Prologue
Late Evening
Brest Oblast - Commercial District
Main Avenue
Chaos was erupting all throughout Brest Oblast as her citizens scattered to and fro in the city's once vibrant streets. Bursts of gunfire erupted in the heart of the Commercial District while the angry drums of protests beat ever louder in the distance.
Jim Salmons and the STATSEC doll Marlohe pressed on through the crowd, creeping slowly against the flow of that river of humans and civilian dolls. The veteran news anchor kept his bloodied right eye closed while the doll held onto her wounded torso as they lurched forward, but there were simply too many people to carry on.
The two of them managed to reach the convenience store two blocks away from the GKTV-5 building. Jim looked up to the top of that store where he saw the GKTV-5 advertisement on the billboard that was now plastered with graffiti. The faces of the news anchors had all been crossed out with black spray paint, but the face of Genevieve was marked red with harsh words.
'Traitor Chaika'
'French Whore'
'KCCO Dog'
'Liberate Brest Oblast!'
Years of working in the competitive news industry didn't prepare him for what he saw on that billboard - or the chaos that was threatening to tear the Oblast apart. He had always been a detached observer reporting the news as he saw it. Never in his life did he think he himself would get caught up in the chaos himself - and that the breaking news would involve him personally.
His news station was under attack. The mentor who had trained him had a hand in the chaos. His image of the immaculate Genevieve who was loved by everyone as the motherly paragon of journalism was crumbling before him.
That, and the harrowing things that the STATSEC doll Marlohe revealed to him about Genevieve, left a gaping hole in his heart.
More gunfire erupted near the GKTV-5 building, spurring the crowd into a stampede as they sought shelter. Jim and Marlohe, however, steeled themselves and used this opening to press onward once more.
The crowd soon thinned and evaporated around the two, leaving them alone in the now eerie and deathly silence of the central square. A myriad of cars and light trucks continued idling on the four-lane avenue with their doors flung wide open as their drivers and passengers abandoned them.
In their stead, a handful of men and women clad in worn tracksuits patrolled the road and turned the vehicles into their barricade.
Jim and Marlohe kept their heads low and took cover behind a car parked by the curb. They poked their heads out from behind cover as they watched the movements of the impromptu army. Marlohe held onto her wounded torso before she returned to cover to say with a labored voice,
"There's a dozen in the avenue - and many more in the building - all of them are armed."
Jim returned to cover as well and added,
"I've seen those guns before. They're AK-74's… old guns but they're not something civilians would have. The way they're patrolling is methodical and organized too. These aren't just gopniks with guns are they, Miss STATSEC?"
Marlohe furrowed her brow and croaked,
"They're ex-KCCO garrison troops who defended Brest Oblast during the war, but the battle for this place dragged on long after the armistice was signed. Intel says that Minsk HQ refused to support them and then disgracefully ejected them from the force, so these folks bear grudges against Minsk. Someone must have told them the KCCO was involved today, so they're probably out for revenge… but who!?"
The sound of footsteps then reached their ears, drawing closer to the parked car at the curb. The two held their breaths, but blood dripped from Jim's wounded right eyelid while oil leaked from Marlohe's side. The STATSEC doll then reached for her hip and drew her Tokarev handgun.
With every step closer that the ragged enemy troops took towards them, Marlohe's grip on her gun grew tighter.
All of the sudden, the rugged roar of diesel engines at top gear echoed in the distance. The gopnik that had been approaching the parked car that Jim and Marlohe were hiding behind stopped and turned towards the noise.
Jim and Marlohe also turned towards the direction of the noise and found a pair of military jeeps exiting the Eastbound M1 Highway onto the blockaded avenue.
The gopnik near Jim and Marlohe then cried out,
"Military vehicles inbound! They're coming from the highway!"
As soon as he reported this, Jim heard the frantic cocking of rifles, followed by the hollow clangs of steel as the ex-soldiers took cover behind the myriad of vehicles scattered on the road. Jim dared to raise his head again and he spotted one of those gopniks carrying a distinct rocket propelled grenade launcher: an RPG-7.
The rocket-armed gopnik hopped onto the back of a pickup truck and he aimed his launcher at the distant highway onramp. Just as the gopnik was about to look into his scope, however, Jim saw the distant flash of another scope coming from the charging jeeps. The crack of a rifle then rang through the abandoned city block and a bloody mist sprayed out from the rocket-armed gopnik's shoulder.
The RPG-7 slipped from the gopnik's hands as he recoiled in pain in the back of the pickup truck. His agonizing screams spurred his comrades into action.
The gopniks spread out on the street and opened fire on the incoming jeeps with their assault rifles. Meanwhile, windows on the first and fifth floors of the building were smashed open and the barrels of AK-74's poked out through the holes in the cracked glass.
All of the sudden, Jim's cell phone buzzed. The veteran news anchor took out his phone and read out the name he saw on the screen,
"... M200."
He answered the call and set his phone by his ear. M200's voice then spoke to him,
"Jim! Hey - you're at the rendezvous point right?"
"Yeah. I'm with the STATSEC doll."
"Well, the two of you have to cover your faces right now!"
"Cover our faces…!?"
"Just do it, Jim! Trust me on this one - and stay in cover! Got it!?"
With that, the call ended just as abruptly as it started. Jim furrowed his brow and turned to Marlohe to say,
"You heard her, Miss STATSEC. Cover your face."
Marlohe nodded and the two of them covered their faces with handkerchiefs. Then, unusual popping noises reached their ears - followed by even louder bursts that sounded like grenades going off.
Jim looked up and saw white smoke cascading down from the sky like an opaque veil. The gopniks opened fire into that veil, but their shots flew wildly around the avenue. Gunfire struck the hulls of vehicles, smashed windshields and nicked side view mirrors around Jim and Marlohe, but hardly any of them hit the charging jeeps.
