Chapter 6: Silence and Storm
One morning about two days later.
As dawn came and the entire staff body carried out their daily routine, there was a certain T-Doll standing just outside the Commander Quarter, looking a little bit restless. The T-Doll in question was M4A1, member pf the elite Tactical Unit 'Anti-Rain', and also the newly appointed Commander of the G&K FOB of District S09.
For a T-Doll to be the Commander of an entire base is probably the first time ever in history. Even the one in question herself is still racking up her Neural Cloud to comprehend this fact. How did the situation even devolve into this in the first place?
Two days ago, she narrowly escaped the Sangvis's grasp thanks to the G&K troops led by two mercenaries. Afterward, after having completed all the necessary procedures like receiving repairs and uploading a copy of her memory logs to the main server, she had searched everywhere to properly express her gratitude but said mercenary duo was still nowhere to be found. Until yesterday…
Reappearing just as abrupt as when they disappeared, they introduced themselves as the new Adjutant and Combat Advisor hired to compensate the lack of Commander for the time being. Up to that point everything was still fine and dandy, then right when M4A1 ran up to thank them for their aid, they appointed her as the acting Commander, of course with consent from Kryuger himself.
Back to the present, having standing in front of the Commander Quarter for a good 10 minutes now, M4A1 then took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in, it's unlocked." Receiving the consent from the one inside, M4A1 then pressed on the control panel and entered.
The Commander Quarter, even after being appointed as the new Commander M4A1 refused to use this room because for one thing, not even her wildest simulation could have covered the training for this kind of situation. So currently, it is being used by the new Adjutant and Combat Advisor thanks to it spacious interior more than enough for two people and other utilities necessary to their work.
Inside, at the tea table seated a man with his blonde hair tied into a low ponytail, a simple white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, worn under a grey waistcoat and a pair of black trousers. Turning around to see who have just entered, Eagle then stood up a gave a salute to M4A1.
"Greeting and morning to you, Commander."
"G-good morning to you too, Mr Eagle." Still haven't gotten used to all the formalities especially as the one on the receiving end, M4A1 was an interval later in saluting back. Then, she noticed several documents scattered on the table along with a tablet. The documents appear to be past combat reports whereas on the tablet, profile of all currently stationed T-Dolls and Echelons' composition were being displayed.
"Ah, these? Just a little preview in prepare for the upcoming missions. I'll transfer the data over for checking when it's done." Although he said that, everything is pretty much completed. Picking up the tablet, M4A1 couldn't help but be astounded. Reviewing the logistics reports to get a grasp on each Echelon's efficiency, then consulting the database to find a better composition. Everything was executed like a second nature.
"Amazing, so this is the caliber of mercenaries. They could easily outclass even Griffin's Commanders of the Elite Course." In the time M4A1 was busy being wide-eyed and jaw-agape, Eagle was also silently evaluating. From both the stunt she pulled during the data retrieval and her performance during the Tiger's fight with Executioner, her skill is a guarantee. What's more, the whole 'nigh-perfect free will'.
If what Helian claimed is to be believed, then that would actually translate into her elite status and skill while also explaining how she, as a T-Doll, was able to make all those decisions herself. 'Seeing is believing', they will be working together from now on so there will be plenty of chance to see if that 'free will' is truly 'nigh-perfect'.
At that moment, Eagle heard a series of loud noises, mostly engine sound and heavy duty tires rolling on dirt road. Without looking out the window, he checked for the time on the clock and knew exactly what those loud noises are from.
"Anyway, it's almost time for breakfast so could I ask you to check on Chief for me? He should be where all the noises are coming from."
"R-right, I understand. And, excellent work, A-Advisor." Returning the tablet to Eagle, M4A1 suddenly changed her tone to a formal one, probably trying to act like a proper Commander after seeing Eagle's work but only ended up trying too hard and stuttering. Seeing that, Eagle chuckled slightly which caused her to be even more embarrassed.
"Although we did appoint you as the new Commander against your will and rather out of nowhere too, you don't have to try and become one after just one night. Just take it one step at a time."
"Remember, we're your Adjutant and Combat Advisor, we're here to help so don't be afraid to ask when the situation required, alright, Ms M4A1."
