Chapter 4

Once more, the AR-Team flew in back to base on their helicopter. When the Dolls got off the aircraft, they saw many new kinds of vehicles on the base of S09. Small, grey tanks patrolled the premises, along with "Beetle" buggies, drill machines, just about every animal you could find at a zoo and much more craziness. Staff, human staff, were in the same clothing as the Rebels that raided Intruder's territory, but a light shade of blue.

"Whoa!" Sopmod was infatuated by the machines. "Those vehicles look amazing, but I thought it's illegal to field the new stuff..."

"The government has approved all the new vehicles, Sopmod." Helian, who was waiting for the Team, spoke. "We met a new organization under... questionable circumstances, but they are now providing their assets to Griffin and Kruyer. Afterall, we will need all the help we can get to control Sangvis, and those extremists that popped up recently."

"You mean the Regular Army?" Sopmod asked. "I can tell they have good taste when in comes to vehicles."

"Personally, they are pretty over-the-top, but we'll make do." M16 commented.

One of the elephants on the base left a huge pile of dung on the ground, splattering on the ground.

"The Regular Army will help us maintain their machines, thankfully." Even Helian looked disgusted. "Anyways, one of the majors wants to see you four. I wouldn't keep him waiting."

"It must be that Marco 16-nee told me about." M4A1 thought to herself, but was interrupted by a shocking sight.

St AR-15 walked up to Helian, desperately pleading to her.

"Helian, you need to lock me up immediately! Sangvis infected me with a virus!"

The woman's eyes went wide. Clearly all the commotion didn't faze her as much as the T-Doll's news.

"Virus? When did you get infected?"

"I was digging around in some of the Sangvis tech when Hunter captured me. It must have been some sort of defensive mechanism to stop hackers and such."

"Looks like we will have to cancel the meeting, then." Helian responded, purposely not going into anymore depth in case the Sangvis installed spyware. "ST AR -15, you'll have to stay in one of the spare dorms. It won't be long until IOP picks up you and Hunter."

Fury started to swell in M4A1's body. "Helian, we just reunited! We can't split up again!"

"Yeah, this isn't fair!" Sopmod pouted.

"Everyone, it will be okay." 15 said with a warm smile. "Promise to kick some Sangvis ass for me."

Both M4s could only nod in response, begrudgingly. ST AR-15 was quickly escorted away by two AR Dolls, a Type 97 and an AK-47.

"Please be safe, Star." M4A1 hoped.


Surprisingly, the major choose to meet up in one of the cafes. He had blond hair, propped up with a white bandana. He wore an open coat, wearing a small T-Shirt inside. Marco Rossi didn't look like he held much power in the Army, but he was more respected than even the top commanders. The man was chatting with one of Griffin's newest commanders, Gentienne.

"So you work by yourself?" She asked in between sips of coffee. "You honestly sound more like a commando."

"They don't mind, since I'm one of the Regular Army's best soldiers." He proudly spoke, stuffing himself on doughnuts. "So, how do you like your new toys?"

"Some of the craziest crap I've ever seen. I even swore I saw some girl in some tank helicopter contraption... I don't even think a newbie like me should get to deploy those vehicles."

"Don't sweat it, the Regulars are pretty forgiving of mistakes. I'd say that they are getting a little bit soft..." He begun to trail off, but noticed three special girls entering the scene. "Ah, the AR-Team!"

"Yo, Major Rossi." M16 fist bumped Marco. "Sorry that AR-15 couldn't come."

"You three are like commandos, right?" The team nodded in response. "Cool. We will definitely get along then."

"You sure are laid back for a major." M4A1 told Marco.

"Nowadays, pretty much everyone operates independently in the Regular Army, except for United Fronts." Marco explained. "We still do have commanders for such situations, though."

"United Fronts?" Gentiene gasped. "You must of have some serious conflicts back in your place."

"Well, things have died down alot, but I'd say we had about 6 World Wars."

"Jeeze, and I thought this place was bad..." Sopmod muttered.

"United Fronts are as bad as it gets currently, usually once a month. Also, we typically paint some of our old machines gold as tradition."

