(21:08)

As Executioner stood atop the gazebo rooftop, proudly posing as if she was the leading lady for a grand stage play, the glint of a scope could be faintly seen on a rooftop several blocks away. Two white-haired dolls lay prone, one aiming her anti-materiel rifle squarely on the ringleader's chest. The other held a pair of binoculars, painting their target with an infra-red laser.

From their position, they could see more Sangvis dolls moving to encircle the distracted Sector 09 team. Squads moving through the abandoned streets, each of them converging on the signal of their bombastic ringleader.

"Roughly seven-hundred meters. Buildings seem to be shielding the area from wind." The spotter described, while her partner wordlessly adjusted the magnification on her weapon. Comms chatter filled the spotter's ear-piece, S.A.T.8 announcing that the rest of the team was in position to provide support.

She looked over to her Captain, asking for permission to give the order.

The sniper did no such thing. Merely removing a large SABOT round from her waist, placing it into the chamber, and cycling the bolt.


(21:15)

Kalina was waiting at the helipad when they landed back at base. The logistics officer shielding herself from the blast of wind that was thrown around from the Blackhawk's rotors.

The damaged dolls got off first, StG44 and Skorpion both limping off as a few engineers came to perform some preliminary repairs. Khan stayed next to the transport, barking orders at his juniors to ensure they took the proper steps. Meanwhile, the others milled around the platform, still lost in disbelief that they even made it back.

Hsu and G36 stepped off together, the former rolling his shoulder as the pain continued to fade while the latter stood at guard. Spotting Kalina in the small crowd, he waved for her to come over as the engines of the aircraft whined themselves to sleep.

"Good news or bad news?" Hsu asked as Kalina came before him.

"Bad news!" Kalina said, frowning as she fixed the bow that had been almost blown out of her hair. "Ines and the other girls haven't reported in since a few hours ago!"

"What?" Hsu asked. "I thought they called for extraction!"

"They never showed up! And no one's responding to my hails!" Kalina explained, clearly distraught.

Hsu bit his tongue, looking around at all that were present by the helicopter. StG44 and Skorpion were already beginning to have their more damaged extremities removed. PPsH-41 stumbled, her neural cloud suffering the after effects of diving deep into Skorpion's firmware. Garand was standing, but was making no effort to hide her newfound worry for her teammates.

This was all going to hell way too fast.

He refocused himself on Kalina, before pointing to one of the base's central command building. "Head back to Control, keep trying. Take Garand with you and find out where they are. And send a helicopter to scout!"

Kalina nodded, not asking questions before turning around to relay the orders. The Commander then looked at Garand, nodding his head at the Blackhawk's canopy. The riflewoman understood, grabbing her weapon and trotting off to join the girl.

Hsu turned around, ready to move back towards the helicopter.

"No." G36 told him, holding him in place "Absolutely not. You are going straight to the infirmary."

"Since when do you give me orders?" Hsu questioned, trying to yank his arm out of her grip. The gesture did nothing but remind him of his injury, a fresh bolt of pain zapping up into his collarbone.

Sensing the jolt, G36 lessened her grip, but kept a firm hold on the obstinate commanding officer. "You dislocated your shoulder. I doubt you can even hold a rifle properly!"

"Then I'll use my Hi-Power. Still have my good arm." Hsu sidestepped, before giving the maid a side-glare. "Let go. Now."

Despite her desire to do otherwise, the doll was compelled to follow it's given directive. Hsu yanked his arm back, rubbing the fresh soreness that had come from such a vice grip. Meanwhile, G36 stood her ground.

"Why did you come save us?" She interrogated.

"Garand bugged me about it." Hsu deflected, using the convenient excuse.

"Zhat is a lie and you know it." The maid countered, seeing right through he man. "We had already dealt with the Ringleader. In the worst case scenario, all you had to do was have us repaired."

"You think we can even afford re-" He said, continuing to dodge the question. He didn't feel the need to explain his reasoning, nor did he have the desire.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't seem to have a choice.

"Stop taking me for an idiot!" G36 yelled, making the Commander double-take as her voice spoke over the still powered engine of the Blackhawk. No one seemed to hear her except Khan and PPK, both of whom began to drift over to the scene like moths to a flame.