Those jeeps then veered off the main road onto the empty sidewalk and stopped right before where Jim and Marlohe were hiding. Jim shielded his good eye from the blinding high beam headlights of the jeeps, but the engines switched off and the headlights faded away in a heartbeat. Dolls then started disembarking from the jeeps.
Grizzly and Welrod, the quirky handgun couple emerged from the front-most jeep and immediately charged into the hazy fray. The frizzy-haired American handgun doll took point.
"Roddy, cover me!" Grizzly barked confidently.
"Oy! Don't stray too far, Griz!" Welrod warned as she hurried towards Grizzly to back her up.
The two handgun dolls began shooting down the disorganized gopniks scattered in the smoke-screened avenue.
M14 stepped out of the front-most jeep as well, already holding her namesake M14 rifle. The birdcage barrel of her rifle was still smoking as she adjusted her Commander's beret and mused,
"It's good to be back out in the front. We were afraid that we would have gotten rusty."
She then turned towards the second jeep and asked,
"Are you sure you can hold the fort alone, Wawa?"
When M14 said this, two dolls emerged from the second jeep.
The first was a WA2000 wearing a stylish black jacket and a comfortable-looking red scarf, followed by a Ribeyrolles wearing a double-breasted coat over her usual garb. WA let her right hand brush against the revolver holstered at her hip and scoffed,
"Do you really have to ask, M14? Just focus on not dying. 56586 can't lose its War Goddess now, can it?"
M14 hummed with amusement and accepted WA's challenge with a grin,
"We'll be counting on you then, Wawa. We'll take Ribey with us for the breakthrough."
Ribeyrolles brought out her own assault rifle and nodded obediently to M14.
With that, WA waved goodbye and entered the building on their side of the sidewalk, opposite from the GKTV-5 Newsroom. All the while, the revolver she wore at her hip and the rifle bag that she carried rattled mildly as she ran inside.
Just as M14 was turning around, Marlohe pocketed her handkerchief and lurched towards M14 with a snarl,
"Miss M14! This isn't what we agreed upon. I told you - my office can only offer you three Type II exceptions for Griffin dolls! That's Grizzly, Welrod and yourself! What are you trying to do here!?"
A smirk formed on M14's lips as she patted Ribeyrolles' shoulder and introduced,
"That's fine and dandy then. Ribey here - and that tsundere Wawa aren't Griffin dolls. They're just like you, Miss Marlohe. They don't need Type II exceptions to shoot humans."
As they were speaking, they heard the cocking of a rifle from the rooftop of the three story building, followed by the loud bark of a WA2000 rifle. A gopnik on the rooftop of the GKTV-5 building then cried out in anguish before falling six stories down onto asphalt.
Marlohe watched the silhouette of WA's rifle on the smaller building's rooftop with disbelief, but WA continued to lay down accurate fire upon the garrisoned enemy through the smoke, sowing the seeds of panic in the enemy defenders.
The STATSEC doll then furrowed her brow and groaned,
"I guess we do need every bit of help we can get. It seems you have friends in strange places, Miss M14."
M14 held her rifle fondly in her arms as she agreed,
"We're facing a world where nothing is as it seems. Even the mighty STATSEC doesn't hold all the cards - and not everyone we're going to face is going to play by the rules. Loopholes have to be exploited for us to even stand a chance."
The subcommander slid off the telescopic sight from her namesake weapon and fitted a smaller holographic sight meant for close quarters combat in its place. A small smile then formed on her lips as she flipped the selector switch from semi to full automatic as she added,
"In a scary world like that, there's no one else that we would rather be friends with, Miss Marlohe. You'll understand soon enough~!"
Marlohe scoffed, cocked her Makarov pistol and asked,
"So then - you're calling the shots here, Miss M14. How are we planning to do this?"
Ribeyrolles then piped up with excitement as she replied,
"Follow me, mademoiselle Marlohe. I will be leading the assault. I shall explain the details… along the way!"
With that, Ribeyrolles cocked her assault rifle and began shooting through the smokescreen in three shot bursts. Grizzly and Welrod likewise formed up behind Ribeyrolles and the three of them carefully advanced through the smoke. Marlohe snorted and tailed the trio, leaving M14 alone with Jim Salmons at the sidewalk.
Jim regarded M14 and remarked,
"The War Goddess of Area S05 in the flesh…"
M14 ran a hand through her twin-tailed hair and graciously spoke,
"So, our name has been catching on, it seems. We're glad you finally acknowledge us, Mr. Salmons."
She then put a hand on her hip and remarked,
"Most people would have turned tail and run from a situation like this - but you willingly charged into danger to fight for your home. We aren't sure if you are aware, but this makes you take after your father - a great man. Captain James Salmons of the American 2nd Idaho Division, 57th Battalion Combat Team."
Jim lowered his head at the mention of his father. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that there was truth in the Subcommander's words. A defeated smile then formed on his lips as he sighed,
"Miss STATSEC told me all about it on our way here. I've always wondered why I had a Western name written in the Latin alphabet… so I'm not that surprised. I just wish that I had the chance to meet him before he died. From what I've found out - he didn't know that I existed. Genevieve… mother… she hid me from him, and she hid him from me. I didn't know any better."
M14 shook her head and reassured,
"Captain Salmons' hopes and dreams live on in you… and the military automaton that he and Genevieve adopted. The two of them raised her and showered her with love as if she was their own child - so much so that the automaton became almost human. One thing led to another and you ended up helping raise her too."
She then turned her head back to the second jeep and called,
"M200-chan. Miss Nagant Revolver. It's safe to come out now… or rather, it's as safe as it'll ever be in a combat zone like this."
