This is it.
I'll make you proud, senpai.
SASS gazed down at the knife in her hands. It had been so long ago, really, that NTW handed it to her, or so it felt. How far we've come. SASS ran a thumb along the flat of the blade absentmindedly. Once she thought about it, those memories of being lost during her first battle in S17 were almost alien. How could she have been like that? Everything from that time seemed so small, before this current battle. Before Gestalt. SASS thought of M1919A4. I'm sorry that you couldn't be around for this battle. I know you liked a good fight.
M1919A4 might not be around for anything, at least not as the doll that SuperSASS knew. Nor would many other dolls if Operation Hammerhead was to fail. SASS, at least, was certain that no such thing would happen. It could not be allowed to happen. That much was for certain. It was like the Commander had said: for your comrades, dead or alive.
I cannot dwell on this. SASS sheathed her knife and placed it back on her belt, looking around the cabin as she did. Everyone else was as quiet as Ingram, likely thinking the same thing as SASS. Grizzly simply stared at the floor, waiting for the helicopter to touch down, while M590 traced a path around the stock of her gun with a finger. Ingram was inspecting her knife too, while RFB was content to stare past SASS and out the window.
M590 broke the silence. "This is it. We're landing."
The helicopter slowed and then rocked as it landed. Grizzly stood and pulled the door open, staring out of the helicopter for a moment before she jumped down.
"Out, let's go!"
Magazines. Spare scope. Flashlight. Knife. Radio. SuperSASS patted her pockets once again to make sure that everything she needed was there with her. Not that I'd be able to run back and get it. The helicopter lifted into the air and tilted forward, returning to the base. Now they were alone in the forest with nothing but a near-impossible task ahead of them. SASS slung her rifle over her shoulder as Grizzly Team started to move and its leader spoke.
"Right, just to be clear – we're pushing forward to link up with Rose and Chrysanthemum teams, then proceeding towards the base once we get the all-clear from command. We'll move fast, no chatter. Let's get it done."
Grizzly could not be any more obviously nervous. SASS stayed close behind the others as they made their way through the forest. This operation had put everyone on edge ever since Grizzly returned from the briefing with what their task would be: clearing the way for Hunter Squadron's attack on Gestalt. Then SASS questioned why it was Grizzly Team of all of them that had been selected, but now she recognized why. Ingram's happy, at least. Her teammate was hotly anticipating this battle.
Another helicopter flew overhead, this one headed towards the battle. A resupply chopper. The battle in the valley had already been raging for at least an hour, Sangvis forces throwing themselves against the Griffin cordon in hopes of finding a section that would yield and grant them escape. No such weakness had yet been found, thankfully, but Grizzly had told the squad what was being said over the radio about some of the harder pressed echelons. SASS hoped none of the dolls she knew were among the dead or wounded.
"Hold here," Grizzly ordered, and the entire echelon stopped. "I see Sangvis ahead. Scouts, just a patrol."
SASS raised her rifle and peered down the scope, spying the Sangvis bots in a clearing less than a hundred meters away.
"What're they doing here? I thought this sector's been cleared," said M590.
"No clue. SASS, RFB, move up and pick your targets. We'll clear them out and move on."
"Roger," SASS said, quickly stepping past Grizzly and setting up near a cluster of trees. Her dummies spread out and took positions in a rough arc while RFB got ready to shoot. "I'll get the right five, you take the left."
"Got it," the other doll said.
SASS paused a moment, then squeezed the trigger. A series of hammered beats accompanied the scouts dropping to the ground with a neat hole through each of their cores. RFB cleaned up the remaining few with bursts while SASS stood and stepped into the clearing.
"Good job," said Grizzly. "Clean shots. Let's move on."
"Grizzly, we can't just ignore them," M590 said as they trotted through the forest. "Chrysanthemum wouldn't just miss a unit of Sangvis. They shouldn't have been there at all."
"It's not my concern. We'll mention it to CBJ when we link up."
SASS had not gotten a chance to speak to NTW-20 before this mission started, but she supposed that it was probably for the better. They had already drifted apart since the concert, since the raid, since – well, SASS had felt distant from everyone since she had cleaned up the corpses in Doll Services. That had been a uniquely sobering experience, one that SASS resolved to prevent ever happening again. Somehow, SASS knew that NTW-20 would not share the same sentiment. The pink-haired doll was kind enough to her, but deep down they were different in more than just the caliber of their weapon. Sorry, senpai. Maybe we're just not cut from the same cloth.
