Chapter 1

Chuck splashed his face with the cold water from the sink and rubbed his eyes. DP was right. He had been lying down for too long. Now it was time to stand up and chase his destiny. In the made up world of Girls Frontline. Beggars can't be choosers.

Chuck grabbed a towel from the rack, dried his face and stepped out of the bathroom. DP-12 was standing in the middle of the room with a swanky uniform in her hand. It was a long red military coat with all of the extra fluff like gold buttons and cuffs. A pair of black dress pants went with it. Chuck sighed. "That is the dumbest shit I have ever seen. What kind of idiot would wear that in a firefight. Though I do like the color scheme."

"Commanders generally don't get into firefights. That is for us dolls." DP-12 flashed Chuck, a slightly confused look, as if he should have known that. "Anyway Commander, I need you to put this on. Quickly."

Chuck nodded and quickly tossed the way too flashy dress uniform on. Chuck had always hated dress uniforms. They had no give and weren't all that comfortable. But sometimes you have to wear the stupid things. With a quick check to make sure everything lined up, Chuck sighed and looked over at DP who had her hand on the grip of her shotgun. Chuck loved the DP-12 shotgun, and the DP-12 T-Doll. Both were gorgeous and effective killing machines. Though in person, Chuck was leaning towards the T-Doll being the better of the two. It was probably the blue hair. And the boobs. More likely the boobs.

"Ready, Commander?" DP-12 was clearly tired of waiting for Chuck to get his ass ready. Chuck flashed a quick smile that said my bad. DP-12 nodded and stepped out of the room followed closely behind by Chuck, who had a large goofy smile on his face, and a pep in his step. "No offense, Commander but you are quite odd. I have never met another commander who acts like you. You seem way too excited."

"Call me, Chuck." Chuck didn't like being called commander. Back in the Army the only commander he knew was a jackass and liked to lord over people. "Who wouldn't be excited to lead beautiful T-Dolls into battle. Beauty, brains and lethal skills. It's every mans dream."

"Good to know. We are here, Command… Chuck." DP-12 caught hearself at the last moment. It seemed weird to her to call a commander by their name but at the same time, it was nice. "In you go, Chuck. The other commanders are waiting on you."

"Wish me luck, DP." Chuck didn't wait for her to say anything and stepped through the doors and into his new life. The meeting room was like every other military style meeting room. Rows of desks with people sitting in them. Only difference in this room was that none of these other commanders were the military type. They all looked to be from welathy families and had never done a hard days work in their lives.

"Our final commander has finally arrived. Take a seat." The woman in charge of the meeting was Helianthus, which Chuck knew right away. The stern look of disappointment and the long gray hair were dead give aways. "Now that everyone has arrived we can get on with this meeting." Everyone in the room gave a soft grumble, except for Chuck who still had that goofy smile on his face. Helianthus flashed a death stare and everyone shut up. "In this meeting we will be assigning you to your outposts, and the region around them. You are responsible for security, in both the outposts and the region around your outpost. T-Dolls are already on site at your outpost, and awaiting your arrival."

Helianthus stepped to the side of the large whiteboard behind her and a projection of the regional areas appeared on the board. Some of the outposts seemed quite close to major cities and others were literally by themselves outside of a small village. "I will now assign outposts and regions based upon your psychological exams, and other secret criteria. Let us begin."

Chuck waited patiently as the other names were called, and realized that he would be last. He felt a knot form in his stomach as he realized he was stuck with something called Outpost 27, and the region around it known as Misery Swamp. "The final Outpost assigned today is 27 to Chuck Bullard. Congratulations to everyone, please head to the armory for your sidearm and then head to the garage to get on your way to the outposts."

Chuck went to stand up but Helianthus motioned for him to stay seated. Chuck watched the other commanders leave, and got a bad feeling in his gut. Helianthus waited for the last commander to leave and then turned to Chuck. "The reason you are staying behind is that Outpost 27 is a little bit different to the others."

"Let me guess. It is considerably more dangerous, the region around it is a deathtrap and the former commander of the outpost has either died or fled the scene." Chuck said all this with an emotional deadpan but inside he was extremely nervous. He felt the back of his knees start to sweat. "Am I wrong?"