M200 and Nagant Revolver emerged from that jeep. As soon as M200's lavender eyes met with Jim's, the junior War Correspondent started tearing up. She then ran towards him and cried,
"Jim!"
M200 then leapt up and caught Jim in her embrace. She buried her face on his shoulder as tears streamed down her eyes. There were many things that Jim wanted to say, but he simply hugged M200 back and spoke in a tender voice,
"Welcome home… Potato."
"You finally called me that…" M200 gasped between her sobs.
"I never had the courage to until now… and I didn't know the truth. I should have called you that a long, long time ago."
"Ehehe~ you big dummy."
While Jim and M200 hugged, M14 watched on with a somber, longing expression. She held onto her golden crosshair pendant and the things that she had been hiding in the depths of her own mechanical heart.
Then, Nagant Revolver burst into the scene and groaned,
"Oy. You two! Babushka's glad that the two tsunderes of the office finally got honest with each other - but we've got a TV station to liberate! In times like these, Brest Oblast needs her arrows of truth!"
M14 snapped out of her own thoughts and tucked her pendant under her coat as she joined in,
"That's right Miss M200, Mr. Salmons. This will be the last lesson that our Station will give you as our guests. Urban warfare is the specialty of our Station - and we've faced worse odds than this in the past. These insurgents won't know what hit them. So, stay close to us and we'll keep you safe. Clearing this building is the easy part. Saving Brest Oblast, however, is something that only your channel can do. That's what Operation Intervention is all about!"
M200 let go of Jim and then nodded to M14 before saying,
"Don't worry. Jim and I know what to do. The two of us need to have a nice long talk with Genevieve and Alexi after all. Jim and I aren't from Brest - but this is now our home. So we're going to do everything we can to save this city!"
10:17 PM - System Clock: UTC + 3
ARPANET-ID-208-789
Restricted Operation
As M200 and Jim followed the rest of the T-Dolls into battle, the forlorn figure of Polarday sat on the floor of her prison of green pentagons of ARPANET and hugged her legs. From where she sat, she watched the events unfolding through the eye of M200's mind. The green, digital prison around Polarday then transformed into the world as seen through M200's eyes. She could see what M200 saw and feel what she felt.
Polarday felt the nervous yet hopeful beating of M200's mechanical heart. The phosphorus smoke that M200 breathed threatened to make Polarday cough. Moreover, every glance of Jim's face that M200 stole roused Polarday's memories of the Captain and the last of the loyal troops of the 57th BCT as they prepared to fight to the bitter end.
The powerless Polarday watched as M200 broke through the smokescreen, but her honest thoughts escaped her lips.
"I hope this time will be different. For Father's sake."
Star~! Anchor, Interven-chan
Chapter 11 - Scalloped Potato
Outside the GKTV-5 Building
Avenue Sidewalk
It was like a scene from the dream that I had from what seemed like a long, long time ago.
Heavy gunfire and explosions illuminated the night sky above me as I saw a myriad of dolls charging into battle. Instead of a small hill overlooking a dire battlefield, however, I watched as those dolls exchanged fire with disgraced ex-soldiers - gopniks - who had taken over the GKTV-5 Newsroom building.
Hollow metallic dings of empty cartridges striking concrete rang in my ears as M14 and Ribeyrolles took turns firing disciplined three shot bursts from behind the cover of abandoned vehicles. Marlohe, Grizzly and Welrod, on the other hand, pressed their backs against the walls beside me and shot into the broken windows to support the two rifles. All the while, WA shot through the smokescreen and struck down her targets without missing a beat.
Despite all of this, the ex-soldiers entrenched in the building fought fiercely and took cover behind the sturdy marble reception counters. Plus, for every ex-soldier that fell, there always seemed to be another one to take their place.
The deafening noise made me wince and wonder just how in the world M14 was planning to break this stalemate. While I was thinking about this, Grizzly reloaded her weapon and then turned to me with a grin.
She then reached under her leather jacket, pulled out a grenade and handed it to me as she asked,
"Hey, Miss M200 - you ever thrown one of these before?"
I unwittingly took the thing without looking at it. Once I saw what Grizzly had given me, however, I nearly dropped the damn thing and gasped,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a sec!"
Grizzly just gave me a thumbs up and she tried to shout over the tremendous cacophony of gunfire,
"Don't worry, it's fl…! Y… fine!"
I promptly shouted back,
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Grizzly then took a deep breath and belted out,
"IT'S A FLASHBANG! PULL THE PIN. TOSS IT IN! EASY AS PIE!"
I held the grenade with trembling hands and I had to close my eyes, but I managed to pull the pin like Grizzly said. I tossed the grenade through the shattered window and into the lobby and ducked for cover. A blast of light and sound then flooded the first floor lobby, blinding the entrenched ex-soldiers.
That was Grizzly's signal to burst into the lobby. She brandished her gun and brought out a small bullhorn that she used to shout,
"Everyone! Throw away your weapons! Put your hands up! You don't have to die here today!"
Welrod promptly joined Grizzly in the hallway while M14 and Ribeyrolles followed soon after. When those figures appeared in the lobby all at once, fear gripped at the hearts of the remaining gopniks and they dropped their old assault rifles, raised their hands up in surrender.
The three Griffin dolls began disarming and apprehending the gopniks in the lobby while Ribeyrolles kept watch with her own assault rifle in hand.
Marlohe furrowed her brow and demanded,
"Why are you arresting them!? Just kill them all and move on!"
Ribeyrolles turned towards Marlohe and explained with a soft smile,
"We are fighters, mademoiselle Marlohe. Not killers."
Marlohe stubbornly pointed to the twenty or so stunned and blinded enemies around them and argued,
"But there's too many of them!"