Be that as it may, SASS had certainly improved on her skills since she first spoke to NTW-20. No longer did she lack confidence with any of her shots or shy away from an encounter with Sangvis. SASS found it satisfying whenever she caught Grizzly looking at her approvingly or Ingram offered her a celebratory fist bump after a particularly successful battle or combat simulation. To her, it was a mark of progress – though sometimes SASS wondered if it was the good kind.
At least it was a nice day, if a bit cloudy. The snow had melted a bit before refreezing, so everyone was careful as they stepped, but the daytime mission meant that SASS did not need to make use of laser sights or a night-vision scope as she fought. The last night battle – the clearing out of the Sangvis-controlled hangar – had left a bad taste in SASS's mouth, and she hoped that there would be no more instances of fighting at night. It was tough and stressful and most of all fear-inducing. But Gestalt – the source of such fear – would be gone by the end of this operation.
Focus.
"There's Chrysanthemum now," M590 announced. "Look sharp, everyone."
SASS spied the other Griffin dolls standing in the glade ahead, white clouds puffing from their mouths. Welrod MkII had taken to the field with Rose Team, the sniper echelon, and now she stood with CBJ-MS as she watched Grizzly step out of the forest. It had been a long time – since the defensive several months ago, in fact – that SASS could remember working directly with more than one echelon. Grizzly was usually deployed independently or in tandem, so to be supporting two echelons as they blazed a path for a third was outside of her usual scope. It didn't help that Chrysanthemum and Rose were two of the best combat teams in S17, the sort of dolls Grizzly didn't usually work with.
"Welcome to the party," Welrod said as Grizzly approached. SASS hung back with M590 and listened to the conversation. "Did you run, or walk?"
SASS saw Grizzly raise her hands. "Don't blame me, we had to take out a Sangvis patrol on the way. I guess you guys missed one, huh?"
Welrod and CBJ-MS exchanged a glance. "We thought we cleared the area," said CBJ. "Something must've slipped by, then. Else Sangvis has a trick up its sleeve I'd rather not think about."
"Let's not dwell on it. The clock's ticking, we've got to move out now," Welrod said. "Sangvis won't wait for us."
Both the other echelons jumped to it, gathering around their leaders from where they had been waiting around the clearing. SASS felt a momentary buzz inside her head as Welrod linked everyone on Grizzly Team into the shared Zener network.
"Since we've started closing the cordon, the potential location of the Sangvis stronghold has been narrowed down to this area. We'll push forward with fire support from Cedar 4-8, adjusting our heading if necessary. The moment we get a fix on the location, that's our priority." Welrod looked around at each of the dolls. "Hunter is waiting for our word. We are not to engage Gestalt before they get here unless it is absolutely necessary."
"How much resistance do we expect on the way?" Grizzly asked.
"Anything from a couple mid-sized echelons to half the force they've got here. Word from the cordon is that Sangvis is still pressing hard since their last attempt. We can count on them to distract some of the force, but once Sangvis recognizes what they're doing the pressure will be on us."
Welrod paused as her words sank in. Surely this is a job for a bigger force, SASS thought.
"Chrysanthemum and Grizzly will take the lead here, with Rose providing sniper cover from the flanks. Cedar 4-8 is assigned to us, so we shouldn't be at a loss for fire support. Keep it tight and we'll punch right through Sangvis."
"Easier said than done," M590 muttered to SASS.
"Alright, let's move out!"
Chrysanthemum did indeed move fast. A rumble came from far off – another mortar strike along the cordon, SASS presumed – followed by the rapid tatatatat of machine gun fire. The edge of the cordon wasn't far off from their current position, she knew, and SASS hoped that whatever echelon was manning that section was strong enough to hold it. Many dolls had been committed to the cordon, but not all of them were exactly combat ready. Like me during that defensive. The thought was oddly amusing.
The crunch of snow stopped as Welrod ordered a halt. Even though she was part of the sniper echelon, she had chosen to take point along with CBJ-MS. The Zener command essentially froze everyone in their tracks as they waited for her orders.
"Contact front, fifty meters. Guards and Vespids. Rose, move up. Grizzly and Chrysanthemum, form a skirmish line."
The two teams spread out and made ready to attack. The Sangvis dolls seemed to have taken notice of the Griffin troops in the forest and were forming up with the Guards in front.
"Attack!"