Though G36 didn't seem to care. All she wanted now was answers, an audience be damned. It had been ages since she'd been genuinely rageful, but this day had already been too much. She had already been shot, slashed, nearly blown to bits. She had already cradled the lifeless body of her own apprentice in her arms.

This… this was too much.

"I may be a doll, but I have my pride, Kommandant. And I refuse to be spoken down to like some child." She made clear, glare boring deep into the target of her ire. "So I will ask you, one last time. Why did you come for us?"

Hsu did what he did best, hide behind his stoney expression. He gave a glance to Khan, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and offered no alternative. PPK was also oddly silent, not adding any glib remarks.

The Commander sighed, needing to find a way out of this.

"First lesson of being a leader. You've got two responsibilities. Always finish the mission, always save who you can." The man laid out, hoping to not have to spill his guts before half of the base. "I don't have the right to expect Santiago, or Thompson, or you to follow my orders if I'm not willing to do that much."

G36 began to cool off, but still seemed unsure. Until Khan chipped in.

"Can't demand loyalty, Thirty Six. You have to earn it." The Engineer explained, scratching his stubble. "That's what separates the good officers from the bad ones. Compliance can be forced, but trust is a whole other thing."

G36 began to understand what they both meant. Hsu knew he could simply give an order and they'd have no choice but to comply. But he still wanted to give them that choice. He was trying to let them have some level of autonomy, however small it was.

He was trying to prove he deserved to lead them. Just as much as she was trying to prove to her own team.

"Wait until tomorrow, and I'll join you." She followed up, walking past the man and back towards the main base. "If the others are your responsibility, then you are certainly mine."

Hsu began to protest, pointing out that G36 was just as injured as he was. But he knew better than to be openly hypocritical. PPK giggled, then began to traipse behind the taller maid.

"And where are you going?" Khan asked, observing the multitude of bullet wounds that stained PPK's back.

The handgunner looked over her shoulder, providing the engineer a smug smile. "Isn't it obvious? Wherever my Captain goes."

Khan huffed, but offered no more protest. Instead he walked up to Hsu's flank, both hands gripping the top of his plate-carrier while his rifle was slung on his back. "Sometimes, I wish I had it in me to force'em to listen."

Hsu snorted, not believing it for a moment. Khan was too easy going to force anyone into doing anything; be it the dolls or his human staff. He'd lean on people, he'd nudge'em in the right direction, be he'd never put a gun to their head.

The engineer stroked his stubble once more, watching the two Germans sit themselves down across from one another. "You didn't tell her everything."

Hsu chuckled, shaking his head. His mind still wasn't sure what he even wanted to tell them, but he knew this wasn't the time.

"I'm just trying my best. The old approach wasn't going to work." He deflected yet again, before giving Khan a smirk of his own. "Besides, not everyday you get advice from someone who was in the Regiment."

Khan went stone faced, a chill going down his spine as the man revealed his deduction. He sized the Canadian up, finalizing his assessment of the newcomer. This cold, cynical man from a crippled nation across the Atlantic. The one whom when they'd first met, had thrown a threat his way without batting an eye. Who'd been willing to strip these androids of what little humanity they had for the sake of 'efficiency'. Now on his way to go pull the very same dolls out of the fire.

The Englishman broke into a toothy grin, before slapping his superior across the back.

"...You're a proper bastard, Matthew." Khan declared. "But you're one I don't mind calling 'Sir'."

The Commander smiled nodded, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips before Khan turned around and began to bark new orders at the repair crews. As the engineers began to escort the wounded towards the main building, Hsu took in a long breath and rolled his neck.

Hopefully, he wasn't about to run out of luck.


(21:20)

It wasn't the worst situation Thompson had ever been in, but it easily cracked the top ten.

This new Sangvis cannon-fodder had arrived at the absolute worst time. While they were stuck in the open, with only benches and large plastic rocks to use as cover against their plasma rifles. No escape routes to be found, unless they tried to punch through the oncoming horde. Something they could have done, easily, if Santiago wasn't here with them. But she was, and the human was a helluva lot more fragile than the dolls.

Far as Thompson could tell, she only had three real advantages.