This time, Nagant Revolver approached Marlohe and reassured,
"Don't worry, Miss Marlohe. This is Babushka's home. She's got this under control."
When Nagant said this, the security room door of the lobby opened and three of her dummies emerged from the darkness. Those dummies all wielded their namesake guns and had batons and handcuffs at their hips.
Nagant then gestured triumphantly to her dummies and commanded,
"Now throw these Bolshevi… I mean, insurgents into the cell!"
With that, Nagant's dummies began rounding up the gopniks who had surrendered, leaving Marlohe in awe. M14 then passed by Marlohe and patted her arm to say,
"You gave us battlefield control for this operation, right? Trust in us a little more, would ya?"
Marlohe snorted and folded her arms as she mused,
"Griffin truly is full of strange characters, huh?"
The STATSEC doll then linked up with the rest of the strike force as they prepared to press onwards to the Fifth Floor.
As the armed dolls went over the next phase of their assault, I looked around the war-torn lobby of the GKTV-5 building and my jaw dropped.
What truly troubled me wasn't just the surreal state of disarray at the entrance to my workplace was in. It was the odd sense of deja vu that I felt in the midst of that destruction. I couldn't help but feel like I… or rather Polarday, had been in a situation like this before.
Twelve years ago - in this very same building.
You were here before, weren't you, Polarday?
December 14, 2051 - Past Midnight
Former Belarus State Television Station Building
57th BCT - Overwhelmed Command Post
Looking at the lobby from where I stood, I imagined the bitter fighting that took place in this very hallway in the last battle of the Third World War. You and I… we fought at Captain Salmon's side to the bitter end. You wanted to avenge Genevieve's 'death'… only to find out that she had been alive all this time.
All of the sudden, the silhouette of a younger Genevieve emerged from the rubble in the eye of my mind. She had her favorite Browning Hi-Power handgun in one hand and a magazine of blue-tipped rounds in the other.
The younger Genevieve seemed to notice us in the hall. We were on our knees - weeping and cursing the high heavens as Captain Salmons drew his last breath. All the while, we held the Captain's hand and felt his grip grow weaker and weaker until he finally let go.
Genevieve drew closer to us, but she stopped ten paces away from us as she loaded her handgun. Her eyes watched the dead Captain before she finally turned to us. Then, with bitter tears in her eyes, she pointed the barrel of her gun at us.
Our mechanical heart trembled.
Joy.
Disbelief.
Horror.
Rage.
All those feelings mixed together as tears formed in the sides of our eyes. Then, a frightened voice escaped our lips,
"... mama?"
Our words stung Genevieve's heart with regret, but she stood firm in that darkened hall as she declared,
"Your mama died in Trieste Port - in Italy! She does not exist anymore! I am Special Agent Chaika, and I serve the New Soviet Union and the KCCO. I'm here to fulfil my mission - so it's time that you let me go."
We stood up from Captain Salmons' side and rushed towards Genevieve. At that moment, we knew what it was that Genevieve had done… but we still wanted to embrace her.
We wanted it all to be a bad dream that we would wake up from.
We wanted to look up at the Summer Triangle on a peaceful summer night.
We wanted our family to be together again.
However, it wasn't meant to be.
Our summer had turned to winter long before we realized it.
It was already too late.
Before we could even rise up from where we knelt, however, Genevieve pulled the trigger and a blue-tipped handgun round struck us on the head.
That bullet didn't penetrate our skull, but it bounced off weakly as it crackled with electricity. It then gave off a weak EMP shockwave - just like the one that M14 shot me with back in the base.
Then, everything went blank.
March 8, 2063 - Late Evening
GKTV-5 Building
Ruined Hallway
When I got back to the present day, my hand wandered over to my forehead. I rubbed the spot where I had been shot as I tried to recreate whatever happened next, but there was simply nothing else there. Only static.
That was Polarday's last memory as the primary subroutine of my body.
I could only imagine how she felt when she heard Genevieve's voice again on the phone that night. If we had changed places, I had a feeling that I may have done the same.
While I was rubbing my forehead, Jim went over to me and asked,
"Hey. Are you alright, Potato? You're not hurt, are you?"
I scoffed at Jim's concern and countered,
"You're the one who was bleeding here, Jim."
Jim's expression then darkened as he deflected,
"It's just a small cut. That nurse doll already patched me up… but she told me that you looked into your mind. This place was..."
I shook my head and then reassured Jim with a smile,
"Don't worry about me. I was just thinking that the next time I see Genevieve, I'm going to give her an earful. I'm sure you want to do the same, Jim."
Jim nodded and agreed,
"I definitely do, Potato. I definitely do. Let's go."
GKTV-5 Building Stairwell
Between 4th and 5th Floor Landings
The strike team gained control of the central stairwell of the GKTV-5 Building and we met minimal resistance on their way up. At the landing of each and every floor, Grizzly kicked open the door and shouted her terms of surrender through her bullhorn.
Sometimes, the ex-soldiers would surrender outright and file out into the landing to be handcuffed by Nagant's dummies. Other times, however, the defenders were a little more stubborn - but it didn't take more than a few flashbangs, a couple of full-auto bursts from M14 and Ribeyrolles and a deadly shot or two from WA. That was usually enough to sort them out and convince them that they were fighting a hopeless battle.
As I watched Nagant's dummies cuffing the ex-soldiers who had surrendered, I noticed their gaunt faces and their tattered clothing. After the shock and awe treatment that M14's battle plan put them through, their morale had all but evaporated - even though they outnumbered us seven to one.
For the most part, there was fear etched into their eyes as they marched out and surrendered to us. The rest looked relieved to learn that they were being put into Griffin custody and not being sent to the KCCO. It really made me feel that these poor unfortunate souls were coerced into putting up this sham of an occupation.
