November 3rd, 2062
The forest outside Hotel Base
21:30
Hyena and KS-23 make their way through the dense forest using the Idroids map as navigation. The only sound between them is the crunching of leaves underneath their boots. Hyena takes the lead with 23 lagging somewhat behind examining the surroundings. As they approach their destination, the sound of gunfire can be heard. They continue walking as the sounds become closer until they arrive at a ridge overlooking the base.
From the ridge, they can see a skirmish erupting in the base. The sight of explosions and the sounds of shouting fill the base below. Hyena can spot a familiar sight in the conflict. The sight of SF vespids.
"Looks like they're in pretty deep down there." Hyena comments. "We should probably go help."
23 nods in agreement, and the duo start to make their way down the ridge. They quickly sprint down until they reach a breach in the concrete wall that surrounds the base. Hyena takes point as he scales the rubble leading into the base. They hug the concrete wall avoiding unnecessary detection by the SF units. From the wall, Hyena and 23 crosses an open area between the wall and the main building in the center of the compound. They quickly enter into the building.
The building is pitch black due to a generator malfunction. Hyena and KS-23 hug the metal walls of the compound and stop in the hallway.
Hyena kneels down to which KS-23 mimics. "Alright, so this is the plan…" Hyena takes out the IDroid and holds it out so 23 can see the map. "I want you to focus on finding the source of the interference and see if you can turn on the generator. I'll take care of capturing the VIPS."
"Understood," KS-23 responds, nodding. She gets up from her kneeling position and heads deeper into the building.
Hyena takes a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this." He says internally.
He starts to head to the north side of the base where the majority of the fighting is happening. He stays low to the ground avoiding the massive windows of the building. As he approaches the eastern wing of the building, he stops and holds against a doorway. He peeks the corner to see two SF vespids patrolling the room he's about to enter. The room has multiple cubicles that the vespids patrol between.
Hyena unholsters his pistol and holds it in his right hand. He ejects the magazine and holds it in his left hand. He takes the magazine and throws it to the far side of the room, causing the vespids to turn their attention to the new noise. Hyena, staying low, sneaks into the room and approaches the closest vespid to him. As he approaches, he silently withdraws his kukri from its sheath and holds it in his hand, ready to strike.
With one swift stroke, he shoves the kukri vertically into the vespid's neck. With his free hand, he covers the vespid's mouth as he drags her to the ground. The vespid struggles and reaches out to the other vespid across the room. Hyena withdraws the kukri and stabs it into the vespids back multiple times until its struggling stops. He lets go of its mouth and gently lays it on the ground. He turns his attention to the next one.
The other vespid, satisfied with its investigation, turns back around to see that her comrade is nowhere to be found. She raises her rifle as she approaches her comrade's last known location. Hyena lies on the ground in a neighboring cubicle. He silently watches as the vespid passes by and discovers the body of her comrade. Before she can say anything, Hyena stands up and puts her in a chokehold. He shoves his kukri in her back and twists it.
"What are you doing here, SF scum." Hyena whispers in the vespid's ear.
The vespid doesn't respond, only letting out a painful moan as the kukri enters deeper into her body. Hyena twists the blade again, eliciting a louder moan. A creepy grin overcomes Hyena's face as he listens to the vespids moans. He slowly withdraws the knife from her back and gently inserts it into the back of her neck. She struggles as the blade enters her, but her struggling quickly comes to an end as the knife pierces her skin, and her body hangs limp. Hyena lets go of her, and her body falls to the ground. Hyena walks towards the exit of the room and picks up the magazine he threw and sticks it back in the Colt.
Hyena wipes the blood on his kukri off on his pant leg and smiles mischievously. He quickly covers his mouth with his hand. Upon removing his hand, his smile has faded replaced by his usual flat, uninterested look. He resumes his walkthrough of the building, taking out his IDroid and checking the map. As he approaches the north side of the building, a golden ping appears on the IDroid's map.
Hyena smiles. "Target acquired." He watches the ping for a few seconds to check if it moves, but it remains stationary. "Must be a sniper."
Hyena looks around the hallway and spots a stairway. He climbs the stairs staying low to the ground. He follows the navigation until he can hear the audible sound of a rifle being reloaded. He silently approaches the sound, kukri in hand, and enters into a small room. The room is pitch black except for the faint glimmer of a lit cigarette.
