(19:42)
It took them the better part of an hour, but they'd managed to shake their pursuers.
Santiago never thought she'd have to make use of her SERE training again. In the time she'd spent with Griffin, things had been blissfully boring. Most of her days she spent in an office, directing air traffic and checking up on the pilots who did the real work.
Whenever she flew, it was usually for a joyride. If she spoke with the dolls, it was casual conversation and over a friendly bout of drinks. Joking and teasing them, trying to help them settle into life as free beings. Sure, money could be tight, but at least here she felt more like a stewardess than a soldier.
Oh, what she'd give to go back to before this jackass of a Commander had arrived. That man was a damned curse.
Now she was holled up in this dilapidated kitchen, her chest still burning even after they'd been resting for some time. The girls were spread out through the rest of the apartment, Springfield treating her injured junior in the living room. Thompson and BAR were on the lookout, ensuring they had truly evaded the Sangvis hounds.
Stuck in a hostile area, surrounded by people who wanted to kill her, with only a submachine gun and a knife. She may as well have never left Brazil, at least people in the Favelas spoke her language.
The pilot was now staring at a tablet, drinking water from a set of plastic bottles that had been tucked away. Kalina stared back at her, having spent the past few minutes rambling off battle data she couldn't make heads or tales of. Increased movement within the city limits, sporadic gunfire that she was trying to triangulate the source of, organizing a landing zone so they could get the hell out of here.
Maybe the water was bad. Or maybe she'd gotten a concussion from the helicopter crash. But everything Kalina said just came off as nonsense.
"How are the others holding up, by the way?" Kalina asked, voicing her concern.
"They'll be fine. Everyone's just rattled." Santiago explained as she continued to rifle through the cabinets, hoping there was something that was still edible hiding within. "How long until that second helicopter gets here?"
"We'll need one of the pilots to come back from a logistics run, first…" Kalina explained, the downed aviator laughing at the irony. A whole airport, and there weren't any free pilots. Or at least, there aren't since the Commander had likely conscripted one for his little rescue mission.
She really was beginning to despise this prick.
"You're… smiling?" Kalina asked, taken off guard by the expression.
"Just thinking about how great of a story this'll be to tell my husband." Santiago said, partially admitting the truth. This was going to be fun to explain to her spouse, once she managed to escape the concrete jungle.
"Well, I like the attitude!" Kalina said agreeingly. "Don't worry, I'll contact the Commander and tell him you need to pull out."
"You're a saint, Kalina. Tell me when our ride's coming." Santiago said, flashing the young woman a smile. The bow-wearing logistics officer waved back, before the connection was shut off.
Santiago yawned, strapping the tablet back against her chest and returned to her previous activity of looting this family's long abandoned home. Soon enough she was able to find a pack of yellow cakes, something called 'Twinkies'. One bite of the things felt like her teeth were going to fall out from how sweet they were, but it was still food.
As she walked out and through the living room, she saw Springfield putting the final touches on M14's repairs. There was a small hole that rested next to the twin tailed shooter's right shoulder, but none of her vital systems had been damaged. She could fight as if almost nothing happened, though a bit dirtied up.
She stepped out of the apartment, sitting next to the doorframe and munching away at her junk food. Thompson was walking down the hall, stopping to spot what was in her drinking buddy's hand.
"Since when do you eat Twinkies?" The team leader asked.
"Since now. They taste like sugary air." Santiago explained, scarfing down the last of it before wiping her hands off on her utility uniform. "So, we're alone?"
"Unless they're invisible, yeah." She promised, turning to point down the hall towards the stairwell. "Barbs' gonna check the upper floor. Once Fourteen's all fixed up, we can get rolling again."
"Our ride out of here is going to take it's time anyway." The pilot informed, letting the back of her head bang against the wall.
"What about the job? Old Man Hsu was pretty keen on finding this girl."
Santiago shrugged with indifference. "Finding Corporate's lost lamb without an eye in the sky would be like searching for a needle… what do you Americans say?"
"Needle in a haystack." The doll informed, rolling her eyes at the idea of their early departure. "We haven't even tried to look."
"You seem to care a lot about this." The pilot observed, bemused at the doll's insistence.
"I care about gettin' paid and not lookin' like a chump. Big job means big bonus." Thompson spoke honestly.