Before any off the Grifgoners could question this wacky trend, sirens begun to erupt in the cafe.

"The Sangvis? I can't believe they have the nerve to strike here!" Sopmod growled.

"There is only one reason they would do something so brazen..." M16 started.

"They want Hunter back." M4A1 responded. "But Star is with that Ringleader! What if they capture her... again?"

"Don't worry, I've delt with this situation many times." Marco said. "See you at the frontline!" He sprinted out of the cafe, but came back to ring a few doughnuts with her.

"How did Kruyer ever agree to this? I thought he was tired of seeing humans die?" M4A1 wondered.

"I have a feeling those Regulars will be save our skin one day, M4." M16 responded. "Just saying."

"Enough talk, girls! We have a battle to win!" Genitene said. "I'll be in the command post. Go save your sister. And that S.F doll." She added on.

The AR-Team sped out of the room with their superhuman speed. The commander would be very surprised to see her updated post...


In an armored convoy, AR-15 and Hunter were transported in an undisclosed vehicle. The S.F doll had warmed up to Star, but only slightly

"I gotta admit, you Griffin trash and your starberry cakes..."

"Are delicious?" Star asked.

"Don't put words in my mouth!" She shouted. "But, it was, kind of good. Still nothing compared to the refined Sangvis Ferri cuisine."

Suddenly, many explosions rocked their vehicle. Once the bombing stopped, the two thought they were safe, until the doors were blown off their hinges.

"About time, Hunter." The petite Doll know as Destroyer snided. "Frolicking with Griffin Dolls? Oh, Agent is going to kill you."


Genitene received a call from Helian on the command screen.

"The Sangvis have intercepted the convey leading to 16Labs. The Ringleader, Destroyer, is with them, so expect heavy resistance. Thankfully, the Regular Army is lending us their combat vehicles, staffed by their troopers. They have chinhooks that will bring them to Heavy Heliports."

"Wait, I want to know exactly what I'm working with."Gentiene asked.

"Currently, they have 3 vehicles, called Slugs, that you are authorized to deploy. The first is an Elephant Slug. The Regulars use them as improvised flamethrowers, somehow. Next is the Metal Slug, a fairly armored and very adaptable tank. Lastly, the Slug Square. With armor just as thick as the KCCO Hydras, dual miniguns and cannons, it's a beast that will surely wipe out the Sangvis."

Pictures of the three vehicles appeared on the screen. The Elephant Slug and quite literally an elephant with a vulcan cannon strapped on to the animal. The Metal Slug was far more reasonable, but surprising small for a tank. The Slug Square, however, made the commander's jaw drop. It was a very simple design, two square cubes wielded together with some tank treads slapped on. But those weapons were huge, and the vehicle had room for two men to hitch a ride.

This was a Main Battle Tank under Griffin control.

Uneasiness filled Genitene's body. But at the same time, she felt a swell of power. With such firepower under her command, Gentiene felt almost invincible.

"Also, now that we are working with a significant amount of vehicles, you, along with all the other commanders, have to manage fuel ontop of, manpower, ammo, parts, and rations. IOP has also created facilities to produce and manage the Regular Army vehicles. I will explain later, you have an operation to complete."

Helian ended the call. The screen switched to a simplistic map of the battlefield, with each major location marked with a "Node." There were a wide variety of Sangvis dolls, from Vespids up to Dragoons. Destroyer was standing close to one of the vehicles transporting Star and Hunter, various T-Dolls popping out from the forest to ambush the Ringleader. Gentiene had to move fast before they got captured.

Firstly, she deployed the AR-Team on one of the Heliports. The commander also let Skorpion work with them, since SMGs and ARs often worked well with each other. Gentiene noticed one of the new "Heavy Heliport" Nodes, however, it was very deep in the enemy territory, close to the convoy.

"Is this some sort of bug?" She questioned. "There is no way a chinhook could fly in there in one piece!"

She still clicked on the Node anyways. A page popped up, showing the vehicles and their deployment costs. She gulped at the sight of the Slug Square.

"Damn, it's much worse than those Shotguns..." She commented. "But it will pretty much guarantee victory..."

Gentiene sent in the Slug Square. She could not imagine the amount of damage it would do on the Sangvis.


