Blade felt a chill run down his mechanical spine, his system's Digimind strangely reacting to the sight of the Sangvis ringleader in front of him.

A static memory was screened onto his mind, its footage dug up deep in his system.

He saw a small white-haired sitting in front of him as if she were towering above him. She looked down onto him with glaring red eyes. Her mouth moved to form words but the sounds of static made it impossible to guess what she said. All he could make out were the words…

-.-_ INFILTRATOR -._-.

"Aghh?!" He screamed in pain as he squirmed around, still bound to the chair. As this was transpiring, M4 and Executioner were at a standoff.

M4 quickly took action and dashed back as she fired at her. The gun rapidly shook in her hands, held in place with her tight grip.

Takatakatakataka!

Executioner was ready for this, spinning her blade extremely fast in a circular motion.

The bullets deflected off, tinkering at the impact.

M4 continued to pressure her until the magazine ran empty, tossing it away and reloading.

Out of nowhere, bullets began to rain down on her position.

"Hah?! What?" M4 hissed in pain, feeling the bullets graze past her as she dashed back.

The wall she was up against became littered with bullet holes, letting in streaks of moonlight.

Jaegers had positioned in the distance to fire at her, monopolizing her moment of vulnerability.

"A certain idiot died to catch a rat like you…," Executioner growled at her retreating target. "In order to give me your location!"

She flew across the ground at an extreme speed, sending debris flying up once more around the room. Using her momentum to her advantage, she threw out a powerful swing at M4.

M4 slid across the ground past a wooden pillar as the blade rammed straight through it. She kept on running through the home, the ringleader on her tail.

Reaching a larger room, she felt a bullet pierce into her shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Hagh?!" M4 gasped in pain, frantically getting back up to keep running.

In the distance, Executioner held a pistol aimed towards her.

The ringleader blasted towards her, swinging her blade in wide reckless arcs, crushing anything in its path.

"What's the matter!? Fight back with your tricks!" Executioner howled in laughter, in an attempt to mock her. M4 responded with more gunfire back at her.

"Show me how long you can last! You outdated civilian doll!" The ringleader cackled in enjoyment, blocking every shot.


Slam!

"We don't have much time! Sangvis forces are already in contact with M4!" Gentiane yelled into the comms in a hurry.

"This operation might end up in failure if we don't make it in time…," She tapped impatiently on her desk.

Eden looked over her shoulder and looked at the map.

"Can you go any faster?" He asked the pilots of the helicopters.

"Sir, I'm afraid we are going as fast as we can," one of the soldiers answered back.

Eden took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled in an attempt to calm down. His partner, however, wasn't the same.

"Just focus on the flight for now," she stated, changing stations over to her dolls. "Listen! When you arrive, I need you to rush to the target to ensure her safety asap!"

Receiving confirmation, she hung up and continued to analyze the information displayed out on the screens.

"A Sangvis ringleader… will M4 be able to handle an opponent like that?" she murmured, thinking of the possibilities that could occur.

"Even for a command module doll, it's still one against many," Eden joined in, reading the information on M4A1 provided by Helian.

"If only we had anyone closer to respond…," she said as she leaned back in her seat while massaging her temple.

"Gentiane… send out another signal."

"Huh? Why? We already tried that half an hour ago!" She responded, confused with his decision. "No one responded if you forgot!"

"I know, I know, but lets at least see if we can establish contact with M4 when the copters get closer," Eden answered back.

"Alright, I'll let them know," Gentiane sighed, tuning back into the comms.

I hope we didn't lose her already…


...

Blade felt his headache slowly disappear, returning to a calm state. He was breathing heavily in exhaustion.

Loud crashes and gunfire were all he could hear now.

I need to get the hell out of here...

Blade blindly searched the floor behind him while his hands tied behind his back. Feeling a broken shard of glass, he picked it up and slowly cut the rope. The process was slow and painful, feeling the shard cut into his hand as he dragged it back and forth against the rope.

"Agh!" He held back a painful cry and endured through. Feeling the rope cut apart and loosen, he ripped apart the binds and worked onto his tied legs.