First, this blowhard ringleader was too absorbed in her boring speech to notice that she was right underneath her fat ass. Meanwhile the oncoming rippers and dinergates seemed to still be too far off to see exactly how many of them there were.

Second, she'd picked up a set of three of IFF tags to their east. Stationary, hiding on what looked to be the second floor of a department store. None of the serial numbers belonged to any dolls she knew, but they followed the same pattern as ones that belonged to Griffin T-Dolls.

Finally, off in the distance, she could make the faint glint of a FLIR strobe out on top of the roof. While the streetlamps had made visibility on ground level as clear as daytime, it also made aberrations appear far more noticeably. And no Sangvis doll would be trying to signal her with a laser.

It wasn't much, but it was something. And Thompson could work with something.

The gangster prepared her weapon, then looked the flashing laser dead on. She made a finger-gun at the cluster of Sangvis approaching down the road, a gesture that made M14 look at her like she had totally lost her marbles, then mimic'd taking a shot.

Seconds later, the sound of a tank cannon echoed through the dead city. The shell screeched through the air, before smashing into a row of unexpecting hostile androids and turning them into scrap.

"What the-!?" Executioner exclaimed, cut off by the bloody fury of .45ACP shredding through the gazeebo's wooden roof. Ten rounds caught themselves in her underside before she was able to jump away, slashing at the supports to bring the whole thing down on Thompson's head.

Another booming shot rang out, tearing apart another column of oncoming Sangvis while their ringleader beat a hasty retreat. Springfield, BAR and M14 had made a turn around, now spinning to open fire on the same targets this sniper had brought their wrath upon.

Yet another line of Sangvis collapsed, purple oil leaking out onto the blackened concrete, but even more still came.

Thompson dug herself out from underneath the boards, roaring in rage as she whipped around to restart her assault on the ringleader. However, her target had already high-tailed it, leaving only a trail of oil behind.

From her periphery, she could see a head of blonde hair bob in a window in the store. More gunfire erupted as her team continued to lay down fire at the incoming Sangvis. Santiago had joined them as well, plinking away with her sub-machine gun as she hid herself behind a flipped over bench.

They needed to break the advance. Stop the column in their tracks.

"Fall back!" Thompson ordered, yelling it into the radio. "Fall back to me, quick!"

BAR did a double-take over her shoulder, confused as to why they were being told to give up their position. Springfield showed no such hesitation, spinning around and retreating as she stuffed a new clip of rounds into her weapon.

BAR rose from her kneeling stance, firing the last of her magazine before giving M14 a bump with her foot. The two then began to peel back, with Santiago being the last person to meet by the ruins of the gazebo. The Captain made a motion with her hand, signaling for each of them to take cover.

"Don't shoot! Give them room to come up!" Thompson continued to instruct.

"And why do we want them to get closer!?" Santiago questioned, slapping the bolt of her weapon shut.

The Captain pointed over at the department store, then tapped her temple. "Griffin markers in that building. Command Protocol let's me see the ones that aren't part of our echelon."

"Wait, we have help!?" M14 asked indignantly, fumming as she hid behind another plastic rock. "Why didn't they do something about the crazy lady with the big machete!?"

"Dunno. I'm hoping they do something now."

"And if they don't?" BAR questioned, counting her remaining magazines.

"Well then, guess we're all gonna be on ice for a few weeks." Thompson said, chuckling as her cousin groaned loudly.

The five women kept their cover, guns ready as the Sangvis force continued to advance. They filtered into the funnel, totally focused on their locked on target and completely unawares of any other hostile presence. Even the sniper that had been previously hammering them seemed to be an afterthought, their weapons still firing wildly in the direction of Thompson's team.

She figured this was the ringleader's doing. She'd gotten so angry at being shot, that now she'd directed all of her drones to focus solely on wiping them out.

A shot hit right next to Thompson's face, the doll flinching as they watched their advance. "Come on… come on you little shits…"

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP

Three grenades were fired into the air, colorful smoke streaking behind them before the exploded above the Sangvis horde. Shrapnel came peppering down, cutting holes into the Sangvis formation and halting the attack. The rippers at the front turned at a pivot, taking aim at the storefront and preparing to redirect their hail of fire.