A blue helicopter lumbered slowly over the immobilized convoy. Just like everything from the Regular Army, it was compact, but still packed a punch. With a metallic claw it heaved a massive tank underneath it.

The Sangvis and Griffin Dolls were stunned at the sight. Was it a friend or foe? Thankfully, it quickly proved its alliance when the nose opened up, revealing a rocket artillery battery hidden inside the helicopter.

It fired a hail of rockets, blowing up all the Sangvis with ease. The Griffin Dolls cheered the helicopter on as it flew towards the Ringleader.

"Hands in the air, both of you!" Destroyer demanded.

In such a tight place, there was no way the Ringleader could miss. The two had no choice but to drop their guns.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Hunter yelled.

"You ran to Griffin instead of us, which makes you a traitor, stupid!"

"What, you wanted me go back the HQ and infect everyone with that White Baby virus? Sorry, I'm just looking for the cure."

"With the Griffin trash? Hunter, Agent will..."

"Listen, shorty." Hunter snarled. "Griffin knows everything now! They know about our virus, they know about our assassination plans, and they probably know why you can't hit anything that is a couple feet away. It's pointless now!"

"You definitely not lying, since Agent gave us the scoop..." Destroyer briefly contemplated. "Who cares?! It's about time I got some damn respect, and it starts with killing you and AR-15!"

A loud thud was heard outside, causing Destroyer to look out side.

"Huh... A tank!?"

Hunter took advantage of the distraction. She picked up her guns and opened fire, causing Destroy to scream in pain. The Ringleader stumbled onto the ground, and tried to scurry away, but Hunter cut her off.

"Where are you going, Destroyer?" She mocked.

She could only cry in response.

"You made your choice, and I made mine. Maybe next time, you will choose more wisely."

At that moment, the Slug Square's miniguns revved up. Hunter moving out of the way just in time before Destroyer was ripped to shreds from bullets, shells, and rockets.

"Damn, I thought PMCs couldn't field that kind of stuff!" Hunter exclaimed.

"I guess we are special in the military's eyes, or something." Star shrugged.

The helicopter's doors slide open, Marco jumping out from the vehicle and landing, without a parachute.

"Nice meeting you, Star! But why are you with one of cyberpunk girls?"

"It's complicated." Hunter grumbled.

"Anyways, that Regular Army Transport Helicopter cleaned up most of the enemy. It may look undefended, but we snuck many weapons in the nose." He explained.

Thankfully, a few of the vehicles in the convey survived the ambush. Hunter and AR-15 were quickly rushed to one of the remaining jeeps, which peeled out as soon as the two got inside. Marco also picked up a doll that was left behind by IOP, RO365, to work with the AR-Team until Star was repaired.

Meanwhile, with the commander...

"What. The. Hell." Was all she could say.

On route, she could see that the chinhook was armed, with a missle battery installed in its nose. Half of the Sangvis were blown up by the time the Slug Square got to the Heliport. Once it touched down, it tore Destroyer to pieces and went to town on everything else.

"Well, I'd better get the Team out from there." She reguested a helicopter to pick the dolls up.

After the operation, Griffin got to work at Alchemist's territory. Even the Elephants and Metal Slugs did wonders against her troops. Once Gentiene and her fellow commanders got to the Ringleader's command post, the Regulars surprised Griffin once more with the Giant Copter, a helicopter built into a mech suit. Piloting by the young Midori, It punched Alchemist with its stretchy fists, annihilating the rogue T-Doll. Unfortunately, the military drawed the line and explicitly told Griffin that the weapon couldn't stay, so it was the last of Midori for awhile.

Next up was S06, Dreamer's turf. The AR-Team was finally allowed to pilot some of the vehicles, namely the "Drill Slugs". They were tube like cars with a powerful drill, which helped greatly, since the Sangvis had started deploying lots of armored units.

Once the team found Dreamer, the Regular Army unleashed another weapon, " MS-Heart". She was pretty similar to Fairies, a hologram above a machine. Except this machine was a high speed tank with powerful fists. It was almost embarrassing how quickly Heart bulldozed Dreamer's vanguard and closed the distance.