Ten cracks resounded through the snowy forest as the sniper team let loose, followed by the racking of bolts as Lee-Enfield and Kar98K chambered another round. Welrod was the first doll to come out of the forest, pistol raised as she fired off rounds at the Sangvis. RFB and Type 56-1 were next, firing quicker and aiming for the unprotected Vespids on the flanks, while the rest of the skirmishers emerged and opened fire on the front. To their credit, Sangvis was quick on the uptake, plugging holes with more Guard shields and returning fire to keep the Griffin dolls suppressed.
Grizzly's shot pinged off a Sangvis shield. SASS adjusted her aim and squeezed the trigger, her bullet piercing the Guard's head and knocking it back onto the dolls behind it. That was the opening the dolls up front needed as Type 56-1 launched a grenade into the gap that further spread Sangvis and allowed everyone else to flood in. From there on out the battle was decided, with the remaining Sangvis dolls cut up by sniper fire and the Griffin teams up close.
"Good job," Grizzly remarked to SASS as they grouped back together.
SASS could only manage a muted "thanks" in reply. All she could really think of is what would happen if they ended up needing to fight Gestalt. It was different now than it had been last time – it was daytime, they had more dolls, mortar support, two elite teams instead of Carnation – so maybe they could handle the Ringleader. But SASS was more scared and depressed by the thought than anything else. She trusted NTW-20, sure, and Hunter was experienced with Ringleaders, but Gestalt wasn't like anything they had faced before. Even the Ringleaders that Griffin's special operations teams fought weren't at all similar to Gestalt – at least, based on the little information that wasn't classified or otherwise restricted.
"Hey," said RFB. "You ever wonder why this part of Europe gets so messed up all the time?"
M590 shrugged. "I just work here, RFB."
"A better question would be 'why are we always chosen for the worst missions?'" said Grizzly.
"Hey now, that's not a good example to set as echelon leader."
"Bite me."
"Eheheh…"
Welrod's voice came with sudden clarity over Zener. "Command has a fix on the Sangvis stronghold. It looks like they're operating out of an old factory turned into a command post one and a half klicks north-by-east of our current position. It's the source of most, if not all the Sangvis units on the field. We'll clear out the surrounding area and make a path for Hunter."
"Welrod, I'm wondering about this plan," Grizzly said, on the squad net so everyone could hear. "I'm starting to think maybe we're not capable–"
"Frankly, ladies, I'm not hearing the aggressiveness I'd like." Welrod's voice cut over Grizzly's thanks to its higher priority on the net. "We have the advantage of surprise, not to mention that Sangvis is preoccupied with the cordon. As long as we make no mistakes, it'll go fine."
Her tone implied that there would be no further argument. Grizzly gave M590 a look of incredulity before she turned and continued walking. The three teams were lined in a column as they moved through the forest, with Chrysanthemum up front, Rose at the back, and Grizzly in the middle. SASS felt unnaturally paranoid in the forest, all too vividly remembering the nighttime escape from Gestalt. Maybe Gestalt wasn't even in the stronghold. The mere thought gripped SASS with fear. Don't let the fear take over. Yes, that seemed like something NTW-20 would say as advice. Not that it really matters.
They had been thoroughly briefed on what to do should they ever make contact with Gestalt: avoid physical contact at all costs and break away from the engagement if possible. Of course, the latter wasn't possible for this excursion, since they had to keep Gestalt occupied until Hunter arrived. The matter of contact, though – well, if any of them so much as laid a finger on Gestalt (or vice versa), they would be considered a security risk and quarantined. Their fate would then be completely up in their air, and SASS did not particularly relish the thought of being permanently deactivated or experimented upon by IOP.
The group slowed as they mounted a small swell in the forest floor. Upon reaching the top, Welrod called another halt as she stood and surveyed the land in front of them.
"How can she see?" SASS voiced aloud.
"Probably special equipment that command dolls get," M590 speculated. "That, or some sort of satellite uplink courtesy of command. We can't be far from the Sangvis command post now, she's probably looking for signs of it or its defenders."
"And?"
Welrod answered for her. "Looks like a battalion's worth of Sangvis 750 meters ahead. Scattered, too, in individual squads. Snipers, Guards, Vespids, and heavy machine gun units. It looks like the hurricane bombardment from earlier hit pretty close to here, but it didn't do enough damage for us to get through on our own."
"So what's the play?" asked Grizzly.
The command doll paused a moment, considering her options. "We'll get in closer, choose a spot to break through, then call in a fire mission from the mortar unit. Then we break their line, radio for Hunter, and hold position as long as necessary."
"Permission to take point?" CBJ-MS asked.
"Granted. We'll move the same way as last time. Let's go."