In all honesty, she couldn't give a rat's ass about the missing doll. If this mission wasn't important, she'd be the first one out of this shithole of a city. But it was that important, and flunking an A-List job like this would make her look like a chump. That wasn't something she could accept.
Besides, she had more personal reasons to find this doll.
Griffin had passed down a picture and field designation of the objective. She looked suspiciously like the doll Ingram had described to her during their last sortie. The outfit, the weapon, the green streak in her hair. Pair that with the timetable between then and now, it all seemed suspiciously co-incidental.
If this really was the spec-ops team that had gotten her old squad torn apart, she wasn't going to let Sangvis get their claws in before she had some of her own fun.
Santiago looked at the doll, then lifted her hand upwards. Thompson took it, hoisting the pilot up to her feet.
"Look, if you want out-"
"I'm not leaving you all behind." Santiago assured, killing the offer before it was uttered. Instead, she nodded her head back inside. "Go help Springfield wrap up. If we're doing this, we're doing it before it gets too dark."
Thompson nodded, slipping away to comply with the order. Santiago took her weapon off it's sling, leaning back against the wall and taking a breath.
Hopefully, this wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.
(19:52)
As the helicopter touched down, the trio departed and began to advance towards the depot at a steady pace.
They'd landed well enough away from the complex, behind a tree line and hopefully before any of the bandits had spotted their aircraft. Though the sound would have certainly tipped their opponents off, they'd be unaware of their actual location. And though this meant that they were in for a length jog, it was worth it to try and keep some element of surprise.
As they reached the end of the woodland and came before an abandoned farmer's field, Hsu raised a clenched hand. Each of them took cover behind a trunk, rifles at the ready as they kept watch over their surroundings.
The old officer activated his radio, keeping his view fixed on the rear wall of the main building. "Kalina, call the helicopter back. Have them start their landing run in fifteen mikes."
"Kind of risky, Commander." Kalina commented, but followed through in spite of her reservations. The three saw a yellow ping appear on their respective HUDs, the two humans of the bunch adjusting their holo-goggles.
"I know. But this either goes down fast or we're all screwed anyway." Hsu said, scowling. No plan ever went perfectly, but he didn't have the luxury to be thorough right now. Not when he was short on time and opportunity.
The team then rushed through the clearing, beating feet towards the fence that cordoned off the fuel depot from the outside world. An orchestra of small arms fire and handgrenades continued to roar from the heart of the compound, renewing in a vigor that signaled that bandits were making yet another advance on their targets.
Garand broke ahead of the other two, sprinting for the fence and sliding to a halt. The doll slid to a halt before it, stowing her rifle and feeling along the metal until she found the point where the metal sheets were pulled together.
Smirking, she then sent a fist smashing through the weak point, creating a hole large enough for both of her hands before physically bending the barrier away into a makeshift exit for her partners. Neither of them broke their pace, hopping through the breach, where then Garand drew her weapon out and followed.
"Make sure they know we're coming, Kalina." Hsu reminded, the group finally slowing their advance as they grew closer and closer to the epicenter of the action.
"They're a bit occupied, Commander!" The girl responded as they snuck their way over the wall in question. Khan removed the brick of semtex from his rucksack, mounting it to the concrete and priming it for detonation. "They've had to pull back to the third floor!"
"So the bandits have complete control of the first floor?" The Commander inquired as he and Garand moved out of the blast radius.
"Yeah, and if they push any further, they're gonna be stuck on the roof!" Kalina exclaimed, while her fellow department chief finished up his work. Khan shot the two a thumbs up, then fell back to join up with the others.
"Then tell them to push back down to the second floor. Link our comms with theirs once we go in." Hsu finished as Khan hid himself behind their slab of plasma scarred concrete and rebar. Once Kalina replied in the affirmative, he focused back on those present.
"When we breach, weapons free. We clear a path, not the entire building. Use the chaos as cover, and we might get out of this unnoticed."
"And if we don't?" Garand asked, fixing her bayonet onto the end of her rifle. "Normally I like some more 'plans' with my plans, Sir!"
"I'll notify Human Resources of your complaint." Hsu dismissed, making Garand groan in exasperation. He then looked to Khan, the man holding the detonator. "Anything from you?"
"Just hoping we don't cock this up. It's been years since I've done this kind of thing." Khan confided, the Brit keeping a vice-grip around the pistol grip of his bullpup rifle.