Then the store's door was kicked open, with two black and yellow blurs speeding out. The latter's laughter hung in the air as she rushed into the crowd, shotgun firing shell after shell into the mob. The former rushed to the front, activating a shield that shattered under the focused fire. However, her speed only seemed to escalate, up until the point she was in the center of the enemy and firing madly in all directions.

"Open fire!" Thompson commanded, the echelon rising from their cover and unloading a fresh wave of pain that smashed into the now sandwiched Sangvis like a hammer against an anvil. Metal and sparks flew each and every way, only ten seconds of sustained fire leading to devastating effect.

When the volley was over, the remaining enemy androids all lay dead or twitching on the ground. A few could be seen running the way they came, tripping over themselves in panic. Type 100 stood in the middle, tearing the bayonet of her SMG out of a Vespid's back. S.A.T.8 walked past her junior, laughing in their victory as she waved in Thompson's direction.

"Bello spettacolo, Signora!" The Italian called over, reloading her shotgun and checking to see if Type 100 had gotten hit. The quiet girl shook her head, silently swapping a new magazine into her weapon while moving to stand at the taller blonde's flank.

Thompson's team moved up from their position, Springfield and M14 setting up to watch the road while Thompson, BAR and Santiago came over to speak with the new arrivals.

"You're both nuts." Thompson said, grinning from ear to ear. "Lucky, that's my type. Mind if I get your number, dollface?"

BAR rolled her eyes, having gotten numb to her cousin's playgirl antics. Type 100 remained utterly unmoved by the Captain's advances, but S.A.T.8 seemed more inclined to play along. She came forwards, using a finger to play with the American's rouge tie.

"My my, aren't you forward. Is the battlefield the place to be arranging midnight rendezvous?" She teased.

"I find ways to make time for a pretty face." Thompson replied, leaning closer. "Hows about you?"

The two chuckled amongst themselves, but not before a loud 'THUMP' hit the pavement next to them. Both turned to see BAR, pointing off towards the fleeing Sangvis cannon fodder as they were being torn apart yet again. More shots were being fired by the friendly sniper, though from a new angle as they had repositioned.

Type 100 bowed, then ran off to join M14 and Springfield as they restarted their long range fire.

"Not to be a prude, ladies, but there's still a firefight on." The machine gunner reminded, Thompson cursing as she looked down the road.

"We can't stay here. That Ringleader's gonna just throw bodies until we run out of ammunition." Thompson deducted.

"We can't pull out, either. We don't even know where to go," BAR countered, pointing to the second roadway that led towards the central park. "And we sure as hell can't do either while trying to find the objective."

"My team has had as little luck, sadly." S.A.T.8 admitted. "Our Captain was hoping you had found a trail."

Thompson snorted, then produced one of the expended magazines that M4A1 had left behind. "We did, but it ended here. Lead us into this mess." She explained, adding yet another slight she planned to make this 'Special Operations' doll pay for.

A buzz game from Santiago's pocket, to which the woman produced a ringing tablet. The pilot unlocked the device, reading the message and sighing. "Still jammed. Someone's been trying to contact us for ages, but the connection can't stabilize."

Thompson nodded her head, thinking about their next move. This park had more than enough open area for a helicopter to land. All they'd need to do is keep the landing zone clear for a minute, and they could all be out of here and on their way back to safe ground. They'd already done what they could, especially considering the force they ran into. Even continuing the search with Santiago with them had been a major risk.

And still, she couldn't shake it. That feeling that she shouldn't leave.

"We need to disappear again." Thompson decided, looking around them. "The crazy chick with the machete's not that good at tracking. If she can't find us, she sure as hell won't be able to find the Princess."

"And then what, we keep running around with our heads cut off?" Santiago questioned, pushing the tablet into Thompson's chest. "I'm calling it. It's time to go back to base."

"And how're we gonna signal a ride home?" BAR questioned.

"This jamming only started once we came close to the city center. Before that, we were able to speak with the Commander easily." Santiago reminded them, before she pointed towards a brightly shining star in the sky. "See that? Polaris. We march north, get to the outskirts, and leave."

"And the mission?" Thompson pointed out.

"You said it yourself, she's terrible at tracking." The pilot pointed out, before gesturing towards S.A.T.8. "Two teams, two teams and we can't find this ghost!"

