The commander squeezed himself up against the bulkhead, weapon ready for the exact moment he'd need. The footsteps close, light and precisely rhythmic in their movement, closer, closer...
He lunged, barreling full-weight into the Ripper, knocking the lighter doll into the wall and pinning it there as he pressed his weapon right under its arm. One round, straight through the battery of the Sangvis doll. Quick as lightning he leaned the corner, cracking a center-mass shot into the next, watching as it crumpled to the ground. Precise; he had to give himself a mental pat on the back for not botching that shot. The Boss'd be proud of that one-
No time to admire marksmanship. Keep moving now there was a small gap in the noose opened for him to weasel out of again. Intruder couldn't have been more than a minute behind him, and the only thing he could do was keep that lead from shrinking too drastically. A T-intersection? That was wrong, this should have been the entrance to the dorm wing-
No time to lament, he picked a direction and bolted just as streaks of plasma splashed the intersection's wall, pock-marking the signage even if he wanted to go back and look. God, feeling like a rat trapped in a maze was the most accurate description, now wasn't it? Except the rat never had a killer robot chasing after it, ready to end its run if it hit a dead end- that'd be unethical.
Security door, sealed shut, this could buy him time, but it was… the test lab? How did he wind up in the damn test lab? A swipe of the card and the doors hissed open in their painfully slow fashion, to the point where the commander squeezed himself through the very moment he could fit, jamming on the "close" button til his thumb went numb.
The commander cursed, scrambling to find anything he could use; a weapon, a test device, anything he could get his hands on in what time he had and came up with a single soup-can sized grenade. Or, at least he thought it was a grenade, had all the parts he recognized; the pin, the spoon, and… well that was all a grenade needed really, right? Well, and a payload. A crude looking grenade at best- he vaguely remembered K11 working alongside one of the IOP reps on something, but the details were lost on him whenever she went on one of those long academic monologues.
And he didn't have the time or luxury as one of the doors of the lab hissed open.
"Ah, allow me to see myself in." Intruder delighted in seeing his surprise, gliding into the lab before bowing gracefully. "My my, I do hope you were not waiting long." She purred, a smile as beautifully coy as it was a total lie. In her hand, held as if it were as light as a baton, a weapon nearly as large as the commander was tall- not exactly what he had been expecting to see from such a demure-looking doll, but then again whoever was designing the Sangvis Ferri models had strange tastes. The moment he made a move the ringleader's weapon came to bear, four barrels already spinning.
To say he wasn't scared would be a flat out lie, one that any of his doll subordinates would be able to pick up even without the empathy programs. Every barrel he had ever stared down, every bullet sent for him in hate and anger, there had always been a human at the other end.
A fallible, imperfect human; a human only as good as their training. It was that discrepancy in skill that he could find solace in, gave him that little bit of confidence that he'd need to overcome.
Not this time.
The commander slid into cover behind the center-island of the room as rounds slammed and skipped about, ricocheting around as deadly buzzing bees.
"Do make this simple and more merciful." Intruder spoke with a sweet, honey-dipped tone. It was demurely feminine, clear to hear over the dull whine of her weapon's rotating barrels. Gentle and kind, one that certainly matched that pretty face of hers, but he knew it was only modulated that way. There was no spark beneath that pretty exterior.
He readied himself as best he could. With the amount of firepower it took to bring down Hunter, he doubted his weapon would leave a dent in this one. The only option was to use an experimental grenade, even if he would never hear the end of how he wasted the only prototype.
Well, not wasted if it saved his ass.
"Really, getting hit by that would be merciful?" The commander yelled back, listening very carefully for if he heard the tap of heels upon tile. At the same time, his eyes ran over the instructions- SCRAM, Scramble Chaff- Radiation and Material: Detonation time: 3 seconds from release. Estimated particle time: 10 seconds. Air detonation preferred.