"Yes!" Blade shakingly got up, freed from the ropes.

Digging through a pile of debris, he pulled out his gunblade and attached it to his back. It was time to go.

That blade-wielding doll is after that green one.

Blade could have gotten up and used this opportunity to escape but he remembered she was a Griffin, an ally. One side was telling him to run and the other to chase after her.

Look! You went through so much shit to survive! This is the time! His instincts screamed at him.

Hold up! She's part of Griffin and in the same situation, you were in! You've got to help her fight back! The justice side of him responded.

Don't you remember she hurt you? As well as mock you? Why help her?! The instincts side made a very good point.

But remember! She didn't know who you were! And also-

His thoughts were interrupted by an incoming signal, echoed through his mind from an internal comm. Picking it up, he hid behind a counter to answer the call.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?!"

"M4-! Wait- who is this?" A voice called out from the other side.

Finally! Contact!

"This is Blade! I'm a stranded t-doll in need of immediate help!" he yelled for help. Suddenly, a loud crash washed over his voice, turning to see the source.

In the distance, he saw the green doll retreat into a room with metal double doors.

"What the hell is she doing-"

Blade was about to question her actions, only to see Executioner tear through the wall, heading towards the room M4 was in.

She stomped down onto a wooden plank blocking her way, crushing it in half.

"Game over!" The ringleader shouted, raising her blade and pointing it into the room M4 was holed up in. "You obsolete puppet."

Shit! She's stuck in that room!

Blade was only a couple of meters away from Executioner, who was poised to strike.

"Blade! Blade? Hand it over Gentiane, Blade? Is that you!?" a voice called out to him on the radio in his hand.

He recognized the voice. It was Eden, his commander.

"Blade! I don't know how the hell we got into contact with you but from this call, I'm guessing you're with M4?!" Eden shouted from the other side, his voice tense with stress.

M4? Is that the girl's name?

"Yeah, I'm actually at the scene right now!" He responded as he hastily reached for his gunblade.

"Wha- tha- that's perfect!" His commander was surprisingly happy at this bit of information. "Blade, listen to me! I need you to protect M4 with your life! Alright? Don't be disobeying orders on me with this one!"

Drawing his gunblade, he checked the blade's chamber to find 4 more bullets left. The two previously used back in his fight with the jaegers.

"Don't worry commander, I'm already on it."

With a flick of his wrist, the chamber clicked back in place, still gripping the handle of the blade.

Somehow, the command Eden had ordered had overridden his senses, feeling the pain slowly numb away. The only thing on his mind was to protect his objective. After all, he couldn't defy his order, previously reminded to listen to his commander by the strange voice in his head.

"Alright Blade, GO!" Eden voice yelled out of the radio. "We'll be there soon! Just hold out as long as you can!"

Blade tossed the radio aside, beginning to run while hovering his finger over the trigger.

Executioner felt her senses tingling once more, feeling another presence of a doll. She turned to her left to see Blade within a couple of feet away from her.

"So there was another rat," she scoffed, switching targets over at the approaching Blade.

M4 could see him recklessly sprinting at Executioner.

What is that idiot doing?!

"You are all nothing but puppets!" The ringleader raised her blade with her giant fist and swung at a giant arc, impossible for him to dodge.

No! M4 jumped out of her spot and was about to fire until she was intercepted with enemy gunshots from jaegers. She ducked behind cover once more. What is he thinking?!

"I've been wondering whose blade is stronger!" Blade cried, pressing the trigger of his gunblade. "Let's put that to. The. TEST!"

With explosive energy, he swung his gunblade and the two blades clashed into each other. Metal against metal, they collided with a shriek that sent sparks flying into the air.

To her surprise, Executioner was shocked to see her blade be stopped. Anger swiftly overcame her and she threw out another heavy downward slash.

But Blade was quick and sidestepped to the right, feeling the winds of the blade blow past him.

He threw out a horizontal slash at Executioner who narrowingly pulled back, only receiving a thin cut across her cheek.

Pushing his advantage, he triggered his gunblade to throw out another attack but his opponent had already darted back. Executioner retreated far enough to avoid another horizontal slice, a trail of heat in its path. His gunblade was hot to the touch.