Hsu shrugged, empathizing with his fellow veteran. "It's like riding a bike, except instead of busting your arm you'll get a bunch of new holes."
The engineer smiled, despite their recent confrontation. "You always this bloody sarcastic?"
"Only seven days a week." The Commander answered, then pointing towards the door.
As Khan detonated the explosives, the world seemed to shake around them. Gigantic plumes of dust kicked up into the sky, the foundation of the building rocking about from the sudden blast that had dwarfed those that had recently precluded it.
The gunfire took pause, the already engaged parties stunned both within and without. And while the grey dust still hung in the air, the three new arrivals made their entrance. Right at the breach, a few of the bandits were sprawled on the ground. Concussed and confused from the out of nowhere assault.
Khan put two rounds into each without hesitating, ensuring the room was clear before calling out the direction of the staircase.
The sounds of battle resumed on the floors above, automatic firing ringing violently as the holed up dolls renewed their defense. As Hsu's team reached the stairwell, he pointed upwards before barking new directives.
"Garand, stay here and make sure no one follows!" He ordered. The doll complied, staying at the base of the stairs and aiming her weapon in the direction they had just cleared. Meanwhile, the two men shuffled their way up and reached the doorway that opened up to the second floor.
Behind it, the voices of unfamiliar locals echoed out in utter bafflement. Even though neither of them understood what was being said, the raised voices and constant back and forth gave it away rather easily.
"Gunfight's a bad time to start arguing with your mates." Khan commented, pulling a stun grenade off his rig and slipping his thumb into the pin. Seeing what the man planned on doing, Hsu grabbed for the door's handle.
"You fan left, I go right. One of us should link up with the others." He deducted. "Once we make contact, we grab everyone and run."
The engineer nodded, his thumb jutting out and pulling the pin from the flashbang. The commander then pulled the door open ever so slightly, giving Khan enough room to throw the device in.
Metal clattered against the ground, and the voices that had been bickering before momentarily chirped in confusion before the deafening bang echoed out. Hsu then opened the door fully, with Khan entering first and letting rounds fly into the deafened and blinded bandits.
The two men split apart, pushing down their respective hallways. Hsu kept his steady, but walked with hesitation behind each step. With how poorly thought out this assault had been, he was expecting it to go wrong at any moment.
It wasn't like him to rush into these things. Usually he refused to take any action unless he'd thought out a thorough plan of attack, several back up plans and a way to cut his losses with ease.
But no, this time he'd gone in half-cocked. Like a boot.
On the far wing, he could hear a fresh burst of gunfire being unleashed. His gait slowed even further, putting one foot after the other in a patient and deliberate motion. Ears tuned to his surroundings as the continued shouts and jeers of thugs both outside the building and rushing the third floor. The distinct echo of Garand's rifle ejecting a clip accented the fire, reflecting that they were running out of time.
Then, as he passed a doorway, an arm shot out and grabbed his collar. Too fast for him to jump away, far too strong for him to resist. Hsu was pulled inside, then thrown like a ragdoll onto the ground. The man yelled in pain as he fell onto his shoulder, dropping his weapon and clutching the limb.
Above him, an assault rifle aimed right at his head. But it wasn't eastern, it was German.
"Wh-" G36 said, before lowering her weapon and surging to help the man up. "Commander, what are you doing here!?"
Hsu seethed as pain shot up his neck, leading him to believe that the girl had flat-out dislocated his shoulder. But still, he quipped through the grimace. "House-shopping, what does it look like?"
G36's eyes seemed to pop out of her head, taken back by the sheer flippant nature the man was carrying himself with. Once he was back on his feet, she softly clasped her grip around his joint. Instantly, the android was able to sense something was wrong. A newfound panic lodged itself in her throat, followed by a loathing that she'd brought harm to yet another one of her allies.
"This is my fault." She chastised. "I should have been more careful."
"What did I say about second guessing yourself in the field?" He reminded her, wincing as she put more pressure on the joint. In his ear, he could here Khan buzzing about having found the others. Garand yelled something about her position getting pushed by a fresh team of gunmen as her weapon's ping echo'd from her end.
It all felt like white noise as G36 yanked his arm back into position.
The fresh jolt of pain sapped all the energy the man had left. He was running on fumes already, still not accustomed to a return to athletic life after several years on his own. He fell onto a knee, slipping into the android's grasp as she began to guide him back down the hallway.