They were just like me and Polarday - tools meant to be used and discarded in war.
Means to an end.
M14 watched the procession of prisoners passing her by as well and shook her head with displeasure. She then pulled Welrod aside and whispered to her,
"Have Negev dispatch P.O.W. transports to our location - and some rations and medical supplies too. These folks look like they haven't eaten in days."
Welrod nodded and I heard her begin contacting the adjutant of Station 56586 for a supply convoy and transport trucks. Once Welrod finished making the request, the strike team carried on to the fifth floor landing to repeat the clearing process one last time. Jim, Nagant and I followed a few paces behind and watched the action from behind the cover of the stairs.
M14 and Ribeyrolles took position at each side of the 5th Floor landing door while Grizzly held her bullhorn firmly. Welrod and Marlohe, on the other hand, pressed their backs against the wall further away from the door.
Grizzly kicked open the door and was just about to shout her demands through the bullhorn when shots of accurate lasers whizzed past her.
"W-whoa!" Grizzly gasped as she barely evaded the shots before eventually getting out of the way. Her bullhorn, however, melted into molten scrap before her eyes as one of the lasers pierced through it.
I turned to the stairwell wall where the lasers hit. There, I found smoldering holes that had bored into the reinforced concrete. I watched M14's honey brown eyes tremble when she saw those holes. Then, she pressed on her earpiece and called,
"Wawa! Fifth floor! These ones don't look like they'll run like the others."
Her earpiece then buzzed with a troubled reply,
"I can't see anything from here, M14. The windows are blocked by some sort of curtain... and I'm not getting any heat signatures. They might be using thermoptic camouflage - I'll need manual coordinates!"
M14 gritted her teeth and grumbled,
"Gah… we'll figure something out. But if you see something, fire at will!"
"Roger that! Send data to me by ZENER tactical link as usual."
M14 snorted before she roared,
"Ribey, Grizzly, Welrod. Exercise G4!"
The three dolls nodded in acknowledgement and promptly got into position for their maneuver - whatever this 'G4' might be. M14 brought out a flashbang grenade - just like the one I threw earlier - while Ribeyrolles produced a smoke grenade. Grizzly and Welrod, on the other hand, wore red thermal goggles and drew batons.
M14 threw her flasbhang in first, followed by Ribeyrolles' smoke grenade. With that, the blast of light and sound was accompanied by a thick, dark grey smoke screen. Grizzly and Welrod promptly dashed into the 5th floor hallway with their weapons drawn. Once the handgun duo were past the post, they took cover behind columns in the halfway while M14 and Ribeyrolles opened fire from the threshold.
The aggressive assault drew laser fire once again, but the enemy shots were much wilder and more disorganized than before. The flashes from the laser guns also left faint trails of light in the smoke that the two handguns caught on the displays of their goggles.
Moments later, M14's earpiece buzzed again as WA2000 announced,
"Coordinates from Grizzly and Welrod received. Opening fire!"
A powerful crack of the rifle came from outside and a high caliber bullet shattered the glass of the window and tore through the black curtains that had been covering them. That shot struck a figure in the middle of the hall that had been hidden by a thermoptic camouflage cape.
Blood tainted the figure's thermoptic camouflage and painted a dark silhouette of its torso and the strange laser weapon that it was wielding. However, the figure remained standing as if its gunshot wounds were mere inconveniences. The figure didn't scream or cry out in pain like the gopnik ex-soldiers in the lower floors did when they were shot.
It just stood there, readjusted its aim and began shooting back at Ribeyrolles and M14. A dozen more lasers began firing through the darkened hallway at the threshold, forcing Ribeyrolles and M14 to take cover again.
M14 reloaded her gun as she pressed her back against the wall and reloaded her gun as she cursed,
"Damn it! Who are these guys!?"
Marlohe poked her head out in a rare lull in the gunfire and shot at the blood-tainted figure. She unloaded her magazine into the figure's head before it finally fell down lifelessly to the floor.
More lasers streaked through the threshold as Marlohe pulled back and revealed,
"Our intel says these ones are the white-hooded figures who entered the building with the Nyto. They're called 'Strelets' - fanatic foot soldiers of an extremist group that we've been tracking throughout the Eastern Bloc. This is the first time we've engaged them in combat, though!"
If they were foot soldiers, then they were probably protecting that 'Terco' girl - as well as Genevieve and Alexi. So, I steadied my breath and proposed,
"We need to get to Genevieve's office. It's at the end of this hall. If we can stop the Nyto and get through to Genevieve and Alexi, we'll be able to get GKTV-5 back up and running. We can't do this without them!"
Marlohe nodded and agreed,
"Miss M200's plan is worth a shot. STATSEC wants Chaika and her associates captured alive - but nailing the Nyto will be greatly appreciated. I'll accompany them, but we'll need help getting to that office. Can you do that for us, Miss M14?"
M14 scoffed at our responses and proudly declared,
"Anything is possible when you have a War Goddess on your side~! Besides - it's not everyday that we can get STATSEC to owe us a favor. We'll get you to that office safe and sound. We're going to break through these Strelets."
She then laid her free hand on her chest and winked confidently,
"You just need to believe in us~! After all, Wawa and Ribey aren't the only friends we have."
While M14 was speaking, the ground beneath our feet trembled as the building shook mildly. The deafening sound of helicopter blades reached my ears as I saw a silhouette of a rotary aircraft flying low just beyond the window.
A triad of red laser sights then scanned through the hallway, spotting the dozen or so Strelets that were scattered there. Rapid bursts of automatic gunfire then tore into the hallway and struck down three of the Strelets that were hunkered down close to the threshold. Accurate shots mowed down the monstrously resilient figures until they were nearly torn in half.