"Nope. Everything you said was true. Which is why when you go to the armory, you will have a special order." Helianthus walked over to the door and opened it. "Also, DP-12 has been assigned to you as a personal bodyguard, and adjutant."

Chuck nodded to Helianthus as he left the room, and stopped in front of DP-12 who was leaning against the wall across the room. "Well I got my assignment, DP. It wasn't exactly the greatest one but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

"I have learned that I am to be your bodyguard and adjutant." DP-12 lifted off the wall and looked Chuck directly in the eyes. "No harm will ever come to you, Chuck. As long as I am alive and functioning, your body and soul are safe."

"It goes both ways, DP." Chuck meant that. Even back in his old life, he never liked to sacrifice his dolls. They took too much luck and time to get the ones he had and he had grown to like them. "As your Commander, I will never sacrifice you or any T-Doll under my command. Besides what kind of commander would I be if I let my best Doll get hurt?"

DP-12 turned her face away from Chuck as her cheeks began to blush. Chuck laughed and looked around the hall. "Where is the armory? Helianthus said I needed to pick up a package, and then head to the garage."

"It is this way." DP-12 grabbed Chuck by the hand and led him down the hall, around a corner, down another hall, and around another corner before stopping in front of a door labeled armory. Chuck took a deep breath and opened the large door. Inside the armory were weapons of all kinds, ranging from large rifles to small pistols and everything in between. Chuck whistled in admiration and walked up to the counter, wondering what kind of package they had waiting for him.

"What can I do for you?" Chuck turned around to see a young blonde woman grabbing an M4 off of the wall. She looked to be maybe 18 and was rather short. "Are you Commander Bullard by chance?"

"That I am, ma'am. I was told their was to be a package for me." Chuck watched the young woman walk around the counter and realized that she barely broke 5 feet. "I was hoping I could talk to you about acquiring a rifle by chance."

"Why? Commanders don't fight." The young woman snorted and chuckled to herself. Chuck just smiled. Commanders apparently don't fight. The woman placed a tactical vest on the counter and some armor plates next to it. "That is your special package. Top of the line body armor qualified to stop anything up to a .50 cal."

"That's cool and all but I still need a gun." Chuck wasn't some desk jockey. He may have only been a depot guard but he was still a soldier and dammit he was going to have a gun. "I plan on actually helping my dolls and not hiding away in some shitty building."

"Really?" The woman flashed a quizzical look at Chuck, and then looked around. "Wait here. I might have something for you in the back. Until then find a pistol you like."

Chuck nodded and looked around the room for the pistols. They were set up on a back wall with a large variety of brands but most seemed to be chambered in 9mm. "DP can you come here please? I need help with something."

The door to the armory opened and Chuck could hear DP's footsteps as she made her way to him. "What is it Commander Chuck?"

"Commander Chuck?" Chuck looked over at DP who just shrugged. "I guess Commander Chuck works. I need to pick a pistol."

"Then pick the one you like." DP-12 sounded annoyed that Chuck couldn't just pick a pistol. "Do you have any prior experience with a pistol, Commander? Or are you just picking by aesthetic?"

"I used to shoot my father's 1911. But I wasn't sure if it would be here." Chuck scanned the wall but couldn't see the iconic weapon. "Other than the 1911 the only two I have any experience on would be the Chiappa Rhino and the M9."

"The Rhino is in the upper left corner. Would like me to grab it for you?" DP-12 pointed up at a corner and Chuck could see the Rhino. Chuck nodded quickly, and DP-12 grabbed a stepstool. Chuck had done this on purpose. Watching DP-12 stretch to grab a weapon may have been perveted but hey it was his world now. DP stepped down and handed the weapon over to Chuck barrel pointed down. "I am not sure about using a revolver due to the small amount of bullets available but the .357 magnum is a rather large round."

"Exactly." Chuck had always liked the Rhino ever since his uncle let him shoot his. It looked cool, sounded cool, and fired a big round. For a guy like Chuck, that was all that was necessary. "Thanks, DP."

Chuck smacked her on the shoulder in thanks and made his way back to the counter. The young woman came out a few moments later and placed a rifle case on the counter. DP-12 looked at it suspiciously. "What is the rifle for, Chuck?"

"It's my personal weapon." Chuck didn't turn to look at DP this time because he knew she would be confused and angry that Chuck didn't tell her he was going to be in the field. It's like everyone said, commanders don't fight. "Open it up."

