Chapter 10: They who do not exist
Letting out a really long yawn, Tiger held onto the side of the sink while stretching his arms, making his entire body shivered slightly much like that of a feline. With the toothbrush and paste in each hand, he began his morning hygiene routine.
The previous night.
"Is something still troubling you, Mr Tiger?" Asked Helian, seeing the frown on his face. The mission that he had just carried out, 'obtain the newest recon intel to reassess the Sangvis threat in Sector 1 and eliminate them if necessary' was to give G&K a better hand in negotiating with the construction contractor. As per his modus operandi, he more than got the job done. And just like the very first mission from Kryuger, this time also he discovered yet another secret that should have perished in the flame.
"I could be careless about this whole settlement conversion since construction inspection isn't why I was hired." He then plugged the earpiece into the terminal and transferred a data file over to Helian.
"But this, is anything but construction-related." The data file he had just transferred over was a copy of several blueprints on firearm. Compared to what normally seen used nowadays by law enforcements and your run of the mill guerillas, they are definitely more advance.
"Guns don't kill, but rather those who pull the trigger. Is Kryuger even aware of what or who he's shaking hand with?"
"…Of course. We've had our hunch, and now this only serves to solidify it. Thank you Mr Tiger, with this we've gained yet another Ace in the hole. Worry not, when the time comes, this incident will surely be brought into light."
"You have been of great help to us, so rest assure we will do everything on our end to make sure that you can continue to do so. Good night, Mr Tiger."
That was the conversation they had last night. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, in fact in this line of work it is quite frequent. Whenever his unit is hired by a client for a retrieval mission, they would always return with more than just what was requested, a little 'extra' intel.
Normally, Tiger never concern himself with these matters since it is neither the place nor problem to poke his nose in. So after the mission, the intel would be handed over to the client since they have little use for it. If the client can understand that they are here simply to do their job and not to meddle, both parties will go their separate way and perhaps they will work together again in the future. If they don't and start to get jumpy, well let's just say it's another customer they won't be meeting twice.
This time, however, it is a matter that can affect his work so it is a matter of concern to him. What use would a construction contractor have with those blueprints? The world is already down in the slump as is, can't have a bunch of amateurs running around with guns now, can we? But since Helian said to leave these things to her and since Kryuger is already keeping tab on the contractor, guess he can only leave it to them and focus on his work.
Running his fingers through his bed hair, Tiger then pulled open the curtain to let some light in and appeared outside the window was a face.
"Morning to you, Adjut-" greeted SOPMOD-II, but before she could finish her sentence, Tiger had, both literally and figuratively, pulled her through the window with an Iron Claw.
"Before that, how about you explain yourself, huh?"
"I came to play, of course!"
"Do you have idea what time it is right now? And we have doors for reason, so why the window?"
"Because a certain sister told me the window is the best way for a sneak attack. Ah! But I can't tell you who it was, though."
"No need to, I can already tell exactly who." Saying that, a certain black haired T-Doll whose behavior is just as unpredictable as this one right here came to mind.
"Eeeh?! Adjutant is a mind reader?!" all the sudden, SOP-II then broke free from Tiger's grip with ease and threw a kick straight at his chest. Tiger then blocked the kick with his palm, which SOP-II then used as a foothold to perform a retreat somersault.
"I'll have to apologize to that sister later then. But for now, Adjutant, let's play!" even after all this talk, she still insisted on playing. Tiger knitted his browns together then turned his body and got into a fighting stance.
"Guess a simple scolding wasn't enough, I'll have to make you listen the hard way." Seeing that, SOP-II immediately bloomed into a bright smile, almost as bright as the sun.
"Yahoooo! Then here I come, Adjutant!" like a bullet, SOP-II rushed straight at Tiger throwing out a flurries of thrust with her claws. Turning his body sideway to make harder to score a hit, Tiger deflected the claw thrusts then transitioned into a counter uppercut at her abdomen.
His punch is not light by any stretch, in fact once in a bar fight Tiger had knocked out an opponent twice as big as him with a single right jab. But that time it was merely a human of flesh and bone, this time his opponent is a military-grade T-Doll, one who at least knows how to fight hand-to-hand to boot.
On top of her military-grade frame, at the moment the uppercut landed SOP-II had bent her body backward, completely mitigating the attack. Like a spring, she then sprung back up and this time, attacked with a kick. Not letting her overwhelm and push him back into a defensive state, Tiger quickly dodged the kick and retaliated with a roundhouse.
As expected, still being airborne after that missed kick SOP-II had no other option but to take the roundhouse so she quickly retracted her limbs and curled up into a defensive posture. The roundhouse kick landed, and SOP-II was sent flying. Hitting the wall, she dropped down and quickly recomposed herself, but Tiger was already throwing out his next punch, this time with the prosthetic arm.