A multi-spectrum concealment grenade then? Yeah, those were words he thought he heard K11 say. Ten seconds- enough time to be able to scramble to the next room, but what would happen after that?
"My precious opponent," Intruder cooed, "it would be far more merciful if you simply stood still. I could reliably target your Medulla Oblongata, it could be over as quick as you would flip a light switch." Her reply was punctuated with an empty smile pulled upon her crimson-painted lips.
The commander pulled the pin, keeping the spoon held tight. "I would have thought you unique models would have higher specs than that." He taunted, though the shake in his voice was certainly hard to disguise.
"I will admit to you, then, that this is just a dummy shell. It is true that I had underestimated your tenacity like one would underestimate a cockroach's resilience. Your death, however, is not a matter of 'if', but 'when'."
A light step. It would have been graceful, the soft step of a dancer on stage if not for that constant motorized whirr of cannon barrels ready to be unleashed.
Hand off the spoon, catching it so it didn't clatter to the floor and give it all away. Count of two… and the commander pitched the can-sized grenade over the top.
Reflexively, or perhaps because he presented even a fraction of her target, the Ringleader opened fire once again. Bullets cracked and slammed against the barrier, almost all in the same spot, like she were trying to burrow through it with bullets to get at him.
But the SCRAM grenade detonated mid-air, a perfect deployment to fill the back-half of the room with smoke and infrared reflecting particles.
The shots went wild, spraying blindly in an attempt to catch him if he ran for the back exit.
Except the commander slipped around the other corner of his cover, close to the Ringleader, the doll not realizing that he had dove into the cloud to slip past her. Sure, the "R" in SCRAM stood for "radiation", and he hadn't exactly read all of the health hazard labels on it, but he figured a little radiation sickness was better than being diced to pieces by whatever Intruder was firing. He'd have to give the IOP rep the results of a field test later-
The report of that Ringleader's cannon was loud enough to cut through the Commander's ear protection, violent enough to rattle his teeth as he slipped by, but to his relief it seemed that even SF Ringleaders had to deafen themselves from their own weapons. He scrambled through the blasted security door, tracing his way back through the trail of destruction. His dolls, his girls that had come to defend had been diced apart by bullets, and that alone pushed him harder and faster. Keep giving the Ringleader the run-around, keep delaying until a kill-team could help him out.
What was the boxing term again? Rope-a-dope until knockout?
The knockout hopefully being an ambush by a large volume of fire between the reserve machinegun dolls.
Except if he got cornered like that again, he had no more tricks up his sleeve.
His shortwave crackled to life, Kalina's voice giving him that little bit of relief- at least she was safe.
"We're almost ready here, commander! We had Another attempt to crack the base network. She shut us out but still can't get in. Not as sophisticated as the first attack."
"She must have had the initial defenses cracked, she had access to our security doors, but once we scrambled it she hasn't been able to penetrate deeper. That's good, means there is only one of them-"
"...Turn off... radio, com...der! Interfer... she's … -ing… stall… us… for trian...ating-"
He didn't need Kalina to tell him twice, twisting the knob so hard that he almost snapped it off. God, being hunted in his own base like a damn mouse in a maze… it certainly didn't feel good. It was clear that he was the intended target, a brute force attempt to cut the head off the snake that kept biting at Sangvis operations. He felt honored, it meant that he was doing his job well enough.
Another sharp turn down a side-corridor. He was running so hot at this point that if he ran into another group of Scout drones he'd be picked up on their IR even if he hid inside a freezer.
Speak of the damn devil- the buzzing of those damned annoying rotors from coming at him from down the corridor. He had broken contact with the Ringleader enough that she needed to probe for him again.
Gunfire erupted down the main access hall, somewhere near the recreation wing. That area should have been vacated by now, but it was the light at the tunnel; Sangvis didn't use bullets. Friendly dolls that hadn't made it back to the second rally point? He took one last deep breath to push himself further. He hadn't exactly been skipping on his physical training, but it had been years since he last participated in active combat, of having that adrenaline coursing through him.