The young woman popped the case open and inside sat a Sig Sauer MCX Spear, which was the Army's new rifle, or at least it was when Chuck was still alive. It was a beautiful rifle, and this one was all black and came equipped with an ACOG, and a three dot green laser sight. The young woman looked proud of herself. "This here is my baby. Modified it myself with a lighter trigger, and extra grip in the handle. The only thing missing is for someone to take it into battle."

"I'll take it." Chuck loved the look of the rifle and even though he had never used the thing, he knew he would love it. The young woman nodded and closed the case back up. "Thanks, miss…"

"Just call me Q-Mast." The young woman handed the rifle case over to Chuck and handed DP a duffle bag. "The duffle bag has all the ammo you should need for awhile. Over a three thousand rounds of 6.8x51mm ammo. Oh, and some .357 ammo."

"Thanks, Q-Mast." Chuck waved goodbye as he left the armory and headed towards the garage following the directions from DP who carried the duffle bag with little effort. A few minutes later they arrived at a well stocked hangar/garage. Chuck whistled again surprised at how well supplied G&K was in person. In game you just couldn' tell.

"Our ride awaits us. It is a rather long and dull flight to Outpost 27. I suggest we load up quickly." DP seemed to be in a rush and Chuck didn't blame her. To him this was all new and exciting but to her it was just another Monday.

Chuck followed her to a small black helicopter. The helicopter seemed to be built for speed and not any comfort. Chuck lifted himself up into the chopper followed by DP who placed the duffle bag between them. Chuck placed the rifle case in the seat next to him and buckled in. "Here's to a new beginning, DP."

Outpost 27

Meanwhile over at Outpost 27, a small group of T-Dolls were sitting around a small table, discussing the news that was in all of their heads. Their new Commander. FN 5.7 sat at the head of the table and tried to keep the discussion on track, which was beginning to spiral out of control. "Everybody listen up. I understand we all have our reservations on what kind of Commander our new one is but I don't think we should get ahead ourselves and become distressed."

"Yeah but what if he turns out to be terrible like the last one?" MG5 wasn't one to tolerate failures. She was the best machine gun out there and she expected her commander to be the best too. "Though to be fair, it would be very hard to be as bad as the last one."

"Exactly. So try and not to judge the new one before he gets here." FN looked around the table to see if anyone else wanted to speak up but like usual it was just MG5 and herself. She went to end the meeting when a surprising voice spoke up.

"I think we should all bake him a cake. If he doesn't except the gift we can see what kind of person he is." M21 rarely spoke up at these meetings anymore as they always were about gloomy topics and how bad the commander was. But she felt the need to speak at this one. "If he excepts our gift, he is a good person if not then he isn't."

"Kind of simplistic but I like it." Type 95 also rarely spoke at these meetings anymore. She had grown tired of complaining, even though the previous commander was an idiot and a terrible person. "My sister and I vote for 21's plan."

"As do I." C14 liked 21. They had a lot in common. And she liked cake. "Any other business, FN? I have to get back to overwatch."

"No that is all. 21 and I will make the cake while the rest of you clean up the outpost." FN nodded to everyone as they walked past. She turned and smiled to 21 who was twiddling her thumbs and staring off into space. "Now 21 what kind of cake are we making?"

5 minutes from the outpost

Meanwhile back in the helicopter, Chuck was listening intently as DP went over the various responsibilities and powers of that he now had. Chuck nodded quickly as it all seemed straightforward. He leaned close and tapped DP on the leg. "How many T-Dolls are currently under my command?"

"7. 5.7, MG5, Type 95 and 97, M21 and C14." DP took a second to check her memory just in case she missed one. "Other than that is just me."

"So I have a balanced group of T-Dolls. Only thing missing is a large caliber rifle doll and a sub-machine gun doll." Chuck knew Girls Frontline like the back of his hand, and knew that with his current group they were pretty well off. Still never hurts to get a couple more dolls, maybe a M82A or a P90. "What is the state of my outpost?"

DP didn't have a chance to answer as the rocket screamed through the sky and hit the helicopter in the tail rotor. The helicopter immediately went into to a tailspin, and Chuck knew they were about to have a very bad time. It was his first taste of true combat. Would this fantasy of his end before it got started?