"Y-Yes, thank you, Mr Eagle! I'll be going now." M4A1 then ran off and as Eagle was about to wrap things up, the door slid open again as several shadows approached him from behind.
Main Hangar.
As the convoy of three trailer trucks entered through the gate, Tiger was directing each to their respective hangar for unload. Much like Eagle, his attire when out of combat is rather simplistic. A dark purple short-sleeved shirt tucked into a pair of black trousers, a necktie loosely hanging around his neck, with his handgun holstered right under his left arm.
After checking that everything has been delivered to their respective storage and put on the right shelves, Tiger then spun on his heels to return inside and as he did so, came to face with M4A1.
"Greeting, Commander."
"Good morning, Mr Tiger." Again, she was an interval later in saluting back, this time, however, was no longer stuttering.
"Mr Eagle asked me to come check on you. It's almost time for breakfast."
"I see. I am heading for the mess hall right now."
"And…thank you for back then." M4A1 then bowed, to which Tiger responded by raising an eyebrow.
"We were only doing our job, after all, and you should be thanking those of G&K if anyone."
"Yes, I know. Everyone at G&K also contributed greatly in rescuing me, but everything leading to that point wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for you two. So at the very least, I wanted to thank you properly." With both her hands together, M4A1 bowed even deeper. Seeing how this girl won't budge until he accepted her gratitude, Tiger tapped the tablet on his shoulder in silence for a bit before saying.
"Then I guess the appropriate respond would be 'you're welcome' then."
After that short conversation, the two then walked together to the mess hall with Tiger giving a which rundown of their upcoming mission to M4A1. It was still particularly early, but by the time they arrived there was already a ruckus going on.
"Fufu, you sure know your way around the kitchen, Advisor."
"Not really, it's still mainly just a hobby though. But your dishes, now these are work of art. Any particular secret?"
Quite a large crowd was gathering around one of the table, where several breakfast dishes, while simple yet still managed to capture the gaze and arouse the appetize of any passerby, were being served. And among that crowd, Tiger could spot the figure of Eagle standing next to Springfield at the end of the table.
"How the hell did you even get involved in this?" Tiger asked, and from the crowd that was thoroughly enjoying the food Pah-Pah-Sha suddenly perked up still with a piece of French toast in her mouth.
"Ingram's the perpetrator!" she shouted.
"Pah-Pah-Sha, you traitor! And SPAS, that's already your sixth serving!" the situation suddenly spiraled out of control and erupted into chaos because someone didn't want to share their food.
After M4A1 had ran off and Eagle returning to going through the remaining documents, the group of four, led by Ingram had snuck in and dragged Eagle here to the Mess Hall in an attempt to get some French toasts. One way or another, they managed to have their request granted. However, they forgot to account for the outside factors.
Coincidentally, Springfield, who was also on today breakfast duty, had appeared at the exact moment and the situation, both literally and figuratively, became really heated up. Before they knew it, quite a large crowd has amassed itself. The result, was this chaotic of a breakfast session.
Recalling everything that happened while casually sipping on his coffee, Eagle then answered Tiger's question.
"Well, it's quite a story, Chief, this one."
Roughly 20 minutes following that chaotic breakfast session, the situation was resolved without any more food being stolen from their plate and the T-Dolls that will be sortieing in the next mission were then called to the briefing room.
"Is everyone here? Good, let us begin." Said Tiger on the podium. On the monitor screen, the satellite map of District S09 was being displayed as the scope zoomed in on the area of interest.
"As you all know, District S09 is particularly large, more so than other areas under G&K's jurisdiction which doesn't make it any easier to combat the Sangvis. So, in preparation for future operation, HQ has decided to push the front forward and that will be our mission this time. Commander, if you would."
Tiger then stepped down and switched placed with M4A1. On the other side, Eagle then switched the display to a Sangvis outpost along with the geographical information of the area.
"Our mission this time is to clear the road leading to this area so that HQ can safely mobilize their troops. The first objective is to neutralize a Sangvis supply station in Sector 3, cutting their chain of supply."
