"No, that can't be right–" the blonde one began.

More signs.

"Oh." She turned toward the others, a queer look on her face. "Well – it's here."

Grizzly snorted. "You can't possibly mean–"

"Yes. Whatever you're calling it."

"Ges-"

The girl put a hand up. "I don't want to hear it. She says it's not in our vicinity, but definitely near the mountainside. Close enough to nab us if it wants."

"Well, we have to move. Now."

The silver-haired girl signed aggressively.

"It's not that easy," translated the blonde. "It's… well, it's a wonder we haven't been found yet, really. This Sangvis is quite good at getting close."

"Yeah, we know," Grizzly said curtly. "How do you know where it is?" Her draw hand seemed to waver, and SASS hoped she wouldn't pull a gun again. Everyone was tense.

"Trade secret," the blond replied without even looking at her partner signing. "We'll have to be extra careful with how we move. Stop when I tell you, don't speak unless spoken to."

"Zener?"

"Nope. Hand signals, if you can."

They set out again – but this time taking careful steps through the snow, every move deliberate. Ever so often, their two guides would pause to see if Gestalt was near, the silver-haired one with her eyes shut tight in concentration. SASS wondered what she was doing to be able to sense the Sangvis presence. Maybe it was some sort of sensory enhancement augmentation like she'd read about on the net being used to detect something hundreds of meters away, or something else. Not for the first time, the thought crossed SASS's mind that the two might not be girls, but dolls. And if so, there was really only one explanation for why two non-Sangvis dolls would be wandering the sector but outside of Griffin's jurisdiction: Parapluie.

The virus that every doll from P7 to NTW-20 herself was scared of. SASS didn't need to ask NTW-20 or P7 about it to know their feelings – Parapluie was more than just a bullet in the Digimind. For some, it meant a fate worse than death – for others, a horrific ending of pain and insanity. SASS had heard rumors of dolls who had received the virus and lived to tell the tale, but they were outliers, experimental units better equipped to handle such an electronic attack. For any normal doll, it was the end. Be it SASS or NTW-20, getting Parapluie meant the same thing.

It was rather humbling, all things considered.

Something caught SASS's eye and dragged her back to reality. The silver-haired doll was signing again, her hands moving in a blur as she hammered out a frantic series of gestures to the blonde, who signalled to Grizzly, who told everyone to take cover behind the nearest object. SASS made for a bush and sank down into the snow, ignoring the damp cold seeping into her clothes – the silver guide had been more than just urgent in her signing. It carried the unmistakable nature of someone scared for their life, and SASS felt a sense of foreboding creep into her thought processes. A simulated feeling, but too real all the same.

One thing could have made the guide act as she did. SASS slowly wrapped her hand around the grip of her gun and placed her finger near the trigger, hoping she would never have to fire. If it was the Ringleader, was Gestalt – she could call to mind perfectly the memory of their last encounter, Ingram being impaled, K5 and T-5000 dead on the floor – she could call to mind the informational bulletin Kerr had released two weeks ago, warning dolls to always work in teams when outside the base and never to leave unless authorized – she could call to mind the reports the Gestalt was there, in the base during that attack, had killed Type 92 and who knows how many more, injured an elite doll and bulldozed its way through two echelons worth of rag-tag defenders in Doll Services commanded by Makarov, one of the dolls on the actual command staff – what chance did SASS and Grizzly Team stand against a Ringleader, when they'd already lost once with half again their number? Surely the guides weren't that good, and they had ordered the Griffin dolls into hiding anyway. Could they even hide from Gestalt in the first place?

It was quiet for a moment. Then there was a whisper as a pair of well-oiled joints approached, punctuated by the crisp crunch of broken snow. The steps paused regularly, as if scanning for something, and then continued, growing closer.

Gestalt was here.

Gestalt ran through SASS's mind a dozen times before she could think of anything else. Gestalt, which made an echelon disappear and then impersonated them. Gestalt, which assumed the form of a female but didn't even try to pass as one, its shadowed appearance that of a woman dipped in crude oil. Gestalt, which had no problems breaking into one of the most secure Griffin facilities in Eastern Europe.

Gestalt was here.

Here, now, stalking the dolls that had crashed. Doubtless it had noticed the crash and was investigating – SASS wished it hadn't. She almost felt ready to cry from the stress, but held it down. Gestalt had stolen neural cloud backup data. What if SASS's own backup was part of that? If she died here, she died for good. Senpai… NTW-20 would know what to do, surely.

Surely.

But NTW-20 had never faced such an enemy before, she knew.

Gestalt drew closer.

The guide had said not to use Zener. Did that mean Gestalt could read Zener? Intercept it? Impersonate it? Electronic warfare was a scary thing. She couldn't speak or send a message to anyone. That kind of true isolation – isolation when she already felt scared and alone – was the worst. It made SASS feel claustrophobic and spooked and flighty and frozen all at once, a terrifying mixture of fear and indecision.

Gestalt drew closer. Its quiet steps sounded almost normal when there wasn't an emotionless black mask to put to the sound. It was almost human in its pauses, but just regular enough to remind SASS that it was an enemy. Why won't it just leave?

The steps stopped.