The sniper was still just as smug as ever, despite the circumstances.

"Nice toys you have there, Griffin." She scoffed at the Dolls and Heart. "Do you honestly think the military will let you play with them forever? You will be just like us if you continue to use them!"

MS-Heart squished the cackling Doll into scrap metal. "Target eliminated." She said in a monotone voice before rocketing off.

The rest of the team flew back to the commander's base. During the peaceful flight (Becides having to steer around an area that recently suffered extreme volcanic activity), the T-Dolls couldn't help but wonder why things were rather easy. Even with all the armored units lately, the Regular Army was squishing everything Sangvis Ferri sent. Maybe, they weren't the bad guys, and much worse villains were working in the shadows. But those thoughts would have to be put to rest, since Griffon's biggest operation was on the horizon.


In a formerly frozen part of S.F. territory...

"This place is so much more lovely with the King's volcanoes." A young kid with butterfly wings spoke. "Right, Gager?"

The Sangvis Doll nodded in agreement, in a surprisingly robotic fashion.

"I'm honestly sorry that we had to amplify our brainwashing chips, but you used to be quite feisty. With you under control, this frozen wasteland is free for us Invaders to turn into something more glamorous!"

He looked at one of the remodeled Jupiters, and sighed. The cannons were much more... organic, to say the least.

"Even with our additions, weapons are still weapons. Ugly and disgusting. See ya."

The alien flew off into the skies, leaving Gager alone in the hellish landscape. It was astonishing how quickly her turf went from snow to lava. It was all do to the one with the horns, "Geweih" they called him. In a flash, the monster incinerated the T-Doll with magma, and when she woke up, many disgusting modifications were made with her body and the Sangvis units. She could actually feel a heart inside, which was the least shocking thing about this whole mess.

"Mastermind... Save me..." She pleaded in her mind.


The next ops was very risky, with a hint of stupid. The AR-Team, at Percisa's request, had to dive deep into Sangvis territory to retrieve File No 5 from Base 0. The file held many intriguing secrets about the Sangvis and Lycos, and more importantly, why they went rogue in the first place.

The operation went smoothly, at first. Brutes, Strikers, and Tarantulas were unleashed by the Sangvis, but the AR-Team was ready. The Regular Army provided covering fire with their suits of mechanical armor, Slug Gunners. The berserk T-Dolls couldn't do much against the armor, and when the Brutes did get close, the Slug Gunners impaled them with pile drivers.

Thanks to the distraction, the AR-Team slipped into Base 0 with little to no effort. While Sopmod was downloading the file, M16 disappeared. RO and M4, fearing for the worst, sprinting out of the safehouse in search of 16.

Thankfully, the T-Doll was found quickly and they all returned back to the safe house.

Unfortunately, this is when things turn for the worse.

"I'm sure I heard an enemy drone out there..." 16's words could not have come at a worse time.

Indeed, something in the skies did unleash a carpet bombing run nearby. However, it was not the hum of a drone M16 heard earlier...

"Helicopters!?" M4A1 exclaimed in fear. "Why would they be doing bomb runs?"

"RO635, search again!" M16 barked in a commanding tone. "We are not just dealing with Sangvis Ferri here! Tap into their communications!"

RO does as told, and listens in on the Ringleaders.


Heavy footsteps could be heard. The Ringleaders were on the run.

"Tch, looks like we're are in quite a pickle." The voice obviously belonged to Dreamer. "Those maggots are stealing our files, and those Nazis are bombing this place to pieces. How in the hell do they have an air force!?"

"They even knocked out our jamming devices!" Destroyer wined. "I understand why those humans have really been getting under Agent's skin."

"Once we get our new plans under way, those stupid humans will be no more. Agent's orders are to assault the safe house directly. Maybe those helicopters might clean up the Griffin trash for us!"

A load thud was heard. Likely a very heavy vehicle.

"We went through alot of trouble to bring our old friend here." A smug voice spoke. "Enjoy the might of Huge Hermit, androids!"

"What the hell, a freakin crab?" Destroyer exclaimed.