Seething with anger, she powered her mechanical arm, sparks starting to volt out of it.

"Damn you griffin dolls!" The ringleader lashed out at him, wildly swinging at him with newfound power.

Blade suddenly became overwhelmed with a flurry of strikes, each violent blow filled with an intent to kill. He blocked until his arms were exhausted and couldn't hold out any longer.

Executioner swung at his exposed sides from blocking. He was forced to use a bullet for the gunblade to reach around to defend himself.

"Hngh?!" he let out a weary grunt, blocking one last strike. The weight of her blade was too much, quickly overpowering his gunblade, even when triggered.

Executioner knew of this and took her time, smirking at her impending victory.

"Where's that confidence now! Haha!" She taunted, pulling back her blade and thrusting it out towards him. Blade barely had time to react to defend himself, slowed down with the weight of weariness.

It tore across his sides, blood and metal splayed across her heavy blade. His gunblade clattered to the floor.

"Agh?!" Blade cried out as the sword ripped his waist apart. She tore the blade out of him.

He stumbled to his knees as the ringleader towered over him. She kicked him to the floor and started to crush down onto his stomach.

"Your blade is sturdy that's for sure," she snarled, pressing down harder causing him to gasp for air.

"However… It seems like I'm the victor." Raising her giant blade, she stared into the angered face of Blade who desperately tried to pull her foot off of him.

Executioner blinked. She looked at the face of Blade once more.

"Wait- you look familia-"

Sudden gunshots cut her off.

M4 had just finished off the two jaegers on her and leaped out to confront the ringleader.

"I'm your target. There's no need to get others into this mess," she stated, aiming her rifle towards the Executioner.

"Haha! You say that but he was the one that started it, didn't you?" She triumphantly looked down at Bladd, grinding her metallic heels deeper into his stomach.

Blade answered with gasps of pain.

"Let him go. He has no part in this," M4 demanded, her rifle still aimed at the Sangvis' head as she slowly circled around. She made sure to keep a safe distance away.

Executioner gave one last kick, stomping down onto his stomach. Blade felt the air get knocked out of him and curled up in reaction, coughing for breath.

The ringleader walked away and started to approach M4 but an explosion in the distance caught her attention.

"What?" Executioner questioned, seeing smoke in the general direction of her troops. She felt a grip on her ankle.

"C-checkmate…," weakly grinned Blade.

Impossible. He was only stalling for time!

Her temper broke and she became infuriated, kicking him away. But before she had the chance to lash out at him, M4 had fired at her ankles. Bullets shredded through the metal, causing the ringleader to fall onto her back.

"Eurgh!?" the Sangvis doll grunted, falling to the dusty floor.

M4 took this opportunity to jump atop her and aimed down at the arm of her giant hand. She fired and shredded apart arm, Executioner unable to defend herself with her blade.

"NOT LIKE THIS!" The ringleader screamed as she raised her other arm, pistol in hand. She desperately fired at M4.

M4 blocked the shots with her forearm and fired back.

It became a battle of endurance as the two blasted each other with their respective guns.

"HAAAA!"

Both screaming as they try to overtake one another. M4's forearm was chipping away, metal and skin being torn apart while the same was happening to Executioner's shoulder.

Within seconds, a victor emerged. M4 felt her blocking arm go slack. She looked down at the poor figure below her.

"Game over, Sangvis scum."

Executioner could only stare back, an irritated look on her face. She was now practically limbless, each shredded apart from M4's relenting gunfire.

"Tch! How did you Griffin's dolls manage to ambush my command post…" she muttered.

"Griffin's commander has already taken control of the situation," M4 let out a tired chilled breath. "He re-allocated his forces and launched an operation."

"Commanders~," Blade jumped into the conversation, emphasizing the S. He slowly raised himself off the ground and limped over to M4. "T-There are two commanders in the operation… one of them being mine."

"When did you contact them? We didn't pick up any transmissions!" The ringleader hissed, glaring at the two dolls.

"It was a gamble," M4 simply stated. She began to explain the whole process of leaving behind a disk, banking on Griffin to find it which gave her location.

