The clink and clatter of table and silverware mixed with the cacophony of voices filling the mess hall. Dolls fresh from the repair bays were still flooding into the enormous cafeteria, hungry for food, and the kitchen staff were hard pressed to provide them with it. The long line was still growing as dolls grabbed fresh trays, still hot from the dishwasher, and joined the queue.

"Maybe I'll pass on food after all," said Type 79 upon seeing what would be a long wait. StG44 reached out and snagged her sleeve, stopping the other doll from leaving.

"Bad idea," she warned. "There won't be many other chances to get food for the next couple hours."

Type 79 reluctantly stayed, though continued to frown at the line. StG turned to make sure that Tokarev and FAMAS had both remained as well. Tokarev smiled at her gaze, but FAMAS merely offered a twitch of her mouth. The line shifted, and all four of them stepped forward.

"I hope the potatoes are still warm by the time we get there," said Tokarev. "Cold food is the last thing I want after something like that."

"It wasn't that bad," said StG 44. "We've fought worse."

"Don't be so prideful. It wasn't easy either," said FAMAS.

Tokarev reached up to adjust the bow around her neck. "Not everyone has the same drive as you, 44."

StG shrugged. "For a job such as mine, it's needed."

"Keep telling yourself that," muttered Type 79.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Next!" shouted the kitchen staff, and the line shifted. Type 79, about to speak, was bumped from behind by SSG 69.

"Watch it," StG said to the offender. Type 79 gave her a sour look.

"Buzz off, 44. It's okay, SSG," she said, turning to SSG 69, who had taken several steps back in embarrassment. StG turned to look back towards the front of the line.

"You should really be less harsh, 44," said Tokarev mildly. "One of these days, someone won't like your tone, and they'll do something about it."

StG looked at the smaller doll with narrowed eyes. "Oh? Well, they're welcome to try."

FAMAS turned around to face the two. "Just because you're spiteful about your existence doesn't mean you get to speak down to everyone else," she said. "Tokarev's right."

"If you say so," said StG, though she didn't think much of that. The line moved forward again.

"Too bad NTW couldn't join us," said Type 79, finished with her conversation with SSG 69. "Talking to that doll we saved, right?"

"Yeah," said FAMAS. "Anyone catch her name?"

"SuperSASS," said Tokarev. "She was with Thompson before the defensive. She seemed pretty out of it."

"I imagine," said StG. "We did save her from death, after all. Pretty traumatizing your first time."

FAMAS glanced at StG, but said nothing.

"It looked like she did well to me," said Type 79. "Though I wonder why NTW is bothering to talk to her."

"Maybe it's a rifle thing," said Tokarev. "All of them are really weird, you know? Ever seen how WA2000 acts towards those other human commanders when they visit?"

"Or tasted her cooking…" joked FAMAS.

"If it counts as that," StG said. The line shifted forward again as the next chunk of T-dolls received their food.

"Maybe she just wants an excuse to get drunk," said Type 79. "She does like that South African stuff."

"She's not like that," said FAMAS. "And she deserves it anyhow. We all do."

The line shifted forward again. Type 79 tapped out a rhythm on her tray as they waited.

"Say, any idea when the next batch of upgrade opportunities will be announced?" asked StG. "I could use one of those. They say it did wonders for BAR and the others."

"We could all use them," said FAMAS, crossing her arms. "That stuff doesn't come cheap, though. And, well, none of our models are exactly top priority."

StG frowned. "Dummkopf IOP engineers."

"Watch your tone," smiled Tokarev. "They did build you, after all."

"Next!" shouted the cafeteria staff, and the four of them moved to the counter. Everyone began piling food on their trays, taking liberal quantities of whatever they wanted. StG walked away with sausage, potatoes, and soup, though avoided the other drinks in preference for a glass of water. The four all took a seat near the walls, StG and Tokarev sitting across from FAMAS and Type 79.

"How do you eat so much?" asked Type 79, pointing at Tokarev's tray with her fork. The latter had taken a heaping pile of mashed potatoes and was busy cranking the pepper mill over it.

"It's not like we're humans," said Tokarev, setting aside the pepper mill and picking up her fork. "I can afford to eat this much without getting fat. And," she continued, blowing on the potatoes to cool them down, "even if that were so, it's not as if I don't run around enough to work it off. We all do. StG took two whole sausages."

StG was busy slicing the bratwurst into edible portions, but she looked up at Tokarev. "They're good," she defended. Tokarev shrugged.

"So, Grizzly," said Type 79. "Killed on the hilltop?"

"Yeah," said FAMAS. "Tokarev, you saw the corpse, didn't you?"

Tokarev nodded. "Dead as a doornail. Though it seemed like she went out fighting."

"She still died," StG said, unapproving. "Killing one more Sangvis won't help you there, no matter what your reputation's like."

"Everyone dies, 44," said FAMAS, eyeing the other T-doll. "You're not criticizing yourself over it."

StG chuffed. "At least I made something of it. Grizzly's leading some group of amateurs who were destroyed by a Sangvis offensive we pushed back in ten minutes."

"I don't see you facetanking an artillery barrage!"

StG felt the bench wobble as someone sat down next to her and turned to see who had spoken. RFB grinned back, brushing a strand of hair over her shoulder as she sat. StG's eye twitched. "If you'd just held the line before the hilltop, it wouldn't have happened like that," she said.

"And disobey Commander Kerr's orders?" said RFB. "Well, I'm sure some of us wanted to, but Grizzly-chan insisted we cede to Kerr's demand and retreat. Besides, being closer to the Sangvis lines wouldn't have changed much. Having the high ground is an advantage after all, wouldn't you say?"