"Knew it... Two Ringleaders are coming for us! Ontop of helicopters and whatever that crab thing entails..." M16 grumbled.

"The jamming is down too!" M4A1 spoke. "Base just said that the Rebels are bringing in new vehicles. They have missle tanks, or 'Bradleys' as they're called. Range is suprising short, but their power is devastating!"

"The choppers are getting close." RO635 anounced. "We will have to bunker down and hope that the commander can do something about this."

"Prepare yourselves, the first wave is coming!" M16 yelled, raising her gun along with the rest of the AR-Team.


Genitene studied the battlefield. Sangvis Ferri units were currently duking it out of with the Rebels. The terrorists had deployed more types of infantry, some with Kars and fireworks and even gatling guns.

The main problem for Griffin was the helicopters and rocket artillery. The Regulars briefed the commanders of Griffin about the Rebel Armies vehicles, the Bradley being one of them. It was somewhat like the Jaguars Sangvis Ferri uses, with a key difference. They had fairly tough armor for artillery, allowing the tanks to get unreasonable close to enemies. Their missles are slow, but will cause heavy damage to the frontline.

The two new helicopters sighted could also become a problem. R-Shobus, similar to Aapches, but much nimbler and tended to do bombing runs. If Genitene couldn't come up with a way with dealing with them in time, her echelons would get bombed to bits. The Maskwells, while carrying smaller guns, had very, very think armor and were slippery. Apparently, even the Regular Army hated to battle them.

The Rebels also brought a small assault vehicle know as a "Grida-o" but they were not an issue. Thankfully, the vehicles were busy with the Sangvis, but were destroying them at an astonishing rate. With the T-Dolls out of the way, they would turn their sights to the AR-Team, which would make things very complicated. A giant hermit crab with a tank for a shell was off in the distance, lumbering to the battlefield at a brisk pace. If it got to Base 0, the AR-Team would be doomed.

"Looks like I'll need a sniper team for this operation." Genitene deployed some Rifle T-Dolls at a helipad. "They should punch through the aircraft in time, especially those Carcano sisters. Sangvis is too distracted to pose a threat to the AR-Team, thankfully."

The commander sighed with satisfaction. "I love it when things go according to plan..."


"The helicopters are down!" RO356 spoke loudly. "Not all of them, but just enough for a safe extraction."

"It's finished! File 07 downloaded!" Sopmod leaped up with victory, but stumbled around with dizziness.

"Well, lets run like hell." M16 said before bolting out of the safehouse with her team.

It was absolutely chaos. The Rebel Army was pounding the S.F. with missles from their Bradleys, and R-Shobus from above rained down death in the form of bombs. At first, the army didn't notice the girls at first, until a stray Maskwell spotted the Dolls and alerted its friends.

Only a few helicopters were sent, just enough for the team to defeat reasonably. They dove behind a stray building, and took pot shots until the bullets pierced the windshields, killing the pilots.

Escape was so close... Until Dreamer shut down the only gate out of the battlefield.

"You damn S.F.!" Sopmod shook her fist at the smug doll. "When I get up there..."

"Hehehe, looks like I will get to kill some good old Grffin trash today!" The Ringleader said gleefully as she charged up her laser cannon.

Fortunately, Dreamer never got to fire. Huge Hermit gave the gate a great punch, causing many cracks to form. It struck once more, releasing the gate from its hinges, crushing Dreamer under many tons of concrete.

"What in the world?" M4A1 responded to the sight in confusion.

Huge Hermit was a titanic hermit crab, but instead of a shell, it wore a tank as protection. The massive vehicle even had multiple barrels, like a battleship. The crab was still at first, it's eyes twitching about frantically as it exaimed its foes. Then, it begin to back up steadily.

Huge Hermit was going to run over the AR-Team.

"Scatter!" M4A1 screamed, rolling to the side to avoid the crustacean monstrosity. The crab was completely silent, but its tank creaked and groaned like an animal as it sped past the AR-Team.

The crab kept charging, right into the Rebels and Sangvis Ferri. Turns out, Huge Hermit wasn't even friendly to the Rebels, happily smashing them to bits and blasting them with tank shells.

M4A1 looked around. Sopmod, RO...