Again, new traffic roared through Hsu's ear. The others had already made it back to the ground floor, with Skorpion in tow. They had begun to pull out of the building, buying them as much time as they could before the halls were flooded once again.
He forced himself back up on his own power, holding his sidearm in his offhand and beginning to jog. Both of them traversed their way out, moving back onto the ground floor and towards the hole that had been blasted in the rear.
The rest of the Griffin members were there, the dolls releasing a happy cheer as the last of their party arrived. Khan, however, quickly noticed that Hsu wasn't at full capacity. He gave G36 an inquisitive look, but the team leader instead remained silent as the now unified group began to leave the complex the way they came.
(20:48)
The sun had long disappeared over the blasted landscape of Donetsk.
Despite having long since been abandoned by the Soviets, the city itself still seemed to live. Before the war, most of the Ukranian Republic had been converted to solar energy. Self-sustaining, and in a closed circuit. Panels upon panels littered themselves across the remaining rooftops, creating a new cycle of electricity to be used.
At night, this ghost of a settlement still brought itself to light. With the lamps and bulbs that flickered, shining with what little life they had remaining after years without proper maintenance. As if there were people walking along it's paths, and cars still driving through its streets.
Tonight, however, there were a great deal of creatures calling the city 'home'.
Sitting atop one of the many rooves, five Griffin androids scanned the surroundings. Marking each point of interest, plotting out the various patrol paths that the Sangvis infestation took on their hunt. With each passing hour, they narrowed down exactly where their ultimate objective could not be, further confirmation being fed to them through the comm-link they'd 'liberated' from a wandering Ripper squad.
It was a waiting game at this point. Letting their enemies do all the hard work, then swooping in to nab the prize right out of their fingers.
The biggest mystery, at this point, was finding out what had happened to their back-up.
K11 continued to scan the streets with her binoculars, directional microphone catching the idle chatter between Sangvis units. She was beyond giddy, this was her first mission with the company. The Captain and Lieutenant of her team had been doing this for ages, and they kept tempering her expectations. 'Slow and steady', both kept repeating.
Slow and steady was so, so, boring.
There were a dozen Sangvis right under them! She could whip out her grenade launcher and level the entire street!
But no, nooo. They had to observe and track. Instead of actually USE the weapon that she got handed! Instead of going hog-wild, taking down every bad guy she could see, they were stuck being babysitters!
...This probably had something to do with why she got dismissed from her last job.
She felt her lab-coat ruffle as someone sat down next to her, and a candy bar popped up in front of her binocular's lenses. The blue haired doll cried out and fell back, caught totally off guard by the sudden appearance.
Next to her, S.A.T.8 roared with laughter. The happy lion hopped down from the ledge, pacing her way over and offering her comrade a hand up. "I see someone's daydreaming at their poooost~."
K11 rolled her eyes, but let herself get pulled up by her teammate. The Italian flashed her a playful smile, slipping the candy bar into her grasp before making her way further down the rooftop. On the far end, Type 100 could be seen sitting on her own edge, silently combing over her sector of pathway.
Just then, S.A.T's commlink began to ring. The doll queue'd in, accepting the orders from their far-off Captain before disconnecting the link.
"One-hundred, Eleven! We're leaving!" The Italian announced, whipping her weapon out to bear. Type 100's head popped in surprise, scanning over to where the tall blonde was standing. She shuffled over at speed, while K11 quickly stuffed the rest of the candy bar into her gob.
"Is something the matter, Sat-san? We were told to observe for several more minutes."" Type 100 inquired as she halted herself before the orange-clad shotgunner. K11 stood to their side, whipping her mouth with her sleeve as they formed a triangle.
S.A.T shrugged, setting her weapon on her shoulder and pointing off to the north. "Change of plans. Il Capitano thinks she's found our lost locals."
"They're still alive?" K11 asked, caught off guard. "What about the wreckage of the helicopter we found?"
"We didn't find any bodies…" Type 100 pointed out, pulling her scarf closer to her nose. "This is serendipitous news. Perhaps we can enlist their support."
"Assuming they're willing to even help." K11 commented, remembering how poorly the dolls back in Headquarters had commented on these rearline echelons. They were basically the dredges of Griffin, not reliable in a fight. Most barely knew how, beyond the imprints they'd been given.
