So, how did all you boys and girls fare in Singularity? Got your hoxy? Bone dry on resources? Acquired depression? All of the above?
Chapter 11: Bad blood
Sector 4, Riverside city. Time check: 0805.
Hearing the sound of gunfire, all Sangvis dolls currently in the area had immediately regrouped and headed toward the direction enmassed. Like an army of ants marching toward their prey, their number was that of an entire battalion and just like how ants fight, they intended to surround and overwhelm their target with sheer number.
With the main troop marching through the avenue, the smaller ones advanced toward the G&K's position through the smaller alleyways.
"Hey, Sangvis scum!" suddenly on their march, a roaring voice caught their attention.
"Eat this!" from atop the roof, SOPMOD-II laughed loudly before launching a 40mm grenade right in the center of the Sangvis troop. At the same time another explosion could be heard on the other side of the avenue.
"Ms M4, we've got their attention." Reported G36.
"Got it. Everyone, just as we planned fall back to the town square!" on M4A1's command, both the AR and the other team immediately retreated. The moment the G&K T-Dolls were within their field of vision, the Sangvis dolls completely abandoned their original plan and is dead set of pursuing the enemy before them instead.
With their mobility, leaping from one rooftop to another, the AR team easily outran the Sangvis. They would make some distance away then stopped temporarily to cull down the Sangvis's number and once the enemies have caught up, continued to fall back. This tactic wouldn't have been possible if there was a Ringleader on site giving out orders, so at least they got that going for them.
The town square was already within sight. From afar, M4 could see some sort of makeshift barricade created from old car wrecks, but knowing Tiger he definitely has much more in store for the Sangvis.
"M4, over here!" from one of the building Skorpion waved at the AR team, signaling them to quickly take cover. Both teams have safely retreated, now to wait for the right moment. As they hid themselves in the shadow, the battalion of Sangvis soon came into view. Marching through the street with their guns at the ready, they're on the lookout for another ambush from the surrounding buildings. But often time, when your head is in the cloud you tend to forget what's on the ground.
Approaching closer to the town square, the Sangvis doll in the very front walked right over a tripwire. From the four Cryo grenades attached, a giant cloud of blue smoke then assaulted and instantly froze the Sangvis dolls unfortunate enough to be within range.
"SPAS-12, now!"
"Okay, Adjutant!"
On Tiger's signal, him and SPAS-12 then kicked the two car wrecks that were thought to be the barricade toward the frozen Sangvis dolls. After all, the best defense is a good offense. As brittle as they are now, the car wrecks easily crashed through them and a few more before stopping completely. By then, the Sangvis dolls in the back then climbed over the car wrecks and swarmed forward, once again not even bother to check what's inside.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Kaboom.
Like the roar of a thunderclap, the C4 charges planted inside the wrecks exploded with an ear-shattering sound sending Sangvis corpses flying everywhere. Before such carnage, with a calm voice Tiger spoke into the radio.
"All units, begin counterattack."
At the same time, in a Sangvis abandoned Command Post.
"Arrived at the destination 20 minutes ahead of time." Said HK416, making her way further inside while stepping over the debris on the floor. Following right behind her seem to be someone else, not G11, humming a small tune.
"Are you sure this is the place?" when 416 asked, the person behind her then answered with a playful tone.
"Of course. It is this very place where Agent wiped the floor with the AR Team, the very same place where that pals of yours had suffered. So, feeling excited yet?"
The duo then entered a large room. At once, 416 looked for the lever and switched on the power. The room then lit up, revealing what seems to be the aftermath of a battle. Bullet holes on the floor and wall, large chunks of debris littered here and there. And with the lighting on, the identity of the other person was also revealed.
"Hm~, it's just so efficient with a human commander's support." Mused Ump45.
"Be sure to thank the commander with ALL you've got, okay?" she poked fun at 416, but instead of the usual retort of distaste, this time the latter responded by stomping her foot on the ground which surprised 45.
"416?"