They made their way through the underbrush with quiet efficiency. Unlike some of the less experienced teams that SASS had worked with in the past, Chrysanthemum and Rose moved with the practiced professionalism that SASS had noticed with the likes of Thompson and NTW. With a steady hand, CBJ-MS beckoned silent orders for her team to move up, just as Grizzly gestured for SASS and the others to do the same. Chrysanthemum treated each other the same way Grizzly and M590 did – there was that unspoken bond between them that SASS and RFB and Ingram didn't have, that they could tell each other more with a raised eyebrow than they might with a paragraph of words. They got along safely regardless, working their way through the forest until they could finally see the Sangvis building through the trees.
It was a sprawling two-story structure, deceptively low and quite featureless. Only large metal service doors and the high-up row of windows sunk into the concrete allowed access, though a large chunk of the right wing of the building was missing, scooped out by an unseen hand. The main door was at the back of the U-shaped front of the building. The courtyard, a once-cultivated garden for the benefit of visitors and employees, was now a ruined, cratered field of stone and overgrown shrubbery. The forest had grown closer to the factory where once it was trimmed, but there was still a perimeter of flat land without tree cover around the building.
It was in that zone that Sangvis stood. Scores upon scores of SF androids had formed a defensive line around the building, simply standing and waiting for the Griffin attack. If they had noticed the Griffin dolls lurking in the forest, they didn't seem to care, remaining at their posts like sentinels. SASS followed Grizzly and M590 as they went up to Welrod, who had ordered the Griffin dolls to stay concealed for the moment.
Welrod had produced a pair of field glasses and was busy observing the structure when Grizzly knelt down by her. SASS raised her rifle and used the scope to observe, noting the short-range mortars in the courtyard.
"Looks like they've got a helipad on the roof," Grizzly said to SASS and M590. "Must've been how the factory resupplied, back when it was still active. I bet it's where all of those Sangvis carriers are coming from."
"And why didn't we find this earlier?" M590 asked irritably.
"SF wiped a lot of data during Butterfly, it's hard to determine these things. It's not like their rank-and-file dolls know anything, and Ringleaders self-destruct most of the time." Grizzly nudged SASS on the arm. "See that concentration of dolls on the left? Maybe that part of the wall's weak and Sangvis wants it protected."
"We didn't bring any explosives," SASS said.
Grizzly glanced over at K11. "We may not have, but she sure did."
"It's not that big of a building," said M590. She was busy with a handful of shells, refilling her shotgun's tube and the extra shells on the stock. "We could clear it pretty quick, and I'd rather be inside it than outside fighting Sangvis. I don't think Welrod's going to have us blasting our way in, though."
"That's assuming Gestalt isn't in there waiting." Grizzly had pulled her own pair of binoculars out to mimic Welrod. "There's probably more below the ground than above. We can't access pre-Butterfly schematics, so we don't know the original dimensions, and we also don't know if Sangvis have done their own construction in the meantime."
She handed the binoculars to M590, who performed her own survey of the factory.
"Why not just hold position in the woods?" SASS suggested. "Draw Sangvis to us."
"Some of us will. But the others do better up close."
Ingram. Chrysanthemum. SASS sighed.
Welrod spoke suddenly. "Grizzly, what do you reckon?"
"Sangvis HOC battery up in that hole, I think. We've gotten reports of heavy mortar fire on the cordon, and if the other echelons haven't found it by now than it must be in here.
"The echelons are having a difficult time moving any closer," Welrod said. "This could turn into a stalemate soon."
As she spoke, a unit of Sangvis appeared from the other side of the building, Guards, Vespids, and Jaguars, heading into the forest at a fast pace. Grizzly watched them for a moment before looking back to Welrod.
"There's more of them here than we thought," said the British doll. "This could be a tougher battle than anticipated."
CBJ-MS, who had arrived a few minutes prior, spoke up. "We can split our assault force in two, Grizzly leading one and I the other. After the mortar strike, I'll take three of mine and push Sangvis to the west-northwest, Grizzly will take three of hers and head in the opposite direction. SASS and Ak 5 can provide supporting fire from the middle, while your sniper team will cover us."
"I like that, CBJ. Right, I'll call the fire mission now and radio Hunter immediately after. You'll attack when I give the order, understand?"
"Yes ma'am," said Grizzly.
Welrod looked down the binoculars once more, seemed to stop and think, then finally reached for her radio. "Cedar 4-8, this is Rose, adjust fire, over."
The voice that replied was certainly not a doll's, but instead one of the humans in the mortar company. "Rose, this is Cedar 4-8, adjust fire, out," said Captain Koksharov. SASS had only seen the mortar team leader once before they boarded the helicopters.