The punch stopped right in front of SOP-II as her hair was blown up by the wind pressure of it. This should be enough as a reminder for her, Tiger thought as he moved his arm away. But that face in front of him was still smiling, if not even brighter.
The same expression but she felt like a completely different person from when she was throwing those thrusts and kicks around. All the sudden, SOP-II then wrapped her arms around Tiger's neck and clung to him completely.
"Hahahahaha! As I thought, Adjutant is the same! Finally, finally, I've found you!"
"Hey, you felt it too, don't you? A feeling swelling up inside, that 'impulse' when you struck down the Sangvis. Soppo and you, even if our bodies are no longer the same, we just can't get enough of it!" She said, probably referring to the similarities that they share.
"Like I said…Get, out!" his temper finally snapped. Peeling SOP-II off of him by grabbing the back of her collar, he threw her out of the room like a misbehaving puppy and shut the door behind her.
"What a total headache…" rubbing his temples, Tiger then grabbed his shirt and wrapped up with the morning routine. He then grabbed the tablet and left the room, and the moment he stepped out of the door, there was SOP-II waiting at the very same spot where he threw her out.
Command Center.
When Tiger entered the room, three pairs of eyes were on him, probably because of the tail that is following behind him. First was Eagle, trying to figure what's the deal with this. The second and third was from M4A1 and ST AR-15 who understood the situation instantly.
"SOP-II! Are you bothering Mr Tiger again?!" asked M4A1.
"I'm not! Adjutant agreed to play with me and since we're heading in the same direction anyway, I'm just following him!" SOP-II retorted, acting as if that stunt earlier never happened.
"I'm sorry that you have to go along with her antics, sir. This girl got…more than a few screws loose in her head." Dragging SOP-II away from Tiger, ST AR-15 then bowed her head to apology.
"Can you put like a leash on her or something?" when Tiger asked, AR-15 shook her head regretfully.
"Either the cord would snap or you'd get dragged along with her. We've tried all known method but unfortunately…"
"Haaa…Alright, let's save this discussion for another time. Eagle, the mission briefing."
The five of them then gathered around the table as Eagle turned on the terminal.
"With Hunter defeated, the G&K has managed to advance their front and regained a large portion of District S09, including a human settlement. However, our mission this time is beyond that, as in the AO is just right on the edge of the reclaimed territory."
"According to information acquired by Ms AR-15, there are files hidden in District S09 concerning the Sangvis's important plans. The G&K has dispatch a T-Doll team to investigate and our mission is to make sure they get there safely."
Eagle then swiped his finger on the tablet as the terminal screen turned to the T-Doll's profiles which were…completely blank.
"As for the T-Doll team in question, the only info we received with the briefing is that they're called Squad 404, and nothing else. Basically a ghost squad." But it seems this team isn't so 'ghost' after all since M4A1, SOPMOD-II and ST AR-15 all flinched slightly at the mention of that name.
"Squad 404…" M4A1 muttered.
"You know them?" when Tiger asked, she nodded back.
"We…had quite few run-ins with them in the past. The relationship between us is rather tense, especially between big sis M16 and HK416." This time, Tiger raised his brows upon hearing a name he had just heard the night before. So those two are part of a ghost squad huh, he thought. Now that he recalled, they did mention returning to HQ for a check-up, which would make sense since as a ghost squad they're not assigned to any base.
"Never knew you guys to have quite a history with each other. And M16, she's the last member of your team, right? Still no contact from her whatsoever?"
"Unfortunately, yes…" M4A1 answered, drooping her shoulders. Just when he thought that this girl had gained a bit of confidence, she returned to being the timid girl like when he assigned her as the Commander.
"Worrying about something won't make it go away, M4."
"AR-15!" hearing those harsh words when M4A1 was already feeling down, SOP-II was about to step in when ST AR-15 shook M4A1's shoulder strongly.
"M16 knows what she's doing, she will not die that easily. So while she's still fighting out there, how about you shape up and stop brooding about it! We will find her M4, together." the moment when her comrade needs a consolation the most, ST AR-15 instead gave M4A1 a reprimand.
"…Right, of course we will. Thank you, AR-15." M4A1 responded, placing her hand on ST AR-15's. She appears cold and harsh, but that's only because she's bad with expressing herself. In a way, this is AR-15's way of giving consolation.
District S09, Sector 4. Time check: 0736.
Sector 4 – compared to other sectors, this was one of the less densely populated areas, a peaceful countryside where much of nature was retained. However, when the ELID contaminated Earth's atmosphere, rendering much of the land inhabitable while also completely altered the weather system, this sector was one of the first to be ravaged by it. Even after the war broke out, no army dared set foot here due to the contaminated air and, according to rumors and gossips, a few ELID-infected mutants that still roam the area.