"While I'll do it if you give me a direct order, this one thing is something that I will not comply no matter what!" 416 shouted angrily then proceeded to extract data they came here for from the control terminal on the wall. As 45 was still wondering just who or what managed to tick this girl off so much, she remembered the conversation from last night with G11 and the rumors she heard here and there, then everything finally clicked.
A week ago, Base 794 had hired two human mercenaries as Adjutant and Combat Advisor to compensate its lack of Commander, and when 416 and G11 got dragged along on a recon mission last night by MG5, they encountered this very same Adjutant.
From what G11 told her because 416 refused to open her mouth, by some misfortune the military-turned-Sangvis troops in the area were alerted of their presence and had immediately gave chase. It was thanks to this Adjutant that they were able to escape being surrounded unscathed, called in the reinforcement on standby and heavily damaged the enemy's vanguard unit including a Manticore while they're at it.
Guess the Adjutant's display of skill must have put quite a damper on 416's pride in her own skill. But just that wouldn't have made her this upset. The main reason for 416's anger was that, this new Adjutant, with clearly superior skill to her as proven by last night encounter, on the first day of duty had gone and made M4A1 the acting Commander of Base 794. Isn't that synonymous to saying she's inferior to M4A1 as a soldier?
"To make 416 this mad after meeting only once. Okay, Adjutant, now you've got my attention." With a smirk that forebodes nothing well, 45 then thought of how to put this juicy piece of information into future use.
"Data recovered. We have Agent's coordinates. Tell 9 to stop messing around and continue the pursuit." After a while, 416 finally spoke up. 45 then was about to contact this '9' person to relay the message, when she noticed that 416 was still fiddling with the control terminal.
"What…are you doing, 416? Ah~! Looking for clues about your pal, eh?" like a lightbulb being lit, 45 slammed her fist down on her palm after comprehending the meaning behind 416's action.
"Such a chance doesn't come by every day. I won't let her off."
"All right, all right. I'll leave you to it then." Saying that, 45 then walked back out through the hallway.
"Just don't go overboard on your own, got it? She can be quite dangerous when she gets serious, you know that better than any of us, no?"
Riverside town.
"All unit, cease fire."
As the cloud of smoke and dust began to settle, the result of the battle became clear as day. Sangvis corpses, some with a hole bored through their head, some losing a majority of their body, some shredded into halves, others into thousand pieces, and one of them is still being dissected.
"No more Sangvis signature found, all hostile activities have ceased. All enemies neutralized, it's our win." After a quick scan, Tiger then declared their victory as the T-Dolls cheers in joy.
"Woahoo! We won! Righto, Adjutant!" jumping up and down excitedly, SPAS-12 then raised her palm at Tiger and after a brief pause, he shrugged and slowly reached out his as the two did a high-five.
"Especially you, Commander. Splendid work."
"Ah- N-no, I-I-" suddenly received a compliment, M4A1 got flustered and began stuttering with her words. Took her a while to calm down enough to get something comprehensible out of her mouth.
"I am only d-doing what is expected of me…Thank you, Mr Tiger…"
"Adjutant! What about SOP-II? SOP-II also fought well!"
"Take it as you redeeming yourself for your misbehavior this morning"
"Aww, no fair!"
"That means you too, Ingram! Don't think I did not notice!"
"Boo, you're no fun at all."
Hearing their banters over the radio, Eagle couldn't help but let out a small sigh. The mysterious person who fed him intel on the Sangvis must have been the ghost squad 404. As expected of a squad that 'does not exist', by the time he looked back to check they were already long gone. At least he knows that they're on the same side.
With the situation at hand dealt with, Eagle then checked the satellite map for their next destination. Following the main road and head north-east-east toward the city, that means deeper into ELID-contaminated zone, which also means higher chance of encountering ELID-infected mutants.
Any and all information they have on this threat from the database are from more than 10 years ago and haven't been updated since which is the same as having no information at all to work with. In a scenario like this where improvising is the only solution, it's never hurt to be too well-prepared. Thinking that, he then contacted Kalina about some adjustments for the supply to be delivered.
