Typically, the rising Sun was accompanied by a chorus of singing birds, sitting vigil over their home in Kar98k's office. Today, the room was silent as a tomb and trashed like a rock star's hotel room. Kar98k stood amongst the mess she made, ashamed for her own behavior. Looking at the place where her broken mirror stood, she struggled to really understand what had gotten into her. Her Brigade deserved better than that kind of behavior, and she was glad that Fredrick had stopped her from making it worse than it could have been. Now it was up to her to pick up the pieces that she had scattered, literally and metaphorically. If she was going to continue being a leader, she would have to do this herself. With a sigh, she rubbed her hands together and got to work.
She decided to start simple and pick her bookcase up and off the floor. Returning the wooden display piece back to its rightful place against the wall, Kar98k began the more arduous process of putting the books back. She decided to take her time with the task, looking at the titles she had collected and occasionally skimming through to reread bits that she remembered being interested in. Her collection spanned various military history pieces, tales of human warfare and combat theory. There were biographies of human leaders and commanders, as well as historical fiction pieces that dealt with warfare. There was also a trashy romance novel, telling the timeless tale of an American woman falling in love with a foreign prince. She awkwardly cleared her throat as she picked up, flipping open to a dog eared page. Unable to remember why that page was saved, she was met with a passionately steamy love scene between the two main characters. Even though she was alone, she felt embarrassed that she had felt it necessary to save such a scene for later. Still, she kept the page marked and returned the book to its proper place on her shelf, hoping nobody ever grew too curious.
While putting her last book on the shelf, Kar98k couldn't help but notice her rifle leaning by the door to her office. It was missing its bolt mechanism, effectively converting the weapon into a club. She could only presume that Fredrick had taken it before he left her last night, making sure she didn't do anything to hurt herself. While there were multiple protocols and codes to prevent her from self terminating without good reason, the sentiment of his concern for her safety was appreciated. Taking a deep breath, she opted to shower the remaining stink of shame off of herself, before returning to her uniform to maintain normalcy for the others. She stood for a moment outside the shower, a myriad of negative thoughts returning to her mind. Kar98k closed her eyes, trying her best to push them away as she opened the water flow. The sound of running water reminded her of the flowing blood that threatened to drown her, while the warmth brought back the feelings of uselessness she felt while laying in the flow. Tentatively, she began to put one of her feet into the flow, recoiling at the first touch. Kar98k backed away from the shower, wondering if this was the best idea. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the knowledge that a doll doesn't actually need to bathe on a regular basis and opted for a few perfume sprites just in case.
Dressing herself, Kar98k tried to push her negative emotions to the back of her head. Looking at herself in the shattered remnants of her mirror, she adjusted her hat and coat before leaving. Thankfully, the base still existed outside her office, giving her a small sense of satisfaction that maybe things would be okay without her always available. Firstly, Kar98k traveled the halls to the maintenance bay, looking to have a real conversation with Fredrick. Unfortunately. The bay was locked, with a sign noting that he was at the cafeteria for breakfast. Turning around, she could help but feel alone in the hallways. The sound of her boots echoed through the halls, reminding her of just how few men of the Brigade were left. Passing by a window, she felt a slight spike of panic as she realized that Scarecrow and her Sangvis Ferri helicopter were still here.
Pushing open the doors to the cafeteria, she found the room empty as well. Raising an eyebrow, she looked around wondering where Fredrick could be. The sound of someone in the kitchen drew Kar98k's attention, pulling her over to investigate. Thinking Addy might know where he could be, she instead found Fredrick working away at making his own food. Kar98k crossed her arms, wondering what was going on. "Wouldn't Addy be a little upset if you're here in her kitchen?" Kar98k asked.
Fredrick turned around, not expecting to see her here. "Oh I'm doing it just to spite her," he said with a sly smile, "I decided to raid the pantry and make myself a full English breakfast."
"I hope you're making enough to share." Her tone hinted that it wasn't really an option for him to refuse.
Fredrick waved a hand at her. "After the night I had, you're gonna need something stronger than orange juice."