Either through pure irony or the hand of fate at work, the sole reason this place managed to remain unscathed by the flame of war, is because it was already devastated a long time ago.
According to the intel received from HQ, Squad 404 has gone dark 49 minutes ago, their last known location is a small riverside town up north and that will be their first destination. After dropping off at a basecamp set up at the very edge of the reclaimed territory, the G&K Echelons then split up and advanced forward, this time with M4A1 taking the helm.
Moving along the road, they came up on a large bridge and on the other side was the riverside town in the distance. Immediately, a scouting drone was deployed into the air to scout out the situation ahead.
Two squads of Vespid could be seen guarding on the bridge and waiting on the other riverbank were three to five Jaguars. Seems they intend to collapse the entire bridge with mortar the moment the Vespid squads failed to fulfill their duty.
They could go about this in two different ways. Storm the bridge and quickly cross before the mortar drops, or take out the Jaguars first then cross the bridge. For the former, with their coordination and firepower it is definitely possible to pull off, however it also contains a high risk of the Jaguar laying down the mortar sooner than expected. The latter, they do not have a good angle on the Jaguars and firing recklessly will do them no good, finding a way around is also out of the question.
Since Tiger has relinquished the command authority to M4A1, for this mission both him and Eagle are simply her generals and nothing more. The call will be hers to made, not them. Now, how will their Commander react?
"Mr Tiger, please move the drone closer toward the river."
"Roger." On M4A1's command, Tiger flew the drone lower and hovered above the frozen river. Through the shared camera feeds, M4A1 observed the frozen solid water for a bit before issuing her next order.
"Mr Eagle, please take your team and cross the river. The water should be frozen solid enough to walk on but please proceed cautiously."
"Copy that. Alright team, on me."
"Mr Tiger, have you team take position at the bridge. As soon as the Jaguars are taken care of, we will storm the bridge."
"Affirmative."
Eagle's team then slid down the slope and began making their way across the river. Just like M4A1 said, the water is frozen solid enough that even an adult can comfortably walk on it. By moving under the shadow of the bridge, they avoided detection from the enemy and got to the other riverbank safely.
Eagle, Springfield and StG44 then set up their post on two separate buildings with a good view on both the Jaguars and the bridge, while Ingram and P7 sneaked closer and hid themselves behind the car wreckages.
"Everyone got their target?"
"All set!"
"Same here!"
"Alright, firing in 3…2…1…"
Soon as the sound of gunfire was heard, the Vespid squads on the bridge were alerted and immediately turned around, unbeknownst that they have fallen right into a trap. With Tiger, SPAS-12 and their shield in the lead, the machinegun section followed suit behind and easily shredded the Vespids.
All two Echelons have successfully crossed the bridge, but by now the Sangvis force in town must have heard the gunfire and is probably heading over. Eagle then hopped onto the roof to keep a lookout. As he was scanning the area through the rifle scope, through the window of a building about 3 blocks away there was a hand waving at him.
"What the…" he thought to himself when the hand took out a small mirror and reflected the sunlight at him in sequential order. A message.
"Enemy…North…North…East…" quickly realizing the message, Eagle then deployed his scouting drone into the air and flew it toward the direction. From a single scan, all that Eagle could see through the camera was only Sangvis's signature.
"Commander, the Sangvis have sniffed us out and is already en route from North North-East."
"What's their number?"
"About one battalion, largest group is currently moving through the avenue with the smaller ones flooding the smaller roads. At the pace they are moving, in 30 minutes they will have us completely surrounded."
An entire battalion, roughly 500 Sangvises. Simply after hearing that, some T-Dolls started to get butterflies in their stomach. But M4A1 was completely calm as her DigiMind had already formulated a plan.
"In order to reach our current position, the avenue troop will have to pass through the town square and that's where we make our stand. We gather them all into one place and take them all out in one fell swoop."
"Ingram, PPSh-41, StG44 and G36 will form a team, SOP-II, AR-15 and Skorpion will follow me. We will intercept the two smaller groups and get them to follow us."
"Mr Tiger, set up the town square suitable for defensive action, use anything and everything at your disposal. Mr Eagle, have everyone else take position in the surrounding buildings. All units, move out!"
"Roger!"
While all the heated and intense actions were about to take place, inside the building three blocks away from there, the mysterious figure who messaged Eagle about the Sangvis's movement gave one last glance from inside the shadow before disappearing without a trace.
"Thanks for the assistance, everyone, and have fun~"
So, are all you boys and girls ready for Singularity? I've stocked up on anti-depressant so I'm all good.