Not since that raid, seeing his dolls, his soldiers torn up, seeing FAL... It brought those cold winds, wrapping his heart tight.
Full tilt, sliding into place next to two dolls that hid behind a reception desk. L85 and Sig-510 were aimed away, not even expecting him to come barreling in. Startled, they broke their lines of fire with the enemy and the commander immediately directed them once again.
Two Scout drones, three Vespids.
"Target the drones." He ordered, he himself taking a peek to pick his own. They were dolls, even the lowest spec ones still had better accuracy on a moving target that he did, not to mention the forgiveness of a fully automatic weapon.
His sidearm cracked, a heavy slug splitting the lead Vespid's helmet as easily as a melon. Encouraged by his presence, the dolls leapt up, taking their shots as well.
The return fire was immediate and sporadic, sizzling bolts ripping past and sparking off the wall behind them. The commander shifted, moving to peek low from a different angle and cracking another round off into an advancing Vespid. The first slug slammed into the shoulder, tearing a chunk of vital electronics out and sending the thing's aim wide. The second and third slugs stopped it dead.
The dolls shifted their fire, hot brass kicked out and bouncing around their closed space, falling on the commander as he reloaded the empty cylinder. When the final Vespid fell, the hot hail stopped.
"You girls good?" The commander asked, snapping the cylinder shut with a flick of the wrist.
"W-we locked up, Commander, sir." L85 stuttered, clutching her weapon to her chest as she shakily began to reload a magazine from the ammo tin. "I-I understand if you want us to-"
"Temporarily shut yourselves down for ten minutes then fall back to the armory while the path is clear of the ringleader." He hastily commanded, "I'm glad you are alright. He managed to smile, giving the pink-haired doll a pat on the head to help her clearly overloading processors.
"C-commander?" Both L85 and Sig-510 stammered.
"There is a ringleader on my tail, so you need to get clear as soon as she passes."
"But we can slow her!" Sig protested.
"Y-yeah! We may not be valuable in a fight but we can stall her!" Her partner agreed, all of the previous fear gone.
"Hide and then regroup when she passes." He commanded with his firm authority, enough to trigger their programmed responses. To dolls like them, there was no questioning orders, their digimind simply couldn't.
It was a brief relief seeing them take off without another word. He had no idea how clear the halls still were, but Intruder was the clear and present danger, the rest were just her eyes and ears. If he was the objective, any dolls in Intruders way were just speedbumps.
Or they understood the truth as well. Their sacrifices would have only bought one or two seconds at most.
Keep moving, keep pushing forward. Rec wing to mess hall, mess hall to security, security to armory; easy enough. Or… would have been easy enough, if it weren't for the tail-end of a formation marching in the rec-wing. Detour; guest dorms to mess, mess to security, security to armory. Hopefully the lack of anyone in the guest dorms would mean that the Sangvis units swept it quickly or never even bothered.
Hell, the hall lights were still off. He hesitated a moment, looking for the tell-tale purple glow somewhere in the dark.
"Oh where has my audience gone? Surely my performance wasn't that deplorable!?" Intruder's voice echoed through the main-access hall just behind the commander. Well, no other option now; so he ran, slamming his hand against every door sensor he could. Hopefully he'd leave a print, some residual heat, make Intruder think that he tried to hide in one of the dorms. That could buy a few more precious seconds, but as Intruder already proved earlier, she could override the door locks.
Dim light, the mess hall door was open despite the security lockdown. Not a good sign-
Rippers- fast moving too. Must be high specs than what he'd seen before, or perhaps they just seemed higher-spec because he was just a human? Dots of plasma sparked and hissed off the metal counters, leaving glowing orange dots of hot steel in their impacts. Dammit, now they were damaging the kitchen too?
Her barely had the time to squeeze another shot of around the corner of the counter before more dazzlingly deadly bolts came streaming in- a new angle this time.