S.A.T shook her head, taking her shotgun back into a two-handed grip. "If they're in danger, we need to assist. If they're not, they assist us. Either way, we're finding them. Capire?"
"Hai." Type 100 immediately agreed.
"Long as I get to test out these new nitrogen grenades." K11 said, grinning wildly as she loaded one of the devices into her weapon.
S.A.T.8 laughed at the idea, but took a notable step back. For the short time she'd known K11, she'd already experienced several premature detonations. There were only so many times she could have her hair cleaned.
The trio ran off across the roofs, the squadrons they'd been observing for hours none the wiser.
(21:02)
Thompson didn't know what she had been expecting when they'd come to this park, but it hadn't been this.
With M14 repaired, and the group in a quorum, they'd continued along on their mission despite the pilot's misgivings. Santiago made it clear that they needed to leave before midnight, but put up no further resistance to the dolls' desires.
In the distance they'd overheard a gunfight erupt as they continued to comb over the city for their target. The telltale sound of Sangvis blasters, but no conventional firearms firing back.
Thompson had figured that meant they were chasing down their target.
She didn't expect to find a park full of bullet-ridden Sangvis corpses.
Across the area, strewn over the benches and blown across the grass, dozens upon dozens of rippers were laid asunder. Small craters from hand-grenades dug up chunks of dirt. But among the leftovers of the battle, they couldn't find the doll they were searching for.
Thompson took a knee next to a gazebo, finding several discarded magazines on the wooden floor. Small and rectangular, likely only holding twenty rounds a piece. And with the low sound profile, Thompson also deducted who ever had been fighting had likely been using a suppressed weapon.
They had just missed her.
The gangster grinded her teeth together, rapidly losing her calm as this stupid girl slipped through their fingers again.
"Anyone find anything?" Springfield asked over their comm-link.
"Hmmm… a dinergate, a few rippers… ooo! Ooo! A squirrel!" M14 called out.
"Anyone find anything useful?" BAR followed up.
Thompson groaned, deactivating her radio before delving into a series of curses that would make any sailor blush. Hours upon hours of frustration finally boiling over. All of this effort going to nothing. Surviving a helicopter crash, being hunted by ALL the Sangvis in the area, hiding out in a run-down dump for hours on end. All of it, just to terminate here. Still no trail to follow, still no idea of the condition of their target. Still NOTHING!
Santiago was right! They should've just left and let her deal with this on her own! She was obviously capable!
...Maybe that's what was bothering her so much. The fact that one doll could take on this many Sangvis on her own.
Meanwhile, in the distance, Springfield and M14 watched on together as Thompson made her scene.
"We should do something…" Springfield observed, while her junior giggled happily at the entertainment.
"Are you kidding? This is the best thing we've seen all day!" M14 exclaimed, not wanting to cut off the show early.
Springfield sighed, keeping her rifle close. She knew why Thompson was so frustrated, she also knew there was little they could do. Their new leader held herself to a higher standard than anyone expected of her. Her pride wouldn't allow anything else.
All they could do was support her, until hopefully she was satisfied.
As M14 continued to laugh in mirth, Springfield sensed something. In the far distance, the sound of concrete breaking from sudden pressure.
Instinctively, the elder took hold of M14 and dove out of the way.
A figure then smashed down where they had been standing prior, forming a fresh pit of dirt being pressed into the earth. As soon as they hit the ground, Springfield rolled onto her back and drew her weapon. Three shots flew out of her rifle, but the figure jumped out of the way just as quickly as it landed.
Hearing the deafening crash, Thompson dropped her rage induced tirade and spun to see the cloud of grass fly into the air. Seeing Springfield's assailant jump into the sky, she began to spray her sub-machine gun into the sky. BAR joined her as well, throwing a volley of .30-06 at the blur.
It landed on the roof, shaking the whole gazebo that Thompson stood within. The three outside were able to now get a good look at just who had crashed their party. A black clad T-Doll, with long onyx hair and a back-bent blade that was as long as she was tall. Two long antler like antennae stuck out of her forehead, with a mechanical right arm that was triple the size of a normal human.
Standing above, the ringleader snarled with disappointment at her new finds. She'd come all the way across the city to find M4A1, and all that was left were a few rats.
"Hm…" Executioner pondered, before aiming her sword-point towards Springfield well "I suppose you all might know where Em-Four is."