The rest of the Strelets quickly reformed their lines as they tried to take cover from the shooters aboard the helicopter, but yet another one of them was shot down by WA through the window. That one shot tore through the Strelet's head, stopping it cold.
In the midst of that chaos, M14 and Ribeyrolles fitted flashlights onto their weapons and nodded to each other. The two of them then burst into the fray and joined Grizzly and Welrod as they opened fire on the retreating Strelets. All the while, WA and the helicopter gunners dismantled the enemy force with ease and forced them further away from the fifth floor hallway.
As M14 was unloading her magazine on a Strelet, she stole a glance at me and urged,
"Now's your chance Miss M200! We'll finish up here - so go and get your boss! Go, go, go!"
With that, I turned to Jim, Nagant and Marlohe and cried,
"Let's go, guys! Now or never!"
Jim and the two dolls nodded. The four of us then snuck into the hallway under the cover of smoke and darkness as the rest of the strike team fought off against the Strelets.
Moonlight seeped into the hall through the broken windows and the torn blackout curtains and I managed to steal a glance of the rest of the friends of the 'War Goddess' through the gaps. I saw them riding an old, rickety helicopter that looked like it had seen better years decades ago. The helicopter's side doors had been slid open and the three dolls stabilized their weapons on a makeshift strap affixed to the threshold.
There was a beautiful poker-faced doll who wore a distinct white orchid in her long, pale pink hair and wielded a scoped, bullpup-style assault rifle. She squeezed the trigger of her gun calmly, firing bursts of shots at a time with a rhythm that was almost poetic.
Beside this tacit figure was a lively-looking blond-haired doll who wore a light blue headband that matched her uniform. This doll was bobbing her head left and right as she pulled the trigger of a heavy-looking wood-stocked submachine gun with a drum magazine. All the while, I could hear her shouting out the lyrics of a heavy metal song as she fired away at the Strelets.
The third doll shooting from the helicopter was a stern-looking maid doll with a cute frilly headdress crowning her head, a neat red neckerchief underneath her shirt collar and a near-permanent scowl on her face. This doll was wearing an earpiece and was dutifully reciting coordinates of every Strelet that she and her team spotted.
Why do I get the feeling that I had seen these dolls before?
Well, whoever these 'guardian angels' that M14 called for us were, I quietly nodded to them in appreciation and went on my way. Jim, Marlohe, Nagant and I went on our way through the chaos of what was once our office space. We kept our heads low, covered our ears and tried to avoid the broken glass on the floor but we eventually made it through to the end of the hallway.
Genevieve's office.
I laid my hand on the knob and took a deep breath to gather my thoughts. Then, I turned the knob and stepped inside.
GKTV-5 Fifth Floor
Executive Office
I remembered the day that I first set foot into this office seven months ago. I had the business card that the drunk Genevieve gave me at the back of the Elbe River Live House in hand. The card even smelled a little bit like the cheap, watered-down karmotrine you found in the bottom shelves of supermarkets, so I was telling myself to be ready to get turned away after the media bigwig had sobered up.
Instead, Genevieve welcomed me warmly together with Alexi and Jim. A handful of the GKTV-5 staff were also on hand with party poppers and slices of store-bought cake that was clearly from the local Belkoopsoyuz supermarket. Walking into that room full of people who seemed happy to see me felt surreal at the time.
Walking into that same office now, seven months later in the dead of night, I understood why Genevieve treated me that way. Now, that bright and lively room was dark, cold and devoid of the warm smiles and happy people. The faint odor of cigarette smoke from Genevieve's favorite brand - Hope Cigarettes - lingered in the room, but the star anchor of GKTV-5 herself was nowhere to be found.
Instead, under the light of a single lamp, I saw the solitary, mischievous figure of Nyto Terco seated behind Genevieve's desk. She had an amused shimmer in her eyes and a condescending smirk on her lips as she watched me enter the room.
Terco then mused,
"Welcome back, dear sister. I'm impressed that you managed to get this far without your true subroutine in the cockpit - but I guess the combat data I'm getting will intrigue Father. After all… Griffin turned out to be craftier than I thought."
As Terco was speaking, Nagant and Marlohe entered the room as well and pointed their pistols at her. Marlohe then barked at Terco,
"Put your hands where I can see them! You're under arrest for helping incite an insurrection!"
Terco snickered and challenged,
"Why should I listen to orders from East German bureaucrats like you? Isn't S05 the jurisdiction of the NSU's Federal Security Service? Or perhaps you simply cannot trust your own supposed 'allies' in the KCCO? The Eastern Bloc is waaaay more fractured than we thought, huh?"
Marlohe furrowed her brow and growled,
"If you have complaints, send them to the STATSEC Leipzig Office - in triplicate. Now raise up your hands before I blow your brains out!"
Terco snickered, but she eventually raised her hands up just as Marlohe ordered her to. However, Terco's smirk never waned. The way she looked at me made my hair stand up on end.
Then, all of the sudden, Terco's knee struck something beneath Genevieve's table and I suddenly heard a hydraulic hiss coming from the door. Jim and M14 were just about to enter Genevieve's office as well when a heavy metal blast door suddenly dropped down and blocked off the doorway.
Terco then tilted her head and stuck out her tongue,
"Whoopsie~! My bad! Well - at least now, we can talk without being rudely interrupted. Heart to heart, just the way I like it~!"
Marlohe growled at Terco's attempt to crack a joke and spat,
"What are you trying to do, you Nyto!?"
When Terco heard this, she took a deep breath and clenched her fists. She then glared at Marlohe and then roared,
"Do NOT call me 'Nyto', you STATSEC scum! Father gave me a name - so you shall honor him by saying it!"