SASS started straight into the murky darkness, too scared to so much as twitch her eyes to get a look at where she last heard the steps. They had been frighteningly close, maybe two meters, certainly near enough that any movement SASS made would be heard. She was frigid in her position sunk into the snow, but didn't dare show discomfort. Gestalt hadn't made a move, and neither would she.

In fact, it became so quiet that SASS was almost convinced that the Ringleader was actually gone, and that she was just too scared to admit it. Anytime now, Grizzly would appear around the edge of the bush and grin at SASS for being too serious, then help her up and they'd be on their way.

Anytime now.

Something whirred, but no footsteps came.

don't move don't move don't move don't move don't move don't move

Gestalt started moving again. Like a storm passing over, its dark presence seemed to move on, perhaps satisfied that nothing was present. SASS was amazed that it had not suddenly seized a doll and dragged her away – or dragged them all away, for that matter. Still, she waited several minutes after the whirring and crunching had faded away before slowly sitting up.

The dim shapes of Grizzly and the others were stirring, looking in the same direction SASS was: the way Gestalt had been traveling. Everything seemed clear – no black-armored doll slinking around the trees. Not that it would let us see it, SASS realized. The blonde girl was standing next to her partner, who was once again deep in concentration. SASS got to her feet and watched as everyone else did the same, still looking around in case Gestalt was closer than they thought.

"We're clear. It's a ways away." The silver-haired girl signed furiously at the blonde, whose brow raised in mild shock. "Hey, you gotta slow down…"

"Why's your friend sign like that?" M590 peered at the two somewhat suspiciously. "She hasn't said a word."

"She can't," replied the blonde, and she said no more. SASS couldn't see Grizzly's face all that well with the flashlights off, but imagined that she was rolling her eyes.

"How much longer until we reach the base?"

"Griffin's perimeter is just a couple kilometers away at most." The blonde looked at the two human pilots, coming out of cover from behind a fallen tree a bit farther way. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised you managed to stay undetected with that injury."

"You'd be surprised," Volodymyr grunted, clearly not too pleased with their guide's tone. "Dolls haven't bested us in everything." In the dim light moonlight filtered through the forest and reflected off the snow, SASS could see the blonde girl's anodyne expression briefly break to reveal a flicker of surprise and enmity. Volodymyr chuckled to break the tension. "Well, I can brag all I want, but my leg still hurts. We'd best be going before that Sangvis gets back."

Though they were just as silent as before when they moved out, something was different this time. A sober aura had spread through the line, brought upon them by Gestalt. It spooked SASS to think that they would all be cowed by a Ringleader. After all, they weren't dolls like MP5 or FN49, easily intimidated individuals. Grizzly and M590 were veterans, Ingram battle-hungry, RFB always eager for a challenge. Maybe Ingram still wants to fight it, SASS thought. Ingram never seemed to have reservations about those things.

SASS reckoned that half an hour of start-stop navigation had passed by the time they reached the edge of the forest. A snow-covered gap of about two hundred meters lay between them and the foot of the mountain, where Gatehouse Pavlov shone like a welcoming campfire between the trees clinging to the mountain. Kerr had partially deforested the immediately area after the incident with Yew Team, and through her scope SASS could even see the dolls patrolling the area.

"This is where we'll part ways," said the blonde girl. "My friend and I can go no farther here."

"I'm obligated to take you in for questioning." Grizzly stared straight past the blonde, locking eyes with the silver-haired one. "I don't have a choice here."

"You're right." SASS saw the second girl place a hand on the handle of the AK-12. "You don't have a choice. You'll return without us. It'd be just as well you report that you made it back alone."

"I don't even know who you are."

The silver-haired girl signed some, and the blonde translated. "You can afford us anonymity after what we've done for you tonight. Besides, I'm sure the Commander has more important matters on the mind," she added.

"You speak as if you know her."

"I know what's going on in the sector. No one in a command position will pay attention to a report about us when there's a Ringleader like that running about."

Grizzly was silent for a moment. "Fine. But if I so much as hear about you, I'm going straight to Ke–"

"Thanks!" the blonde interrupted, smiling slightly. "That's all I needed. We'll be going now, then…"

"Safe travels," M590 offered. Then the two guides were away, moving through the forest much faster when they didn't have extra bodies to guide.

"Weirdos," RFB said finally.

"You should be more considerate," M590 chastised. "Gestalt could've killed all of us if they weren't there to help."

"Can we just go now?"

Grizzly nodded, standing up and stepping past the trees. "Yes. Andrei, how's Volodymyr?"

"Healthy as ever."

"Great. Let's move."

SASS felt terribly exposed moving across the plain of snow, but if Sangvis thought they could make a move, they didn't. Soon they reached the Griffin control forest and Grizzly began transmitting her IFF tag on Zener again.

"Look, there's a patrol," RFB pointed. The Griffin dolls had noticed the signal and were walking toward them. SASS recognized the one at the front as CZ75

"Well well well, what's all this then?" The red-haired doll put her hands on her hips as she looked up at Grizzly expectantly. "You're back a little late."

"Got held up in traffic."

"I see you made it out fine. Shame the dummies got lost, though."

Grizzly shrugged. "It's worth my life. How'd it go while we were crashed."

For a moment, CZ75 teetered on her heels, clearly hesitant to speak. "Well – let's just say you'll be debriefed as soon as you get through the door."