She gasped at the sight. M16 slipped away during the rampage of Huge Hermit, sneaking her way into a suspicious building.

"SIXTEEN!" M4A1 screamed, rabidly chasing after her sister.

Sopmod tried to follow, but was stopped by RO. "Sopmod, File 07 is top priority."

"But, what will happen to M4 and M16?" She asked.

"I can't be completely sure about those two, but Percisa really needs that file. We can't let her down. And I promise that we will search for your sisters."

Sponsor's expression tightened. She reluctantly mouthed "fine" as RO and herself reached a nearby helipad to return to the base.


M4 hid behind a door, close to M16. She was busy talking into a radio, clearly ignoring M4A1. M4 could tell that gist of it was that M16 was sent to examine a signal, ordered by Persia. What kept bugging her was why M16 wouldn't tell anybody...

"16!" M4A1 popped out of her hiding place.

The T-Doll simply sighed with disappointment. "M4, I really don't want to make this harder than it is..."

"What. Are. You. Doing." M4 spat, contempt raising in her voice.

"I am joining Sangvis Ferri." M4's tone softened at her words.

"But... Why..."

"Listen, I don't want to do this, but it's the only way we will finally uncover the truth of S.F."

Before M4A1 could respond, M16 gave an order to Percisa through her radio. Her body immediately begun to convulse violently and collapsed on the floor. The seizure lost most of its intensity, but M16 struggled to speak.

"Take... This..." M16 slide the case she always carried with her at M4. "When I end up... on the other side of that weapon... remember... You were an amazing sister, M4A1. Don't... hold back..."

At that, she passed out, as if shot dead. A pale M4A1 picked up her sister's last gift. Shedding a tear, she slung the weapon on her back skillfully, as if it was a missing part of herself.

Thankfully, M4A1 had some target practice prepared

"Well well well..." A heavily damaged Dreamer croaked out. "Look who crawled there Griffin ass back to MY turf." Her smug aura was gone, only barely restrained anger left. The shenanigans of the Rebel Army were taking a toll on Dreamer's pride.

"Dreamer, Elsie said to be polite with M4." The new S.F. Ringleader, Judge, responded. "It would be in our best interest to simple negotiate, sadly."

Suddenly, a freezing beam of energy was fired at the two Ringleaders, freezing them solid. A young girl in a german snow clothing hopped out from behind.

"Hiya! Beatriz here!" The girl anounced cheerfully as she ran up to greet M4.

"Uh... Hello?" M4 was rather confused, given the circumstances.

"Oh come on, I saved your synthetic behind, and you aren't worshiping, er... praising me?" Beatriz's tone became rather venomous. "Nevermind. Anyways, I'm the head of the Frozen division of the Rebel Army. I'm here just to give you a warning: Donald Morden will be striking very soon. I hope you're ready to face the true might of the Rebel Army!"

She then quickly skipped away. "Humans can be such weirdos." M4A1 mused.

M4 met up with Sopmod and RO shortly after, filling them in on everything. The lose of M16 was devastating even to Sopmod and RO. But they couldn't dwell on such thoughts for long. RO told M4 that KCCO has teamed up with Griffin and the Regular Army to destroy Sangvis Ferri once and for all. With three military powers working together, victory was inevitable.

It was a horrible, horrible night instead.


In a secretive bunker...

"Well, would you look at that, a job!" Ump45 picked up the phone. "What do you need us for, Griffin?"

"We are not Grffin, but we need you anyways." A stern, but kind voice spoke. "Your team has been chosen to assist us in an upcoming operation."

"Sorry, we only work for Grffin." She responded.

"Will the equivalent of 2 million USA dollars in Russian currency change your mind?"

Ump45 paused for a bit. "Yeah, we will gladly take it. What do you need us for?"

"I'm Commander Dragunov of the Ptolemaic Rebellion. Our enemy, the original Ptolemaic Army, is meeting up with local cults. Our sources say that they are called "Paradeus." The original Ptolemaics were cultists too, so it seems rational that they are forming an alliance. Team 404, we need you to stop them."

Ump45 almost put the phone down. Looks like she got herself and her friends in deep trouble...