"As for our secondary objective, we will make a beeline for their communication outpost in Sector 5 and shut it down. By doing this, we will both put a dampen on their communication network, and other bases in the area will also be available to lend us a hand in future mission."
"Here is the Echelon composition for this mission. We move out in 10 so make sure to check your gear and assemble at the helipad before then. Dismissed." All T-Dolls in the room then stood up and salute before leaving to gear up for the mission. When the last of them had left the room, M4A1 on the podium suddenly slumped slightly. Being a leader of her own unit, she is used to briefing and speaking in front of others, but this time the sheer scale is bigger than anything she ever experienced so being a little nervous is understandable.
"As I thought this is a lot more pressured than with the AR team…" she thought.
Then from behind, Tiger gave slightly strong pat on her back, snapping her away from the negative thoughts with Eagle offering her a hand.
"Stand up, Commander. Time to lead them to victory."
"R-Right, thank you, Adjutant, Advisor."
Echelon composition:
Echelon 1:
SPAS-12, MG3, MG5, Grizzly MkV, M14, led by Tiger.
Echelon 2:
Ingram, Skorpion, PPSh-41, P7, Springfield, led by Eagle.
Echelon 3:
MP5, G36, StG44, SAA, Mosin-nagant, led by M4A1.
District S09, Sector 3. Time check: 0907
According to intel, the Sangvis had occupied and repurposed an old sawmill since before the war as their Command Post. With its own railway to transport timber and large storage capacity, it was a no brainer that they'd make this place a supply station.
As expected of a supply station, the security was much tighter than anywhere else. The perimeter patrols were a combination of Guards and Vespids, with more than a dozen or so Dragoons ready to pounce at the enemy at the first moment notice.
Originally designed as military reconnaissance walker, the Sangvis had since modified their design to be more combat suitable. With increased armor-plating, front-mounted searchlight, anti-personnel cannons and their already unrivaled mobility that can navigate any terrain with ease, save for the higher end units and a Ringleader, the Dragoons pose the biggest threat to any G&K Echelon should they encounter them.
As the guards continued their patrol, from the sky three mortar shells then hailed down, exploding and engulfing everything in a carpet of violent flame. Having noted the general direction where those came from, the Dragoons immediately headed for that general direction with the entire base going on full alert.
Upon reaching the forest, several silhouettes could be seen running away so they quickly gave chase, not noticing the EMP grenade rolling right at their feet. Paralyzed by strong surges of electricity, the Dragoons were then finished with a barrages of machinegun fire.
With the most problematic enemy taken care of, the G&K troops then jumped out from their hiding spot and rushed for the sawmill.
Inside the main facility, the Jaegers then started opening fire on the approaching enemy, however their long range cover fire did not last very long. For each shot they took, the G&K then returned one to them squarely in the head by tracking down the muzzle flash.
On their advance, the perimeter patrol units that were already in shamble tried to put up a retaliation, which frankly did not matter much for they were taken out for good before they could contribute much. With an entire flank cleared of enemy, the G&K troops easily infiltrated the sawmill as their long range engagement team then relocated to a different position.
Not long after that, the entire compound was taken over with all Sangvis in the vicinity neutralized. Even with all the data sharing in the world, that also amounts to nothing if they aren't put into use.
As per standard procedure captured Sangvis equipment and facility are to be destroyed on-site for they cannot risk the chance of them being recaptured, so with that in mind the G&K troops then scattered to set the explosive charge around the compound.
In charge of the railway was Echelon 1 and they found many supply cargos still in the process of being loaded onto the car. From the terminal, it seems the train was schedule for departure later today.
"Such a waste just blowing all this up." Said SPAS-12, looking at the supply and equipment cargos regretfully.
"Can't be helped, not like we can use any of these and we definitely can't leave them just laying around. C'mon, let's get down to it." Next to her, MG4 replied then started setting up the charges.
"Aww~, think of all the money we can save and delicious food we can buy…"
"That's what you're worried about?" behind them, M14 remarked.
"Is something the matter, Adjutant?" Seeing Tiger standing before the control terminal seemingly deep in his own thoughts, MG5 asked.