Deciding to join in the pantry raid, Kar98k dug out some of the tea they had stored. Choosing a caffeinated brand, she breathed a sigh of relief once she saw a pot of hot water was already prepared. "Was Scarecrow a handful?" She asked, pouring some water into the first cup she grabbed.
"Actually she was quite helpful with cleaning up the mess with Addy." Fredrick plated some eggs off onto a pan and handed them to Kar98k. She tentatively took the plate as she dipped her tea bag in the hot water.
"What mess might this be?" She asked, her eyes glued to him while he finished the rest of the meal.
He shrugged. "I single handedly disarmed a Nyto," he spoke with pride.
Kar98k, who was grabbing herself a fork and knife for her food, froze at the words Fredrick said. "What did you just say?" She whispered.
He turned to face her, staying confident to keep her at ease. "I was right, Addy couldn't be trusted."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kar98k felt like if she had a heart, it would be trapped in her throat.
"I had it under control," he reassured her as he handed over the rest of the meal he was preparing, "what I couldn't do, Scarecrow was nice enough to help out in exchange for being the one to interrogate her. P38 was overseeing the operation while I spent the night getting the girls up and ready."
Kar98k was dumbfounded. "So while I was locked in my office with a disabled rifle, you managed to team up with a Sangvis Ferri Ringleader to uncover and capture a Nyto?"
Fredrick gave a smug shrug. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"I need to go talk to her right now." Kar98k turned to leave, unsure of what she'd actually do once she found Addy.
Fredrick reached out and grabbed her arm, hoping to stop her. If Kar98k so wished, she could just keep going and drag him along with her. However, she let him stop her, wanting to hear what he had to say. "I understand you think you're ready to go," he began, "but we both know that you're not. Just sit down for a minute and try to relax."
"I'm fine." Kar98k lied. She knew she was most certainly not fine.
He glared at her, knowing that she was lying to him. "Scarecrow has been working at Addy all night," he explained, trying to convince her to stay, "you beating the shit out of her will get nowhere. We found out the hard way that she has a defense mechanism in the event that she's ever captured that turns her into a blithering idiot after most of her stored memory is erased. All Scarecrow can dig up is random childhood memories and scattered recollections. There's nothing concrete for us to work with."
Kar98k slumped to the floor, feeling defeated once again. "I haven't had anything concrete to work with since I got here." She muttered, completely deflated.
Fredrick stood over her and sighed, clearly not happy to see her falling back into her funk. "They're trying to break you." He said, putting his hands on his hips.
"They're succeeding."
Fredrick slowly shook his head in disappointment. "From what I've seen so far, they're using everything they accumulated about you girls to try and force you into whatever they want." He explained. "They killed Smiles in her own room, locked the door so only you could open it, and left a message specifically for you to find."
Kar98k looked up to him in shock. "They what!?" She exclaimed.
He nodded. "That's where Addy ambushed us, probably hoping to knock off everyone that is providing unforeseen variables to their plans."
Kar98k was appalled at what had transpired while she was moping in her bed overnight. Her emotions were now on a rollercoaster, unsure of how to feel. She felt afraid for her girls and Fredrick, while feeling rage at not just the enemies that plagued them but also fury with Fredrick for not involving her. Worst of all was how useless she felt for her girls, her feelings and problems becoming their issues now. It almost seemed like they were at their best without her. Perhaps it was best that Fredrick had taken her rifle's bolt mechanism away from her.
"Kar, get on your feet." Fredrick tugged at her to stand up. She shrugged him off, wanting him to keep his distance. Anyone that got too close was bound to get hurt eventually. Instead, he joined her on the floor, taking a seat next to her. He took a deep breath as he thought of what to say next. Swallowing dryly, he spoke slowly. "When I first heard about the Incident, the first thing I tried to do was get in contact with her."