"Grid Lima Papa one eight zero one five five, over."
"Grid Lima Papa one eight zero one five five, out."
"Sangvis infantry, small mortar platforms, machine gun units, shields in the open, five meters away from a concrete structure, danger close, over."
"Sangvis infantry, small mortar platforms, machine gun units, shields in the open five meters away from a concrete structure, danger close, out."
There was a brief silence, which Welrod used as an opportunity to order Rose Team to get into a sniping position. Then the radio crackled again.
"Shot, over."
"Shot, out," Welrod replied.
There was a tense silence. "Splash, over."
"Splash, out." Welrod raised her binoculars up.
Five seconds later, the mortar round hit. The crack split the air even from where SASS watched in the forest, sending a cloud of dark smoke up in the air and ripping Sangvis dolls in the immediate vicinity to pieces. Those further out were no more fortunate, the concussion wave from the explosion throwing them to the ground while they were pelted with shrapnel and body parts from their comrades. As the smoke drifted, the survivors tried to struggle back up from under the bodies, while the Sangvis outside of the explosion suddenly became animated and moved to plug the gap. Welrod fumbled for the radio again.
"Damn, they're moving fast… Cedar 4-8, this is Rose, direction 6100, left 30, drop 40, fire for effect, over."
"Left 30, drop 40, fire for effect, out."
"Shot, over."
"Shot, out."
The Sangvis dolls that had just been scrambling into position were no longer there.
The barrage came like a thunderstorm, bursts of flame cratering the ground and tossing great piles of dirt into the air that then came down to bury countless Sangvis who had been thrown up with it. But the first wasn't the only one. Just as the smoke began to drift, another round of explosions came, then another, and another, ripping across the Sangvis formation and virtually annihilating it. The factory was obscured in a wall of smoke that started drifting left, and for the moment, no Sangvis stood in defense of it.
"This is Rose to Cedar 4-8, end of mission, estimate 220 casualties, over."
"Cedar 4-8 to Rose, end of mission, estimate 220 casualties, out."
Welrod stowed her binoculars. "All right, let's go!"
From their spot in the forest, Grizzly and Chrysanthemum moved forward. As the sniper teams set up near the edge of the trees, Grizzly and CBJ-MS split their respective teams and moved off to their positions: Grizzly with Ingram, M590 and RFB, CBJ-MS with K11, Type 56-1, and Z-62. Ak 5 and SASS found spots in the destroyed courtyard to set up for their covering fire as the two teams took position a couple dozen meters apart, with Ak 5 and SASS in the middle.
Keep Sangvis on a poor footing. Don't let them organize. Do that, and let Grizzly take care of the rest. It would be tough when firing over the heads of or between the four dolls in front of her, but not impossible. This sort of close-combat on a large scale wasn't something SASS was used to – maybe during her time with Thompson but that was a relatively low-level operation against similarly low-level Sangvis.
"Contact, Vespids and Guards coming around the corner!"
"Same here." Grizzly echoed CBJ-MS. SASS looked down the scope, saw Sangvis rounding the corner of the building. They hadn't formed any sort of shield wall yet, that was good. She squeezed off a shot and her dummies did the same, hitting the Guards in their chest and knocking them flat on their backs. A series of cracks came from the woods as Lee-Enfield let off a volley that took out more of the advancing dolls. Then Grizzly Team went to work, the rack of M590's weapon punctuating RFB's steady chunk and the booming .50 AE spitting from Grizzly's barrel. Ingram had her knife in one hand and her machine pistol in the other, something SASS smirked at even as she fired a round past the submachine gun doll's ear.
To her back, Ak 5 was providing her own covering fire. She was faster to the trigger than SASS, but more skilled too, and SASS figured she was doing better then herself. Chrysanthemum was supposed to be the best, after all. SASS adjusted her aim as the oncoming Sangvis surged in number and fired again. She caught glimpses of Ingram going to work with blade and bullet, managing to stab or slice at one Sangvis while she filled a second with lead. The pale-skinned daredevil was skilled, she'd give her that, but Ingram was crude too, brutal and animalistic. SASS downed one of the Strikers rounding the corner just as she saw Ingram jerk her knife out of a Sangvis neck and promptly pounce on another. Grizzly shouted something to M590 that SASS couldn't hear, and they both laughed, which SASS could hear even through her sound dampening.