"Calling. Calling. M4A1, do you copy?" suddenly, as they were waiting for the supply choppers to arrive, M4A1 received a radio call from a Sangvis frequency, but the voice calling on the line was of someone she knows.
"M16? Is that you, big sis M16?! You're okay? Where are you now?" hearing the voice of her comrade after so long, M4 sort of lost her cool as she shot at M16 a barrage of questions.
"Woah woah, slow down now, sister. Are you with the others right now?"
"Both SOP-II and AR-15 is here. We're only missing you."
"That's good to hear then. Don't worry, I'm fine. I managed to find a depot so I'm not low on supplies for the time being, but I've still got some business to attend to."
"What business do you have? When are you coming back?"
"Well…we'll see. Ah! Gotta go!"
"Hello? M16? Big sis?! Hello?" and just like that, M16 ended the call. No matter how much and how loud M4 yelled, there was no longer a response and only silence. M16 said that she's fine, but even then M4 still couldn't help but be worried. After all this time of being separated, they finally have a chance at reunion, no way she's going to let it slip away.
"M4, was that M16 just now? Is she…not coming back?"
"No! She will come back! It just that…she…" under great confusion herself, M4 couldn't find the right word to tell SOPMOD-II about the situation with M16. Suddenly, AR-15 hushed at them.
"Hold on. Someone's making a public broadcast!" at that moment, from an open channel on their radio and from the town's speaker system that should have stopped working years ago, rung out a voice.
"Please to meet you, everyone. Still awaiting news from your companion? Perhaps you should focus on what's at hand instead." Despite clearly being an enemy, the tone and choice of word was rather polite.
"Intruder…I didn't expect you to make an appearance so soon." Knowing just who that voice belonged to, AR-15 muttered her name with a grimace.
"It'd be discourteous of me to not entertain the guests who graced my land with their presence." Intruder replied to AR-15, still with a polite tone.
"First of all, I need to congratulate you on wiping out my pursuit troops. But that was only one of my many still out there, so I am not offended in the slightest."
"And, since all of you have come such a long way here, I've prepared the warmest reception and also a present for you all on the way so do look forward to it." Broadcast ended.
Shortly after that when the supply choppers arrived, they received a new mission from HQ along with some new information on the new Ringleader. From the briefing, Intruder seems to be a new Ringleader model for there was no data about her in the Sangvis's old product catalogue.
However, thanks to the ghost squadron's intel, they know that she's a commander model and her base of operation lies in the heart of the city further up north, also their next destination. With the presence of a Sangvis Ringleader confirmed, their mission has been updated to the following: neutralize Intruder's defense network and eliminate her. And despite M4A1 reporting about M16's current situation and requested to rescue her, HQ had declined her request and even stressed that the elimination of Intruder takes precedence over all.
"So what will it be, Commander?" breaking the silence, Tiger asked.
"Mr Tiger…I…don't know…This time I really don't know…" M4 answered, clenching her fist tightly. As a T-Doll of G&K and the current acting commander, she's bound by her duty to eliminate the Sangvis threat. But as simply M4A1, right now she wanted nothing more than to ignore everything and go look for M16. Loyalty to her duty or loyalty to her comrade.
Then again, since when were those two things exclusive to each other?
"'Bring the AR Team back in one piece', that's the first order you've given us and it still stands. As per the order dictates, we cannot mobilize our entire troop on a 'search and rescue' with a Ringleader still presented. However, we can send a small detachment to 'rendezvous with a recon party in the area to obtain more intel on the current objective'."
"Is it…possible? Can something like that…really be done?" M4 asked shakily.
"As long as you make the call, we will carry it out."
"Then…big sis M16…please bring big sis M16 back!"
"Wilco. Eagle, take three with you and rendezvous with the recon party. She mentioned an outpost and we have the used frequency recorded, shouldn't be too hard to narrow down the general direction."
"Copy that, Chief. Ms Springfield, Ms G36 and Skorpion, on me." Taking those three with him, Eagle then quickly departed on one of the chopper to look for M16. Once the chopper was completely out of the range of vision, Tiger then turned back to the rest of the troop.