"How nice of them." The commander grunted, scrambling away to another counter before the new group of Rippers had him fully exposed. They were circling him, with more marching their way into the mess-hall on the other side of the service counter. Dots of superheated plasma lanced and splashed around his heels as he dashed for another counter, but he was running our of things to put between him and the incoming.
Another wild shot at the movement parallel to him, but if he didn't outright hit and kill the thing there was no noint. Sangvis units didn't feel fear like a human; they couldn't be suppressed in the traditional way of war.
And these particular units were moving more coordinated than others. Some dolls in the initial link had moved to block or cover the exits immediately while reinforcements entered and begun setting up the noose. They were maneuvering him around like herd-dogs in the pasture.
Which made the commander's heart sink even more. It meant that their puppet-master was in command now, getting him in place to be a most captive audience to her grand entrance.
Damn.
Damn he had been outplayed this time. Rookie chess mistake, too focused on his own damn plan to see what his opponent was doing before it was too late. What else did he have up his sleeve at this point? He had been running near-blind for what, ten minutes now?
Damn, why did he have to announce the defense plan over the intercom? He should have sent a runner. He should have noticed the break-in earlier. He should have…
There was no point thinking about the 'could-have', 'would-have', 'should-have'. Focus on the now, dammit.
What else did he have to lose at this point? Every major through-way had been strong-pointed by the bulk of the invading Sangvis units, and at this point he would be unable to rendezvous with the girls at the armory. Intruder knew exactly where he was.
So he clicked on his short-wave again.
"This is command. Pinned in the mess hall. Urgent rescue needed, Ringleader inbound." He snapped. Sure, it felt like he was giving up in having to call for aid now. He wanted the plan to work, wanted to have the decisive and heroic victory as the fruits of his labor…
But this was life or death, always had been. Pride had no place here.
A quick peek, another partially aimed slug cracked from his revolver burying itself into the wall by the door out of the kitchen. Damn, the nerves were getting to him, his finger more frantic on the squeeze and pulling the shot wide. Of course, the Ripper standing guard there didn't even flinch. At least the other ones stopped their maneuvering for a moment to shoot at whatever bit of squishy human-flesh he exposed. Now if he could only get them to circle away from the door… but he'd have to at least destroy one or two that had the good-angles of fire on him when he'd have to make the dash for it.
A continuous burst of plasma crackled around his cover, the searing heat as they passed made the commander huddle in that much more.
Damn it. Not like this. Could have done better, could have done more to prepare his home-guard units, could have had the girls that were relegated to logistics at least ready for the bare minimum of engagements-
Two tap bursts, quick and controlled, the cracking report of a rifle. He relaxed, if only for a moment; funny how the sound of gunfire did that for him now when it used to be the opposite-
A blonde doll slid into cover beside him, taking only half of a second to confirm his status before standing to fire once more, her shots deadly accurate against the stationary Ripper by the kitchen exit.
"Master you must retreat at once." G36 said firmly, ignoring the return fire from behind her as she dropped one more.
What was she doing here? Shouldn't she have been on a chopper to… No, never-mind that. Questions later.
"Stay alive, Thirty-six."
"You order has been acknowledge, my master." G36 smiled, if only for a moment before it melted back into that harsh, hardened frown.
He knew that look. She would buy him as much time as possible, but they both knew that alone against a Ringleader…
No. Do not doubt in your dolls. Do not doubt in their convictions.
He gave G36 a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before making a break for it.
[Primary Mission Objective]: Secure Master - Complete
[Secondary Mission Objective]: Delay Action - avoid direct confrontation
[Tertiary Mission Objection] "Stay alive"
G36 acknowledged her master's order, but tagged it with a loophole.