There was a lull in the fighting and SASS reloaded. "Keep your eyes up," Ak 5 warned, but before she even finished speaking there was another volley from Enfield, the Sangvis numbers swelled again, and the cacophony of weapons fire rose once more. Chakchakchak went Ak 5's weapon. SASS couldn't hear the suppressed fire of her own rifle over the other noise, but she could feel the kick and buzz it sent through her body. It was second nature, really, and in a target-rich environment such as the one before her there was no need to aim for more than a millisecond before she pulled the trigger.
SASS looked past the rank of Guards advancing and saw Jaguars moving into position behind the Sangvis line. The Sangvis mortar units were less powerful than the 82mm mortars Griffin's human troops were using, but they were close range and still very deadly. SASS twitched her barrel to the right and found the Jaguar in her scope. Grizzly had seen it too and was ordering the dolls with her to back up, out of the area the Jaguars had targeted. SASS squeezed the trigger but the Guards had raised their shields at the same moment and the bullet pinged off.
The Jaguars' shots arced high in the air, and then they came down – not where Grizzly and her dolls had been fighting, but amongst SASS and Ak 5. The wave of intense heat at her back told SASS all she needed to know as she was pitched forward against the stone garden wall she had been firing from behind. Her already active sound dampeners blocked out the immediate roar of the explosion, but the frantic Zener commands from Welrod and Grizzly afterward were audible enough. There was the pinch as she lost two of her dummies to the explosion, and then the pain from the shrapnel that had embedded itself in her leg. Focus. Mortars.
SASS pushed herself up and swung her rifle, thankfully still in her grip, around to face towards the enemy once more. Grizzly Team had been scattered by the explosion and was scrambling to get back into position, Grizzly pushing and directing dolls herself. SASS gripped her barrel and looked down the scope, between the Guards' shields, all the way to the Jaguars in the back. More Sangvis units had split off and were distracting the sniper team in the forest. SASS only had a few moments before the Jaguars fired, but she knew what to do – she waited for half a second and squeezed just as the cover on the Jaguar's mortar tube flipped open. The bullet hit the exposed part of the tube and bounced down.
The Jaguar went up in a blossom of flame as the warhead blew prematurely, igniting the rest of the ammunition, which then hit the other Jaguars. The explosion flattened the dolls around it and sent a wind through the Griffin dolls. SASS quickly changed her aim for the Sangvis dolls still standing, the explosion having bought them a brief respite from additional Sangvis forces. They dispatched the remaining enemies quickly, after which Grizzly hopped over the stone wall and knelt by SASS.
"Are you okay?"
"The explosion got me," SASS replied, twisted so Grizzly could see where the shrapnel had hit. The doll probed the wounds with her finger before pinching them.
"The self-healing will close them up so you don't lose any more coolant," Grizzly said, pulling out a bit of shrapnel. SASS grit her teeth and turned down the intensity of the pain simulators in that leg. "But a proper repair will have to be done once we're at base."
"Once we're at base?" said M590, overhearing and walking over to both of them. The shotgun doll knelt down by the team leader and lowered her voice. "Grizzly, I'm starting to have serious doubts about this mission. Fighting Sangvis is one thing, but mortars and unending waves is just too much. Even for us. And–"
She glanced over her shoulder at Chrysanthemum's side of the Griffin defense. They had destroyed the Jaguars but still had to contend with the Guards and Vespids pressing their position as well as the sniper team in the forest. Ak 5 had come out of the mortar strike better than SASS but still short a dummy. M590 adopted a look of concern.
"We can do it," said Grizzly. "It'll be tough. But we can do it. Welrod! How far out is Hunter?"
"Just a few minutes!" replied the doll from where she stood in the courtyard, directing the echelons. "We'll withdraw inside if we have to!"
RFB, who had joined them behind the wall, raised her rifle again. "Grizzly-chan, they're back."
"Where'd they come from…"
"It must be Sangvis forces from the cordon, redirected back to us," said M590 as she loaded more shells. "Stay focused, everyone."
Welrod was speaking behind them, but SASS didn't pay attention. She could see the first of the Sangvis reinforcements as the smoke from the Jaguar explosion cleared, winding through the forest as they returned home from the battle at the cordon. Unlike the other dolls, some of these were already wounded or dirtied from their last engagement. No matter their state of repair, there were a lot of them, joining with the remainder of the garrison to advance. At Grizzly's command the Griffin dolls opened fire and the front few ranks were cut down. But even as Sangvis keeled over, more emerged from the forest, weapons raised and flashing with bursts of plasma. Where did they all come from? SASS had seen a lot of Sangvis before, she knew that the enemy would always have the numerical advantage, but the literal hordes of androids emerging from the forest still shocked her.