Thompson began to protest, but Santiago spun around and shoved her finger right in the Captain's face. The human had a face of tired fury, her cheeks stained with dust and dirt from having to scavenge from room to room.

"Unless you want to stay here alone, forget it." Santiago demanded, giving the doll an angry shove. "I am not dying on the orders of a Canadian bastard for a stupid robot I've never met. We are leaving, got it?"

Thompson stood there, dumbstruck. She tried to muster an argument, but it was no use. Her neural cloud took over, suppressing the urge to resist a human's directive. BAR and S.A.T.8 watched on, the latter turning around to whistle at her remaining team-member hiding in the store.

Seeing that there was no more protest, Santiago turned to yell at M14 and Springfield. The two pulled back after finishing off the stragglers, following the pilot as she began to adjust northwards down the street. Type 100 waddled past them, waving for K11 to follow as they formed up behind Santiago.

S.A.T.8 lingered behind, shrugging her shoulders before she too broke off to join the retreat.

Thompson and BAR stood alone, in the Sangvis covered grass and scorched cover that surrounded them. The street lights flickered ever so slightly, a signal that the light they were being ever so graciously provided wasn't as reliable as they liked.

"We did our best, Annie." BAR relented, wiping the lenses of her aviators off on a sleeve. "We've flipped half the city on it's head, and none of us are rated for night missions. Well, except you."

Thompson still shook her head in defiance. "I've never flubbed a mission, Barbs. Not once. Didn't do it in the Army, didn't do it under the table, and I've never done it with Griffin. I don't come back empty-handed."

"First time for everything…?" BAR replied, laughing sheepishly at the glare that got thrown her way. "Look, she ordered us. Even if we want to stay, we can't disobey her. Unless you wanna take her up on that 'staying behind alone' offer?"

BAR laughed again, a bit more solidly this time, but the laugh trickled away as she saw the process going through Thompson's digimind. Quickly, BAR began to shake her head. "No, no. You're not."

"I am." Thompson answered.

"You're not."

"I am, and I'm going to."

"Weren't you calling out Hsu for having a deathwish before!?" BAR pointed out erratically.

"I'm a liar." Thompson replied, probably the most honest thing she'd ever said. "Besides, I can handle myself. And I'm not gonna have to keep looking over my shoulder for Santiago."

"Are you-" BAR started up again, not believing what she was hearing. "Ines is your best friend! You know she's trying to keep you alive, right!?"

"Who said anything about me dying?" Thompson answered cheekily, pulling out a spike from under her coat. "Signal strobe. It's range is about twenty klicks, it can brute force through most jammers. Use it to get the chopper to grab you once you're out of the city.

BAR looked at the spike, dumbstruck that her cousin had such a device on her the entire time. "...Just tell me. Why. Why are you so hellbent on finding this girl?"

"Personal business. Nothing you should get dirty over." Thompson explained, though in the vaguest manner possible. "Besides… I owe Hsu. Guy put his faith in me when he didn't need to, and I don't like debts."

"Come on, you think that prick cares if any of us come back alive?" BAR asked. "Remember what Garand said. Soon as he gets the excuse, he'll rip out our emotion modules and turn us into friggen' zombies!"

Thompson huffed, well aware of the warning that their teammate had given. Each of the girls had responded differently to the news. M14 had herself a panic attack, only Springfield was able to coax her back to reality. BAR was, now and then, livid with the man. Thompson had been one jump away from requesting a transfer.

But she hadn't. Not after the ultimatum he'd given her. 'No casualties, no exceptions'.

He didn't speak like someone who couldn't care less if they survived.

"Go tell Ines I'm finding the Princess." Thompson ordered flatly, nodding her head towards the group as they grew further and further away. BAR gave her one last look, pleading with her cousin to drop the foolishness and come along.

Needless to say, she returned to the group alone.


A/N:This was originally going to be the last chapter of this arc, but I've split off the finale into it's own little bit. Coming... later, after I show some love to my other active projects.

Still, thanks to everyone for the follows, favs and reviews. There aren't many long-fics in this section, and I'm hoping to write one that puts the best foot forwards for the ones that come after.

Take care, everyone. Watch yourself in the pandemic, and we'll be back soon. The first of Anti-Rain's gonna make her grand debut next time.

o/