"Alive" was a subjective status. If her master had said, "Remain functional," or "Do not lose that frame," it would have been harder to create it. After all, was a doll truly "alive" in a human's sense of the definition? The master never clarified that definition, meaning it was left for her interpretation. If G36's mind-map survived within the cloud, then had she not "stayed alive"? If her digimind could be salvaged, has she not survived?
But she knew his meaning and intent far better than any… but she still circumvented his meaning with cold logic. Fighting retreat. The Sangvis units that she hadn't destroyed on her rush to get to her master were now pushing into the mess-hall. Heavier units; Guards, and behind them Vespids- she hadn't the ammo to take them all on. Two-tap bursts for the remaining Rippers before peeling back, thirty seconds behind her master.
She'd need to delay longer, slow her retreat to buy more time. From the exit's doorframe she engaged her closest pursuers- the ones that broke out of formation behind the Guards- until her round count snapped its warning at her final burst.
Fall back, reload while enroute to next firing position. Mag drop, fresh rounds tapped into place, charging handle cocked at machine-precise speed and efficiency that would only be slowed by the weapons actual mechanisms.
A security barrier had been deployed down the hall, but no dolls manning it. G36 vaulted over the barrier, already set in a firing position before the first of her pursuers entered the main passage.
[Priority Targeting]: [1] Ripper [2] Vespid [3] Guard
G36 concurred with her tactical module's suggestion. Remove the most mobile elements first- the ones that could easily catch the commander if they got through. Base of fire elements after that, even if such target prioritization put her frame at risk. Of course, save the Guards for last, she hadn't the firepower, time, nor ammo reserve to punch through them.
The purple glow, the inexorable march forward, G36 drummed the Sangvis push with a scattering tempo of brass hitting the floor and snare-rolls from her rifle. The jingle of the spent casings somehow clear to her auditory sensors over the report of her own weapon.
And it pulled at her protocols.
A mess. This was a mess she'd have to clean up. Debris dirtying the hallways. Scorch marks all over the walls, holes that would need repairs.
She couldn't clean it. She couldn't clean it all…
Worse yet, she was contributing to it!
These maid protocols… normally dead weight in a firefight by chewing up her processing; G36 took them and pushed those impulses through her emotion module. These were unruly guests. They were making the mess, and they needed to be removed.
More brass, more mess! Conversion fluid splattering the floor! How dare they scatter their broken parts upon her homestead- upon her master's home!?
Her aim the most precise it had ever been as anger and frustration pumped her circuits. Her magazine changes the fastest on IOP record. A white noise. A haze.
G36 panted the heat as quick as she could, hyperventilating steam like a teakettle.
[Low ammo]: Recommend restocking magazines.
Two magazines left, one on the rig, one in the rifle. The warning blasted again and again in her digimind, only adding a fresh and painful shock of system stress.
She wasn't… built… for this…
She couldn't keep…
She must…
She…
She-
The rifle clattered to the ground, G36's frame slumping down behind the security barrier...
[Temperature Warning!]: Vent before proceeding!
Reboot? y/n_
[Temperature Warning!]: Vent before proceeding!
Reboot? y/n_
[Temperature Warning!]: Vent before proceeding!
Reboot? Y_
Pain.
Pain erupting from every circuit she had in her frame, each one its own little conduit of burning heat.
Was this… what it was like to burn alive?
Her ocular sensors came back online, the world engulfed in white-hot haze, an electronic snowstorm like a popping, hissing fog.
And a woman pushing through the security barrier.
Clad in black leather, scantily cut to show a figure that needed no accentuation considering what it was, a cruel smile pulled upon those crimson-painted lips… how...
"...How gaudy." G36 groaned, reaching a stuttering hand towards her rifle. If she still had the will, she still had the power to fight, even if every program in her digimind could barely function.
The Ringleader regarded her with a frown.
Contemptuous, annoyed, insulted…
Seeing such a reaction brought some badly needed relief to G36's digimind, even as the Ringleader pushed the barrel of her weapon against G36's head. At least she had bought her master time. He would be proud of-