The mass of Sangvis scattered as the mortar rounds came in. Just like last time, the Sangvis at the epicenter of the explosion simply disappeared, the more fortunate dolls shoved to the ground… but this time, more Sangvis stepped through the drifting smoke and kept coming, unaffected.
"Repeat, over," Welrod shouted into the radio. "Grizzly, intensify fire so the sniper teams can pull back!"
"What?! They need to stay out there if we're gonna hold this position!"
"We're not holding it. We're pulling inside as soon as possible."
SASS didn't look, but saw Grizzly's head whip around. "Inside. We don't know what's inside. It could be Gestalt."
"Then we'll deal with it. This position is untenable and Hunter hasn't arrived yet. We'll head in, neutralize the HOC emplacement Sangvis has, and hold out until reinforcements arrive. The cordon is moving in as we speak."
SASS dropped a magazine and fed a new one into the magwell. Sangvis was drawing closer, undeterred by the bullets and mortar rounds pelting their advance. She had just lost another dummy to plasma fire when Grizzly grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "SASS, we're going!"
"Got it," said the sniper, salvaging magazines from her fallen dummies before she followed Grizzly. She looked to Chrysanthemum's side to see the dolls there performing a fighting retreat, cutting down Sangvis even as they stepped backwards into the courtyard. Welrod was standing by the doors to the factory, waving everyone inside. The open doors were like a dark maw swallowing the Griffin dolls – out of the frying pan, SASS thought as she ran, Sangvis weapons fire zipping by as she went. M590 was behind her, armor plates raised for defense. Another mortar barrage pulverized the Sangvis and bought time for the rest of Chrysanthemum and Grizzly to stampede inside the factory. SASS stopped and panted to let off heat as Welrod hurriedly pulled the door shut and started shoving furniture and equipment in front of it.
They were in some sort of waiting room or reception area for the factory, though it had clearly not been used for years, given the dust settling on the secretary's desk and general poor repair of the facility. SASS spied bloodstains on the floor, but they were dried and flaking, surely years old.
"Come on," Ingram said suddenly. "It was just getting good. What the hell was that?!"
"She's got a point," said CBJ-MS, looking at Welrod. "What's your plan?"
"We'll find a way upstairs, enter the right wing, and wait it out there."
Grizzly glanced at her own team. "Look, that's great, but I'm not really feeling a great chance of success if the Ringleader's in here. Where the hell is Hunter?"
Welrod pursed her lips. "Inbound. There were problems encountered with available helicopters. It shouldn't be more than five minutes."
"Great…"
"We'll go up to the second floor, neutralize the HOC they've got up there, and maybe even thin out the Sangvis from that position. Hey," said Welrod, looking to get everyone's attention. "I know this is like a war movie. But we're going to make it out alive. Everyone is."
M590 busted down the door and stepped into the next room. Besides the light streaming in through the dusty windows set high above, the factory floor was quite dark. M590 swept it with a flashlight as everyone else followed her, their footsteps echoing about uncomfortably. At least it's not as dark as the hangar was.
"Stairs up to the catwalk," Grizzly said, pointing to the corner. "SASS, RFB, head up."
"K11, go with them," CBJ-MS ordered. SASS exchanged a glance with her teammate before they advanced towards the corner, glancing at the dormant conveyor belts and machinery as they went. The stairs were clear of rust but still dirty, frozen in time, and as SASS followed RFB up she couldn't help but wonder when the last human had walked here.
On the catwalk they had a much better view of everything. Certain corners and walls of the building were still shrouded in darkness, but SASS could see where the other dolls were going as well as the layout of the factory floor itself. The catwalks connected to a second floor a couple dozen meters away from where she stood, and it was there that she could see the hole that was blown into the side of the building. There was indeed a Sangvis missile launcher emplacement, and even as they watched it fired, sending a backblast that kicked up debris and briefly shrouded it in dust. RFB glanced back at SASS and K11, a bit skeptical.
"How're we handling this?"
K11 answered before SASS could. "Take out those guards and operators, plant some explosion, blow it up."
RFB looked at SASS, who shrugged. "Works for me."
The Rippers guarding the emplacement had barely noticed the three dolls before RFB and K11 took them down with bursts of fire. SASS put a round into the head of the doll loading a missile into the launcher. "Grizzly, it's clear up here. We're planting explosives on the launcher now."
"Understood. The bottom floor's empty, we're making our way back to the stairwell."
SASS watched K11 set her box of explosives down and open it. "How long?"