Kar98k looked at Fredrick, surprised to hear him sharing anything about his wife. The last time he had ever mentioned her was a conversation he had with StG44. Ever since, Kar98k had been interested in learning more about his life and what made him the human he was today. However, she kept silent as he continued talking. "I thought about traveling to where she was to personally look for her, ignoring the fact I wouldn't have lasted very long. I didn't care, I just wanted her back. We had barely spent our lives together, and now we never could again. I wasn't ready to lose her, and I was ready to lose myself to get her back. As more reports came in, however, we had to bury an empty casket. It wasn't easy to accept that somewhere out there is a shambling corpse with her name, and honestly I don't know if I ever have accepted it either. Shit, I almost died in the army in a small scale collapse fluid bombing where I ended up just like her."
Kar98k was enthralled, wanting to hear more. "I guess that was what really put it into perspective," Fredrick continued, "and I guess I realized that the person I became was not the person she fell in love with. We didn't marry each other because we wanted to feel sad for the rest of our lives; so I decided I would try to live the rest of my life being happy like she wanted me to be. Seeing you girls growing like I did, and struggling like I did, makes me want to help you be better. You girls really are like little posse of kids that I'm trying to keep from getting yourselves killed. Losing one of you is like losing family to me."
There was a silence as he let Kar98k think about what he said. She did see all of them as a family, as dysfunctional as they were at times. "I'm sure I've been nothing but helpful in that regard." There was a degree of levity in her voice, letting him know she wasn't completely wallowing now.
"Yeah, you've been a pain in the ass lately." Fredrick jokes, glad to see he broke through to her.
Kar98k thought for a moment. "I'm going to have to address the girls at some point." She sighed, not ready to face the Brigade just yet.
"You can take your time, Commandant." MP40, who had found her way into the kitchen for her own breakfast, was silently waiting for an opportunity to address her presence.
Kar98k, completely embarrassed, scrambled to her feet to address the Captain. "How is your injury?" She asked, trying to pretend she wasn't having a breakdown.
"Fredrick spent his entire night getting G43 and myself back up to full strength," MP40 explained, "I was worried about you but it seems he's working on that as well."
"I don't get paid to sit on my ass." Fredrick acknowledged as he continued to sit on the floor.
"How are the others?" Kar98k asked.
"The sisters are still operating at one hundred percent," MP40 ran down the list of dolls, "P38 is a little shaken up from the incident with Addy, while C96 and P08 are a little upset that the Sangvis Ferri helicopter was moved closer to our own. Right now G43 is going over my report of what had happened during the last operation, but she'll need your official one later."
Kar98k bowed her head. "I was afraid of that."
MP40 smiled. "Don't worry, she's not upset over what happened." She thought for a moment before she continued, "still no word on FG42 or StG44."
"Have we lost their signals?" Kar98k asked.
MP40 frowned. "The last signal we've received was a distress ping from StG44, but we couldn't trace it."
"So they're still alive?" Fredrick asked, giving a hopeful tone to the conversation.
"Perhaps." MP40 also tried to join in the hope.
Kar98k couldn't help but agree with their sentiments, but she still felt a bit disappointed. "What about MP41." It was less of a question and more of a statement.
Fredrick cleared his throat beside her. "I'm trying to restore her neural cloud from black box, which shouldn't take as long as yours did. When I do get her back online, we'll find out what she dug up that made her worth killing."
"I'm glad to know that I can rely on you guys to handle yourselves." Kar98k gave a warm smile.
MP40 stood tall at the compliment. "I learned from the best."
Fredrick scoffed at MP40. "Stop kissing her ass, Captain."
"I would still like to go see Addy." Kar98k said, turning to leave.
Fredrick once again reached out to stop her, tugging at her coat from his seat on the floor. "Eat your fucking eggs." He insisted.
Kar98k sighed and grabbed the plate. She left the kitchen with her food, eating as she walked the halls. MP40 watched her leave, and looked down at Fredrick shaking his head on the floor. "Is she going to be alright?" MP40 asked.
"No more than anyone else in her position." He shrugged.
It was MP40s turn to sigh in disappointment. "You two both enjoy giving me non-answers." She remarked.