FAMAS grinned from behind her glass of water, and Tokarev quickly shoveled another forkful of potatoes in her mouth. Type 79 picked away at the paint on her prosthetic.

"...fine," said StG. "Where're the rest of you?"

"Well, Ingram and M590 are still in the repair bay, but Grizzly-chan went to get her own debriefing as soon as she was fixed. I don't know about SASS."

Crying into NTW's shoulder, thought StG. "She's in the café with NTW-20."

RFB pouted. "Hrm. Well, I guess I'll just go talk to Grizzly-chan. Have fun plotting how to win battles!"

Tokarev bit her lip until RFB had pranced out of hearing distance, then both she and FAMAS broke out into laughter. "The look on your face!" said FAMAS, nearly choking on her food.

"That bitch," fumed StG. "She doesn't know the half of it."

"Still more than you," said Type 79 from across the table. "She was there. You weren't. Don't undersell her just because you don't like her attitude."

FAMAS nodded sagely, though continued smiling. StG started eating her sausage to take her mind off of it. The taste of the bratwurst was soured by RFB, though, and she placed her hands on the sides of her head in exasperation.

"Look, 44," said Tokarev, folding her arms and leaning against the table. "It's just some random battle. You'll have plenty of chances to prove yourself down the line. You already have."

Not often enough, StG thought, but she didn't say anything. The others awkwardly resumed eating.

By the time they had all finished their food, the influx of dolls into the cafeteria had slowed and more dolls were leaving than coming. Tokarev meticulously scraped the last bits of potato off of her tray before standing up and starting towards the back wall, the others following suit. Several stacks of dirty trays had been started there, and the four of them added theirs to the pile.

"For a defensive like that, there's a lot of healthy dolls up and about," observed StG, eyeing the horde of dolls streaming out the doors into the hallways.

"Command Kerr had the repair bays fully staffed for the aftermath," said FAMAS. "Or so I heard AR70 say. Dolls have been in and out all day, so the base is nearly back to full operating capacity."

"Seems like a waste of resources to do it so fast," sniffed StG.

"Unless she's planning something new," said Type 79. "I wouldn't put it past her. She did order us to go after the ringleader during the defensive, after all. Maybe there's more that she wants to do."

The four exited the cafeteria and joined the throng of T-dolls in the hallway, pushing toward the dormitories. StG fell to the back as they moved along, feeling claustrophobic from the press of the crowd. The rumble of footsteps and conversation seemed only to grow in volume the further along they went.

"Attention all Griffin dolls," blared the PA system. "If you or a squadmate is suffering from a combat-related injury, please report to the repair bays immediately. Repeat, if you or a squadmate..."

StG felt a tug on her jacket and turned about to see M1 Garand folding her arms across her chest. "What do you want?"

"To talk," said Garand.

"Screw you," said StG. When she turned around, however, FAMAS and the others had moved on, and SVT-38 stood in front of her, hands on her hips. StG attempted to move to the side, but Garand grabbed her jacket again, this time around StG's arm, stopping the doll from leaving.

"Come on," said SVT-38, her tone patronizing. "Can't you spare some time?"

StG wrenched her arm out of Garand's grip and spun around, sticking her finger in the doll's face. "Touch me again, and I'll beat you bloody."

Garand chuckled. "Aggressive, huh? Want to tell me how to run my ops too?"

StG narrowed her eyes, but said nothing, starting to turn and rejoin the crowd, which had started to split around the three dolls in avoidance.

"Going to run again?" said Garand. StG looked back at the doll.

"Go to hell."

"Nice catchphrase," taunted Garand. "I bet you act like that every night so you can sleep."

StG twisted around and started walking towards Garand.

"Watch it," Garand said to SVT. "She wouldn't be this confident if I was wearing a maid costu-"

There was a crack as StG's rifle stock caught Garand on the temple, and the doll fell to the floor. SVT's boots squeaked as she made to run at StG, who twisted to dodge her assailant's punch and kneed her in the stomach. SVT doubled over, and StG swung her gloved hand up, breaking SVT's nose with a wet crunch.

"You bitch," Garand said from where she lay. StG slung her rifle over her shoulder and walked to the doll, leaning down to haul her up by her lapels before throwing her back to the floor. Garand hit the tile hard and slid a couple feet, nearly tripping up some of the bystanders. StG placed a boot on the other doll's thigh and reached down, taking a firm grip on Garand's ankle and pulling up. The doll's leg broke almost easily. Garand's face went taut from the pain, and she screamed loud enough to quiet the rest of the hallway.

By now, much of the passing crowd had stopped to watch, and the hallway had gotten a good deal quieter. StG turned back to SVT, kneeling on the floor, and gave the doll a kick to the face, breaking her skin and laying her out flat. The crowd gasped. StG clenched her fists, but made no further move, carefully regulating her breath.

"StG," said Tokarev, who had appeared at the front of the crowd.

"I'm fine," said StG, but judging by Tokarev's expression, that was not the question she meant to ask. Her stomach flipped as FAMAS and Type 79 stepped out of the crowd as well.

"Christ, what did they do?" asked FAMAS. Type 79 hung back to watch. "You beat them bloody."

StG glanced at Garand, who was moaning in pain as she picked herself up. "They deserved it. And I warned them."

"Making fun of you hardly deserves beating the shit out of them!"

"They're androids. They can take it."

FAMAS stared at StG. "You're a bitch."

StG merely pushed by FAMAS, through the staring crowd and towards the dormitories, onlookers' eyes focused on her back. Damn oglers. She looked down at her gloved hands. Her right one was stained from breaking SVT's nose, coolant soaking into the cloth. StG steeled herself against the uneasiness rising in her belly and picked up her pace. She ought to visit the training range.