"Not long at all. I'll just link this to a trigger. We'll have to stand pretty far back in case the explosion catches the ammunition dump, but it's shielded, so I doubt it'll happen."
"Alright. RFB, head back to the catwalks." SASS turned and went toward the launcher, going to the edge of the hole and peering over the jagged concrete. The Sangvis dolls outside were massed by the barred entrance to the building, perhaps waiting for something. Their utter stillness was unnerving to SASS, and she could only stand to watch a few seconds more before she turned away. K11 was still setting the explosives, so SASS started walking back to the catwalk.
Just then, someone on the bottom floor shouted. RFB stopped walking across the catwalks and aimed her rifle at the floor below, firing a shot that bounced off of a machine with a bright peal of noise. Something clattered below, then there was a donggg and a grunt. SASS rushed to the edge of the second floor and looked over the railing as Grizzly opened fire.
The all too familiar figure of Gestalt was briefly illuminated in the flash from Grizzly's muzzle. The Ringleader was like a spot in the world that was totally empty, absorbing light and impossible to track in the murky twilight of the poorly illuminated floor. RFB let off a shot from her vantage point, but SASS had lost track of the Ringleader. Welrod shouted commands and the dolls shot when they weren't obstructed by machinery, firing bursts at what SASS suspected was merely nothing. Gestalt was at home in the factory, using its layout to her advantage.
"There, shoot it!" Grizzly bellowed, and SASS felt the railing shake as something grabbed onto it. She looked down, disbelieving, then stepped back; first one foot, then another, then a frantic stumble as Gestalt hauled itself over the railing with minimal effort. SASS tripped and fell, raised her rifle as Gestalt broke into a run, fired a shot that missed – and Gestalt's foot hit the concrete as it ran to where K11 was kneeling by the HOC and seized her by the neck.
RFB's fire bounced off of Gestalt's armor as K11 kicked at its torso, having little effect. In the light streaming in through the hole in the wall, SASS could see Gestalt's face: a moulded imitation of a human's, a mask more than anything else. K11 was reaching for the detonator on her belt, but Gestalt had grabbed her arm and held it tight
"K11!" CBJ-MS shouted as the rest of the dolls clattered up the stairs. SASS clambered to her feet and reached for her rifle, but it was nowhere to be found – she had lost it over the railing in her rush to get away. With no choice left, SASS reached for her knife and drew it. Gestalt was preoccupied with K11 and had its hands full – there wouldn't be a better time. SASS ran for it and, taking her knife in both hands, shoved the point right into the crevice between Gestalt's arm and torso.
The Ringleader shouted – not with OTs-12's voice like it did in the hangar, but in a rough voice that hurt SASS's ears. It let go of K11's arm and struck SASS, who felt her grip pull away from the knife handle as she was pushed back. It raised an arm and SASS watched in frozen horror as the forearm split and its spike extended – the same spike Ingram had been impaled on – and locked into place. But by now it was too late. SASS saw K11 smile – smile even as she hung in Gestalt's grip, smile as the Ringleader pulled the spike back in preparation to strike, smile as she raised the detonator in her hand and pulled the trigger.
The explosives on the missile launcher blew. SASS wasn't that close to the launcher, but the heat scorched her and it hurt – how much C4 had K11 used? – as Gestalt and K11 were thrown away from the launcher and to the floor. The Ringleader got to its feet and, seeing all the Griffin dolls lined up on the catwalk, dashed for the railing, vaulted over it, and disappeared.
SASS was clambering to her feet when Ingram approached and offered a hand. "Guess we're even now when it comes to facing down Ringleaders," the doll grinned as she helped SASS up. "Where's your knife?"
"Stu... stuck in it," SASS breathed, looking down at her body. The explosion had blackened parts of her clothes and sent even more shrapnel her way, but that felt like nothing when SASS was so exhilarated at surviving. The image of Gestalt's face was seared into her mind, not to mention its cry of pain. "K11…"
The demolitions expert had felt the explosion far worse than SASS. If any part of her back wasn't burnt, it was leaking coolant instead, dripping to the floor. K11 could walk, barely, as CBJ-MS helped her to sit against the wall.
"Good job," said Welrod as she and Grizzly approached. "Great job, even. Hunter's chopper just arrived."
"Did you get it? Gestalt? Is it over?"
"For us," said Grizzly, as the chop of the helicopter's rotor blades grew in volume. "Let them handle it. We're done here."
SASS stared at Grizzly for a moment. We're done here. That was it. NTW-20 would take care of it. She was done. She had completed the mission.
No. I think we've got a lot left to do.