"Just checking on something. Since the Sangvis is using this place as a supply station, then wherever this track leads must also be under their control. So, since we're going to blow to everything into oblivion anyway, let's if we can put them to good use one last time." Going through all entry log in the database, then after some small mental calculations, an ingenious idea then popped up in his mind. He then fired up the loader system as the cargos continued to be loaded onto the train.
"MG4, how many charges do you have left?"
"About two, sir."
"Just enough. When the cargos are finished loading up, set one in the ammunition car and the other in the engine car. We're returning all this and some to the Sangvis."
District S09 Sector 5, time check: 1012.
Transitioning from the rural and forest area, the scenery of Sector 5 is a big city or rather, the remains of it. From the choppers, they could see the train crossing the large bridge before entering the city. Once the train had entered the station and presence of Sangvis troops is confirmed, Tiger then pulled out the detonator and pressed the button.
Two explosive charges, one overloaded the engine, the other triggered a chain reaction with all the ammunition caught in the blast radius, then everything resonated with each other and exploded into a glorious firework show.
"Hahahaha! Just look at all of them being blown to smithereens! Our Adjutant sure knows how to bring the heat!" laughing hysterically while witnessing the pieces and tidbits of Sangvis troops being blown everything was of course, Ingram.
"There Chief goes again with making it an overkill. Well, he is German, efficiency is everything to him."
With the explosion just now taking out a majority of Sangvis troop in the area, Echelon 2 then headed for the communication outpost as per their secondary objective while Echelon 1 and 3 conducted a sweep on the city.
Crossroad near City Square.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three consecutive shots earning him three more kills, Tiger then put another shot into the already critically damaged Prowler next to him before moving on. While there shouldn't be that many enemies left in the city, both Echelons had split up into smaller groups to cover more ground faster with Tiger going solo. Coming up on the City Square, all of the sudden an explosion occurred and the clock tower in the center collapsed on him.
Bringing up his shield, he knocked the falling debris away while also using that momentum to push himself out of the way. As he was about to identify where or what exactly caused the explosion, three Rippers then pounced on him.
With a roundhouse kick, he kicked the three of them away and finished them off with a single grenade. Tilting his head slightly to one side, a bullet barely grazed by his visor and that was when he realized he was completely surrounded from all direction. Unfazed and undaunted, he split the shield to be held one half in each hand and loaded a new 30-rounds magazine before charging headfirst at the enemy.
First wave of Rippers, he pulled the trigger six times with each time being a sure kill. Turning to the left, he swung his shield and destroyed three Prowlers creeping on him. The suit's AI then detected three Jaegers in the far back moving into position as the shield in his second right arm automatically moved to block the shots.
As Tiger continued taking down one Sangvis after another, suddenly his back bumped into something or someone as both parties turned around with their guns pointed at each other.
Red crimson irises, long pink hair with peculiar streaks of the same color as her eyes. Before his eyes was a T-Doll, judging from her getup, weapon, time and place of her appearance, who he had never met before. Both sides stared at each other for merely 5 seconds yet it felt like an eternity before continuing what they were doing, decimating the enemies around them.
While it's still unclear whether the other party is friend or foe, a helping hand is a helping hand, and thanks to that the Sangvis troops that were surrounding the two got destroyed three times faster than just now.
Hearing the sound of explosion near the section she was in charge of, M4A1 had hurried over but by the time she arrived, all enemies have already been taken care of with the two behind this standing amidst the mountain of corpses.
"SOP-II!?" when M4A1 shouted, the unknown T-Doll immediately reacted and ran toward her.
"M4! Hahaha, thanks goodness, you had me so worried!" the unknown T-Doll, or SOP-II as M4A1 called, exclaimed happily while giving the latter a hug, a complete opposite display of emotion from just now where there was only bloodlust.
"Phew…I'm just glad you're okay. Where is AR-15?"
"AR-15…"
"What? What happened to her?" when M4A1 asked again, SOP-II then let go of her as her expression turned grim.
"M4, keep calm and listen to me. Our call was somehow tapped by a Sangvis Ringleader…AR-15 is disrupting the enemy pursuit to buy us time."
"Time? Time for what?"
"They…are already en route…to your base."