"Then don't ask non-questions." Fredrick climbed to his feet, wiping some dust off his butt. "Operationally she's fine, despite that loving smack on her forehead I'd like to fix up soon. But mentally none of you girls are going to be alright. Shit, I'm still fucked up from when I was in army. All I can do is make sure she doesn't shove her head in the oven."
MP40 stared at him for a moment. "I would have appreciated a simple yes or no."
"So would I, Captain," Fredrick shook his head, "but if it was then Griffin would have hired some asshole off the street for half I'm worth."
"Upon further probing," Scarecrow explained, "whatever is serving as her neural cloud has 'repressed' any important information and is waiting for a specific cue to restore her to her full functionality."
Kar98k looked through the two way mirror at Addy, who was laughing to herself as she was tied to a chair in the interrogation room. Kar98k had forgotten the room even existed, never using it for anything more than the pride of owning one. Looking inside, she realized that one of the girls had set up an indoor greenhouse, with various plants and grow lights scattered about the room. While it added a bit of much needed greenery, she would have appreciated the prospective farmer to have used the outdoor sections of the base for horticulture. "Are you telling me you can't break through her security?" Kar98k asked, hopefully without sounding condescending.
Scarecrow also stared through the glass, making sure her prey didn't try anything. "Not on my own, no. The firewalls in place are both foreign and strong. This will not be a very expedient process."
Kar98k looked down at her feet and placed her hands on her hips. "Without MP41 we're limited in the amount of help we can provide."
"A deliberate move, I'm sure." Scarecrow crossed her arms over her chest. Addy had chosen her target well, crippling the Brigade's ability to defend itself electronically. Kar98k couldn't help but wonder if there was something she missed to try and stop this, something in hindsight she could learn from. Addy had blended perfectly into the background, no doubt taking advantage of more pressing matter to avoid a witch hunt. While today she was drooling on herself, that didn't mean she wasn't still playing a bit.
Kar98k looked at the Sangvis Ferri doll. "I do appreciate your help getting us this far."
"As I appreciate the freedom you've provided to study our enemy." Typically, Scarecrow spoke with a monotone that was devoid of emotion; but this time there was a slight hint of appreciation in her voice. Her main purpose is reconnaissance and infiltration, and Kar98k had been facilitating this in spades. It only made it harder to accept that some day, they would return to the frontline as foes once more.
In the meantime, Kar98k clasped the dolls shoulder in camaraderie. "Take your time." She gave Scarecrow a smile before turning to leave her alone.
Day and night passed without incident, and without development. For a short time, things were quiet for the Brigade. However the next act did not begin for them, but for the nearby town that dealt with their presence. The girls could be rowdy, often buying up stocked shelves or eating restaurants out of food. Many of the people tolerated the girls, with a vocal minority claiming they'd be better off without the machines running amok. Some of these people had no trust in Kar98k, believing a toaster shouldn't be doing the job of a human. Yet while these people would ruffle their own feathers, no one outright antagonized the dolls. No one wanted to be responsible for pissing off the robots, especially considering the fact that Sangvis Ferri was still at large. Today, unfortunately, the Brigade's detractors would be justified in their belief that Griffin had brought trouble to their humble town.
The Uhlan IFV was an experimental infantry fighting vehicle designed to break through defensive structures to force squads of troops behind enemy lines. The vehicle sported a small anti-tank cannon as well as light machine guns for defense. Its heavily armored front was built especially for ramming structures for safe insertion of a squad or two of allied troops. Despite its promising design, it was never approved for production by any official means. Instead, the Uhlan was picked up by a private contractor that improved upon its design. Paradeus added an experimental force shield to the light tank, giving it an added degree of protection from even energy weapons. While not a juggernaut of force like the Soviet Typhon or as versatile as the Manticore platform, the Uhlan served its own niche role within the ranks of the paramilitary branch of Paradeus.
Currently, the Uhlan rolled down the streets, forcing vehicles off the road as the tracked vehicle made its way over asphalt. It was capable of reaching a decent top speed, with the ability to overclock its engine for a short burst of speed for ramming maneuvers. As it drove, the tank was oblivious to red lights or to pedestrian vehicles, choosing to travel wherever it may roam. Some people, assuming it was some mess related to G&K, did not see the Uhlan for the harbinger that it was. Interestingly, the police response was slow, opting to set up a small car blockade in front of the elementary school. Little faces pressed against the school windows as the school children watched the show, the flashing lights drawing their attention.