"And that is how Griffin operates," M4 said, finishing her explanation. "But now let's discuss how this ends for you."

"How it ends? You don't think it's going to end like this, do you?" Executioner sneered back. "Even if you hide among Griffin's forces… we still have our ways."

"..." M4 was now curious about the meaning behind her response. "What did you say?"

The ringleader chuckled and gave a shrewd grin.

"You still have three friends stranded on the battlefield. You know as well as I do what good bargaining chips they'll make…"

An unknown hatred and fury overtook M4 as she began to rain down bullets upon bullets at the Sangvis' face.

Clink- clink- clink-

The hail of bullets ended with her magazine running empty, wishing she had more bullets to fill the ringleader with.

Turning away, she felt her body go weak with exhaustion.

"You shouldn't have brought them up, SF scum…" M4 muttered.

"Heh… it doesn't matter…," Executioner grinned without half a face.

Suddenly, her body began to shudder... as if something- no, someone was controlling her.

She felt a burst of power, some mysterious force aiding her. It was enough to do one more thing.

The torn arm belonging to the giant hand was somehow still intact, its connection enough for one more strike.

"I won't be fading away… without taking one of you... WITH ME!" She screamed, throwing her giant blade at her target.

M4 was alerted to her shout, turning around. The blade was hurdling right towards her.

She's still moving!

Something triggered within Blade, who began moving before she had even thrown it. The only thing on his mind was M4.

It was far too late for her to avoid it.

Blade started to run over to her, scooping up the gunblade off the floor as he sprinted. Adrenaline was coursing through him, a race against the blade. He felt the quickening pulse of his core as he neared M4.

M4 clenched her eyes shut as she raised her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself.

Triggering the gunblade, his final bullet fired through his weapon. The casing of the last bullet tinkered to the floor.

The giant blade cut through the air and was on its course towards M4.

A loud cleaving sound of metal tearing through metal screeched, resounded throughout the raining area.

M4 slowly opened her eyes to find herself perfectly fine.

D-Did it not land?

Her eyes grew wide at the figure standing in front of her.

Or what was even left of him.

Standing in place with his gunblade stood Blade.

Executioner's giant sword had cut deep through him from his shoulder to his waist. It would have completely cut off his entire left side if it weren't for his gunblade, still holding up the blade from below.

M4 could only stare at the gruesome sight displayed in front of her. She could even see the inner mechanism of him from where the blades had cut through.

Executioner gave a small grin in victory before completely shutting off. Her body went limp, the whirring of her power disappearing.

Blade felt all his senses go numb, collapsing to his knees with the sword still in him. He felt his system go haywire, his mechanical organs shutting off due to sustaining fatal damage.

Blood was everywhere.

M4 continued to stare before regaining her senses. She darted over to his side, anxious to touch his fragile state.

"W-Why?!" M4 yelled at him, not wanting this outcome. She never intended for others to get hurt in her mission.

Blade refused to move or speak, feeling as if anything could send him shattering to pieces. He gulped as he could see the frantic M4 beside him.

Why did I end up protecting her? ... It was because of that ridiculous command, wasn't it… Goddamnit Eden...

He let out a shuddering breath, slowly closing his eyes. The rapid thuds of helicopters could now be heard.

M4 was too exhausted herself to both panic and look but she knew Griffin's forces were here. She collapsed to the floor. Help was on its way.

M16… AR15… SOPII… I did it… well, we did it… she included while looking up at the still Blade.

But she couldn't forgive herself for having him be caught up in this mess.

Months and days of running had finally gotten to her as she closed her eyes.

Please wait for me. I'll save you all. I swear I won't leave anyone behind...

The last thing the two heard was the approaching footsteps of Griffin dolls and the audible gasps followed by it.

...


Alright ~ new chapter! Fight scenes are tough to coordinate so I'm sorry if it seems choppy or out of place. This was one of the first major fights I've written. I'll be looking to improve this aspect as we go further into the story ~ ! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and we'll see what'll happen next ~ as per usual, let me know of any misinformation or misconception lore-wise/story so I can go back to fix! Thank you for reading and have a grand day ~