"Alright, as per the order from HQ, we will now make a beeline toward the closest Sangvis depot to disrupt their chain of supply and gather more intel on the enemy. Now let's step on it with the resupply, we move out in five!"
"Yes sir!"
"Mr Tiger…thank you…"
"Don't be. Your job as the commander is to lead the troops. Ours, as Adjutant and Combat Advisor, is to ensure you're in the perfect condition for it." Tiger then walked away toward the supply crate with leaving M4 to herself as she gave a deep bow to express her gratitude.
Then, from the grey cloudy sky, it began snowing.
Meanwhile, at M16's hideout.
"Haaa…Although I boasted my way through the call, I wouldn't say no to a little help right now." M16 let out the longest sigh while reloading a new magazine into her gun. It was by pure dumb luck that she managed to find this old ruin that the Sangvis had turned into an outpost. Now that she had secured the supply for herself, M16 was about to plan out the next course of action when she suddenly flipped over the table she was sitting on and quickly dodged into a corner. The moment she did, a hail of bullets immediately turned the table into wooden scrap.
"But I'm guessing you're not here to help, are you, 416!" M16 shouted loudly. Inside another ruin, from a good vantage HK416 was closely observing her every move.
"A Sangvis would have been a more welcome sight than me now, wouldn't it?" 416 asked back sarcastically.
"Well, not like I hadn't seen this coming." Saying that, M16 then bolted out of the building she was in and sprinted at full speed toward the next one whilst having another hail of bullets right on her tail.
"But as a G&K T-Doll, shouldn't you at least give a reason for killing someone other than Sangvis units?"
"With the authorized rights exclusive to Squad 404, I can attack any T-Doll that hinder my action, friend and enemy alike." 416 replied to M16's inquiry, quickly swapping out a new magazine.
"Damn, that's some handy-dandy rights you have. Gotta say, I'm a bit jealous." M16 mocked back which only further fuel the flame of anger inside 416.
"Shut up, M16! You know…the price you have to pay…"
"Haaa…Am I really such an eyesore?" when M16 asked that, at first 416 gritted her teeth then that expression slowly turned into a twisted smile.
"To be honest, I've never been glad about my authorization…until now."
"To be honest, I was quite fond of you back at National Security, but that was then. And now, we're finally showing our hand…"
"Indeed. You can't run this time, M16. Not anymore."
The snow continued to pile up even higher. After a brief silence where everything, even time, appears to have come to a halt, M16 and HK416, the two then simultaneously pulled their trigger, signifying the start of their duel.
Unlike 416 who got the jump on her and was attacking with pinpoint precision, M16 could only fire toward the general direction that she assumed to be where the attacks are coming from. And while this snowfall does help in covering her track, it's also hindering her even more in trying to identify 416's position.
"Cheh, seems I really can't get out of this without having a few more scars." Clicking her tongue, M16 then once again bolted out of her hiding and ran in a zigzag pattern, feigning running away from a fight.
"I told you already, this time you will not run away!" in another fit of rage toward the cowardly act of her opponent, 416 fired her gun at full auto, not knowing that's exactly what M16 wanted. Thanks to that, her perfect vantage point was revealed.
"Found ya!" Having figured out where her opponent is firing from, M16 then shot a barrage toward it, flushing 416 out.
"Tch!" seeing the incoming barrage, 416 jumped to one side and escaped by a hair's breadth. Not letting M16 turning the table on her, 416 immediately abandoned the vantage point and opted to repositioning. Little did she know the moment M16 figured out her position, her next move was already well within the latter's prediction. The moment she made a turn around the corner, a flashbang was lobbed right at her face.
"Shi-" the flashbang exploded into a blinding white light before the entire word could even get out of her mouth. Taking that chance, M16 shielded her eyes with one arm and lunged toward 416. With her vision still impaired by the flash, 416 tried to aim her gun at M16 but was far too slow and only got it knocked out of her hand.
"Damn you!" letting out a curse, this time 416 pulled out a knife and swung it at M16.