The Uhlan came to a halt, choosing not to ram through the blockade. After the vehicle paused its advance, there was a moment of silence after its engine died. A tense moment of stand off between the light tank and the police ensued, neither one advancing on the other. Before the police got brave enough to move forward, a hatch top of the Uhlan opened, allowing a passenger to make their way out. She appeared to be a doll, with robot limbs beneath a thin white robe. Her bleach white hair accentuated her robe, her human looking face decorated by an optical attachment over one of her eyes. Most interesting to the various onlookers was the massive white reaper's scythe, sharpened to a razor thin point. The white doll stood atop the Uhlan, both her and the vehicle a mystery to the people surrounding them.
A police sergeant broke the silence first, yelling to the doll to drop her weapon and put her hands up in the air. With laser focus, she trained her gaze on the man that spoke. With one hand gripping her scythe, she waved the other hand about as she began her sermon. "You ask me to raise my hands," she preached, "but I have come to raise the downtrodden of your pitiful population to a glorious new standard."
She paused to look amongst her crowd, letting her words draw their interest before she spoke again. "You stumble in the dark, seeking the light of fulfillment; yet time and again you find yourselves dampened by the sweat of your own brow, overworked from carrying the yoke of your own failures." She pointed to the crowd, sweeping the finger of accusation across their faces. "Tired of your struggles, you scream for someone to save you from yourselves!"
She raised her voice, yelling from atop the Uhlan as her impromptu pulpit. "Look to the skies and you will bear witness to the light of Paradeus, the torch passing along to those who believe to guide their own path through the shivering dark!" She paused, listening for a distant sound to serve as her cue for the rest of her sermon. It was barely audible, even with her own advanced hearing. The dull thuds in the distance signaling into her that it was time to ramp up her passion. "Listen now, as the drums of Paradeus beat! Watch as the torches rain from the sky, propelling the faithful along the path of salvation! The flickering fires shall serve as a brilliant beacon for those that stand with us in the brave new world of light!"
The first artillery shells slammed on the western edges of the town, destroying homes and tearing apart families. The crowd surrounding the Uhlan began to panic, looking around in confusion. The police blockade wasn't sure of what to do, unsure if they should try to attack the preaching doll. "Fear not the coming hours, for the enlightened shall endure the hardships yet to be faced!" Her shouting was more frantic and crazed, the explosions spurring her into a religious frenzy. "The light of Paradeus shall burn like a magnificent conflagration, becoming a funeral pyre for the nonbelievers and failures of the new world! Their glorious end shall become not just a beacon for the future, but for the bloodied griffin as well! The foul beast seeks vengeance for its wounds, but its pertinence to the wicked and the damned shall be its undoing! Either the griffin will see the light in our message, or be blinded by our truth and face reality!"
An officer fired his sidearm, but his bullets impacted safely on the force shield projected by the Uhlan. In response, the main troop hatch on the vehicle opened, white armored soldiers marching out to meet the police blockade. Still, the ranting doll continued with her show, oblivious as a small skirmish erupted before her. "Stand tall, my enlightened! Stand tall and firm, and do not let the wicked deter our divine mission! We serve the light of Paradeus, and we shall crush the sinners from this foul earth!"
The Nyto lept down from the Uhlan, her robe fluttering as she landed on the concrete below. The battle raged on with Paradeus soldiers entering from the outskirts of the town. Energy weapons cut down innocent people, blood spilling on the streets as homes burned. The Nyto walked amongst the dead, almost none of whom were her own armored soldiers. She came across one of the officers, gargling on his own blood from a wound to his chest. Like a white clad angel of death, she swung her scythe like an alabaster reaper. "Let mercy find those who deserve it, while pity finds those that may give it. Seek solace in whatever gods you may believe in, for today Paradeus shall guide you to them!"