With that, Terco stood up from where she sat and revealed her long, metallic arms and legs. The breezy black cape that flowed down from her neck and shoulders flowed all the way down to the tips of her metallic feet, covering her front and her back while betraying hints of the human female torso that it shielded.
Despite her metallic limbs, I heard the distinct sound of a human heartbeat coming from Terco's veiled chest. Knowing that, I felt an uneasy tension gripping at my chest.
Just… what in the world was a Nyto, really?
A doll?
A cyborg?
A human?
Or an eldritch abomination of the three?
Before I could even try to think of an answer, Terco reached behind her back and brandished what looked like a long, black halberd fitted with the barrel of a high-caliber gun.
Marlohe and Nagant promptly started shooting at Terco. They landed hits on her body and drew blood, but Terco seemed to shrug off the pain - just like the Strelets that the strike team faced in the hallways. Unlike the Strelets, however, Terco seemed to relish in the pain as her grin only grew wider.
The two dolls emptied their guns into Terco, but the Nyto stayed standing. She then playfully tilted her head and asked,
"Over already? You can keep going if you want - but my sisters and I were made for war. We won't go down as easily as you postwar tin cans! Now - it's my turn!"
Terco pointed the barrel of her weapon at us and pulled the trigger. A devastating hail of automatic gunfire like a machine gun tore through the air, forcing us to take cover behind the thick armchairs gathered before the desk. However, it didn't take long for the bullets to pierce through the armchairs.
The shots struck Marlohe first, shredding through her already damaged torso as she wailed in agony and dropped her gun. Then, Terco unloaded the rest of her magazine towards the armchair that I was hiding behind.
I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but Nagant suddenly pulled me aside and placed herself in the line of fire.
"Babushka!" I gasped.
The hail of gunfire ended and Nagant turned to me to flash me a grin. However, I saw her white coat getting stained with blood and oil as she tried to hide the pain. She then fell to the side, onto the carpet of Genevieve's office, and her revolver slipped from her hands.
Labored breaths filled the room as Nagant and Marlohe laid languishing on pools of their own blood and oil spilling out onto the carpet and floor. Then, I heard Terco's footsteps muffled by the carpet drawing ever closer.
Metallic clangs reached my ears as Terco's metallic feet struck spent cartridges on her way towards my position. Then, she walked past the two incapacitated dolls and watched me with keen interest.
"It seems the fodder saved me the trouble of sending you in for repairs." Terco noted nonchalantly as she eyed me from head to toe, "Though, it's a shame that the fake subroutine is still in the cockpit."
Tears formed in the sides of my eyes as I felt my entire body shivering. Agony and terror gripped at my mechanical heart as Terco's shadow loomed over me. The Nyto then knelt before me and threatened,
"Maybe if I beat you up a little bit, the true 'you' will come out? Father doesn't like weaklings in his family. Weaklings don't deserve names. But you're not a weakling, right? Polarday?"
Terco pulled her right arm back and clenched her fist as she threw a powerful punch with every ounce of strength that she had. I closed my eyes and raised up my arms to try and shield myself from the strike.
However, my hands suddenly moved on their own and caught Terco's punch mid-air. All of the sudden, my lips moved on their own as I spoke words that weren't mine.
"Don't lump us together with you curtain-wearing freaks! We don't give a damn about your stupid father!"
I opened my eyes and saw Terco in shock as I somehow found the strength to push her away. Then, in one smooth motion, I managed to adjust my weight on the floor and kicked Terco right in the jaw from where I sat.
My kick sent Terco flying, but she quickly dug the blade of her halberd down into the ground and regained her footing. She then gave me another look and grinned wildly,
"Ah - yes! Polarday! Dear sister! You have finally broken free of this weakling's grasp!"
Polarday!?
Wait a second… don't tell me that she broke free from the quarantine that Ribeyrolles put her in! But if that was the case, then why wasn't I being dragged down into Level II consciousness like before?
As I was thinking about this, I caught a glimpse of the ARPANET HUD in the corner of my eye and I heard the voice of the white-haired girl speaking directly into my mind.
"Oy, Potato. Don't make me do all the work. Get off your ass and fight her!"
Polarday… you have control over my body!?
"I just unlocked your combat limiters. Follow my instructions and I'll show you how to beat the shit out of Terco. You're much stronger than you think you are!"
Moved by the words of my subconscious, I picked myself up from the floor and faced Nyto Terco. The mischievous Nyto picked up her halberd and extended her free hand towards me as she offered,
"Now that you've retaken the cockpit, dear sister, come with me! Father is awaiting your return. It would be a waste if you get caught up in the blast of the Collapse Fluid bomb! Let the troublesome Griffin dolls and the treacherous STATSEC agents perish with the useful ex-KCCO idiots. Those weak humans weren't prepared to become Strelets - so they would serve Father better as ELID zombies!"
When Terco said this, I felt Polarday guiding my body once again. I faced Terco squarely and raised up my fists as Polarday spoke through my lips,
"I don't really give a damn about Griffin or STATSEC, but those poor souls were like the troopers I fought together with. I'm not going to fight for heartless pricks who gamble with souls! So, square up, bitch!"
Terco snorted and then held her halberd with both hands now. She then tilted her head and frowned,
"I guess that's a 'no', huh? You picked up some bad habits from the West, huh? What a foul mouth you now have. Father HATES bad girls… so allow me to punish you! You're coming with me whether you like it or not!"
Terco thrust her halberd towards me, but time seemed to slow down for me. Then Polarday promptly whispered her instructions,
"Dodge left."
I followed her instructions and my body moved to the left with surprising speed, allowing me to watch Terco's halberd fly past me. This was the first time that my body moved this smoothly. I felt like a bona fide, well-oiled machine!