"You're one tough nut to crack, you know that?!" M16 cried out when 416 even pulled out her pistol and fired at her. While every shot was way off base, she managed to get M16 to back away. Glancing around, she saw her gun lying on the ground. Quickly, she leapt toward it and M16 leapt after her.
416 caught her gun, rolled a few rounds on the snow and quickly got back up with her gun at the ready, same goes with M16. A total face-off. Both are within the firing range of the other, and right now even the smallest mistake can cost them their live. Then, the moment they were about to pull the trigger was interrupted by something akin to a thunder strike.
"What?!" 416 reflexively let out a cry while shielding herself from the falling rubble. Even for M16, everything happened so fast she only managed to catch a glimpse of it. Something like a sniper bullet had flew cross them at blinding speed and into the pillar of the ruin next to them and exploded upon contact. The pillar then collapsed down right before them, interrupted the supposed duel to the death.
"Guh, the hell is this?!" 416 tried to disperse the cloud of dust before her by waving her hand. Then once she saw that M16 was still dumbfounded by the event that just unfolded, she immediately took aim but…
"I would not move another muscle if I was you." A voice suddenly rung out on their radio. It's from an unknown frequency that is neither G&K or Sangvis. 416 immediately turned to scan her surrounding when a sniper shot then grazed just barely by her face.
When she turned her head around to look, the wall of brick behind her had a huge hole bored into it, and she too would have suffered the same fate if that shot did not barely miss by just a few millimeters. Or was that the intention, a warning shot?
Realizing that there's a crosshair right on her head, 416 then lowered her gun although very reluctantly. As for M16, while still in a state of shock was approached from behind by G36.
"Are you Ms M16?' she asked which spooked M16.
"Huh wha-? Y-yes, I am M16."
"We're sent by Ms M4A1. Please follow me, our chopper is just right outside." She said and walked away, not letting M16 even a chance to respond so the latter could only follow.
"Wha-, hold it-"
"Do you still want your head intact or no?" when that voice asked back, 416 finally snapped at it.
"Who the fuck do you think you're, barging into someone else's business like that?!"
"Well, the one that you were about to shoot, our Commander asked us to pick her up so it's kind of also our business." The voice answered calmly, which pissed off 416 even more.
"Your Commander? Ah, I see, so you're the two humans hired to serve that bitch M4A1. What, did you human get tired of being the 'master' and wanted to take a jab at being the 'servant' instead?" 416's mockery grew more intense and more foul by the second, but her attempt at instigation was proven to be of no effect.
"Not really. We choose our own boss, not the other way around. And what about you? Don't you ever get tired of being your own petty grudge's lap dog?"
A few minutes later, as Eagle was heading back to the chopper, he sensed a presence eyeing him from the shadow and quickly turned around, drawing his handgun.
"Woah woah, easy now, friendly, friendly." As the one hiding in the shadow slowly stepped out, Eagle lowered his gun as he seemed to recognize her.
"You are…part of the ghost squad, correct? The one who alerted me about the Sangvis force."
"Ooh~! Even though all you saw was my hand? Impressive!" complimented UMP45, giving Eagle a thumb up.
"I assume that you're the leader of your squad. Then can I ask you to keep the behavior of your squad mate in check next time?" he asked, referring to 416.
"Well, I'm really sorry about that. It's just that 416 has been working really hard recently, so I decided to give her a vacation of sort, you see."
"Guess our definition of 'vacation' differ greatly from each other."
"You could say that." 45 let out a small laugh that went on for a while when she suddenly pointed her gun at Eagle. Seeming to have anticipated something like this, Eagle immediately dropped the sniper rifle closed the distance between them, removed the magazine from 45's gun, ejected the remaining chambered round and pointed his gun at her throat.
Locked in position, the two stared at each other for a good minute before 45 dropped her gun and raised both hands as a sign of surrendering.
"Now I see why 416 is so upset. You win, I give." She said with a smile on her face. After determining that her gesture is genuine, Eagle then holstered his gun. He even picked the magazine and the ejected round on the ground and gave it back to 45 as she, once again, suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer to her.
"'It's raining on the plain'."