Then, Polarday whispered again,
"Grab the pole. Pull her in!"
H-huh!?
"Just do it, Potato!"
I gritted my teeth and did as Polarday said. I grabbed the pole of the halberd with both hands and drew Terco towards me, overpowering her with raw strength. I noticed Terco's confidence evaporating in slow motion as she was pulled in.
That was when Polarday gave me another order.
"Now clench your right fist and let her have it! Give it everything you've got!"
R-right? Got it!
I clenched my fist and threw the strongest haymaker I could muster right into Terco's smug face. My punch connected and sent Nyto flying backwards for a short while, but the flow of time suddenly returned to normal as I felt myself running out of breath.
My grip on Terco's halberd slipped and she managed to yank it away from my hands. She then slammed the blade of her halberd into the ground to regain her footing a second time. Terco's bruised face watched me panting heavily, so she taunted,
"Indeed, you are strong - but you're not going to last against me, my dear sister. You've been asleep for over a decade - and you've lived the wasteful, decadent life of a civilian in this doomed city. The 'Potato' subroutine is your weakness! Cast it aside and join Father! You shall become even stronger than you are now!"
I took a deep breath and shouted back with my own words this time,
"I don't want to have anything to do with this maniac of a 'Father' of yours…! And I'm not going to let you tell me how to live my life! These past seven months - the good days and the bad - are all precious to me! I enjoyed every moment of it, and I'm not going to let you tell me otherwise!"
I steadied my stance with Polarday's help and then cried,
"Brest Oblast is now my home! I've found a new family here - i've made many friends along the way - and I'm going to become a Star Anchor for everyone's sake!"
With that, I dashed towards Terco with the weight of my words gripping my mechanical heart. Terco raised up her halberd, preparing herself to intercept another haymaker. However, I bobbed right then left to slip past the blade of her halberd. Then, I leapt up on one leg and drop-kicked Terco on the chest.
Terco flew backwards and slammed against the wall of Genevieve's office, dismantling the blackout curtains that had been put over the office windows. On the other hand, I fell face first on the office carpet and desperately gasped for air.
All of the muscles of my body were aching, reeling from the sudden burst of activity that Polarday and I forced it to undertake. I even saw wisps of steam rising up from my body as it struggled to deal with the strain.
Eventually, Terco weakly peeled herself off of the wall and saw my sorry state as I was sprawled out on the floor before her. Seeing me like that made the Nyto laugh maniacally until her ribs hurt. The triumphant Nyto then jeered,
"After all that talk, you fall short in the end. You're too attached to this doomed city. You've settled for the life of a pawn when you could have become an officer serving our Father's will. Because of this, you don't have what it takes to defeat me!"
I rolled over to the side of the carpet and looked up at Terco from the floor as I groaned,
"You're right… I can't beat you on my own. But that's the problem, Terco… I'm not alone. I never was!"
While I was speaking, the ominous sound of helicopter blades filled the room as gusts of wind burst into the office. Terco's long black hair flew wildly behind her as she turned around and looked out the window.
There, she was greeted by a line of three dolls with their weapons resting on a strap affixed to the threshold of the open helicopter door. A triad of laser sights were fixated on Terco's fleshy head, chest and belly.
The beautiful doll with the flower in her hair, the perky doll who was vibing to heavy metal music and the maid doll with the eternal scowl on her face all cocked their guns at once. Terco, however, was unfazed as she faced her airborne opponents and mused,
"It seems… Griffin will be a trickier opponent… than Father thought…"
Terco quickly raised up her halberd, hoping to aim at the dolls in the helicopter, but the three dolls opened fire first and peppered her with automatic gunfire before she could turn around. Hundreds of shots landed on target, shredding Terco's flesh until she finally fell lifelessly down to the floor.
Epilogue
While I watched the defeated Terco bathed in blood and moonlight, I heard the hydraulic hiss of the office door once more. The door opened and M14's strike team entered the room with their weapons in tow.
Once the room was clear, Jim slipped into the room and went straight towards me. He knelt down and exclaimed,
"Potato! Are you okay?"
I grinned at my boss and gave him a confident thumbs up,
"I'm fine, Jim… but don't pat my head right now. I'm overheating, though, so..."
Despite my warning, Jim hugged me tightly even as steam rose throughout my body. Then, I sensed Polarday's presence in the eye of my mind. She then whispered to me again,
"All I ever wanted was to hug Papa again one last time… but I'm twelve years too late. This will have to make do."
While Polarday was speaking to me, Jim finally let me go and I I noticed another doll that knelt beside me casually.
It was Nagant!
"Hey there, Potato! Babushka's sorry that she couldn't protect you properly… but I guess you managed to do fine on your own."
"Babushka…!? But you and Marlohe?"
Nagant shrugged and reassured,
"Miss STATSEC bit the dust, but I'm sure she had dummies like I did so she'll probably be alright. I regained control of my fourth dummy after Terco mowed us down - and I helped Miss M14 open the office door!"
"Is that so…?"
My eyes then wandered around the abandoned office and my mechanical heart sank. I shook my head and muttered,
"But Genevieve and Alexi are…"
While I was stewing in my troubled thoughts, I heard a faint buzzing noise coming from Terco's corpse. I turned towards it and saw the small, rectangular outline of a cell phone underneath her black cape.
I crawled over towards Terco and took the phone from under the cape. It was an old model smartphone - probably a burner phone that Terco had meant to dispose of after her job was done. Still, I could tell that someone was calling her… and I had a feeling that I knew who it was.
I answered the call and listened in silence.
Then, I heard Genevieve's voice.
"Potato… is that you?"
To Be Continued