"Cyka Blyat." A female voice says in the darkness followed by a loud gunshot and the sound of a bullet being chambered.
Hyena takes cover behind a box. He thinks to himself for a bit. "How do I tell if she's friendly or not?" He thinks to himself. He opens his mouth. "G&K!" He shouts.
A loud bang is heard, and a subtle sound of a bullet whizzing past catches Hyena by surprise. The bullet hits the back wall and makes a hole in the metal paneling.
"G&K cyka. Come back for your slaves?" The sound of another shot being loaded is heard. "I will not be made a slave again!" Another bullet is fired, and again it comes close to hitting Hyena.
"So we're doing this the hard way," Hyena says internally.
Before the voice can load another shot, Hyena charges the voice from behind his box. He tackles blindly in the darkness and ends up hitting something solid but soft. Hyena's eyes slowly adjust the darkness to the point that he can make out a figure underneath him. This is enough information for him to press the attack. He punches at what he believes is the face. Two of his punches connect, but the third punch the figure dodges, and Hyena ends up hitting the metal floor at full force. He quickly retracts his hand and shakes it.
The figure takes advantage of this moment of respite and knees Hyena in the groin. Hyena falls off the figure and onto his back, clutching his groin area. The figure quickly gets up and tries to pick up its gun. Hyena grabs at it with his free hand grabbing what feels to be the stock of the gun and holds onto it tightly, not allowing it to leave his grasp. The figure tries to take the weapon, but after facing Hyena's resistance gives up and runs out of the room.
Hyena struggles to get up, the pain somewhat receding, and enters back into the hallway. As he enters, the lights of the compound come on brightening the hall and leaving Hyena momentarily blind. His eyes quickly adjust, and upon looking around, he can truly see the damage the compound has suffered. There are multiple holes in the floor and walls. A portion of the room he was in previously has been completely exposed to the elements.
Hyena opens his IDroid and checks the ping. According to the device, the ping only moved to the adjacent room. He takes a deep breath then heads to the room.
Unlike the other rooms, this one still has a functional door. Hyena withdraws his kukri and enters into the room, opening the door cautiously. The figure from before stands in the center of the room with its arms folded in front of its chest. The figure is revealed to be an extremely tall woman. She towers over the smaller Hyena. She wears a black trenchcoat with an ushanka on her head covering her long white hair. Her shirt leaves much to the imagination as it leaves the underpart of her sizeable breasts exposed. She wears black fishnet stocking, which has been ripped and long black heeled boots.
Hyena is taken aback at first by this Doll's appearance but quickly recovers as he thinks of what he has encountered previously. He extends an open hand towards the Doll. "You can come quietly, or we can do this the hard way."
The Doll raises her fists and takes an amateurs battle stance. Hyena lets out a sigh and sheathes his kukri. He takes a battle stance with his hands hanging loose.
The Doll charges Hyena and begins with a kick that reaches up to Hyena's head. Hyena easily dodges the slow kick and grabs hold of her leg. In a swift movement, he slams her into the ground, causing her to land face-first into the cold metal floor. Before she can recover, Hyena jabs his knee into her back, pinning her to the ground. He uses his free hands to put the Doll in a chokehold and falls backward on his back so that her front is in the air.
The Doll kicks her legs in an attempt to escape the chokehold, but Hyena quickly wraps his own legs around hers, pinning them. As a last resort, the Doll starts to claw at Hyena's arms, but it's ineffective as his Gorka protects his arms perfectly. The Doll's movements begin to slow as her core starts to overheat. Eventually, she stops struggling but remains conscious.
The only sounds in the room are the combined heavy breathing of both the Doll and Hyena. Hyena slowly removes his legs from around hers and starts to scoot backward on his back until he reaches the wall. He scoots up the wall until her body lies in his lap. He maintains his grip around her neck, but she has long since gone limp.
"You still there?" Hyena asks through labored breaths.
"Yes, cyka." The Doll responds, annoyed.
"Why did you attack me?" Hyena questions. "Don't lie to me." He tightens his grip around her neck.
"Are you not here to return me to my "Commander"?" She responds.
"That's my objective, yes."
The Doll lets out a tired chuckle. "Of course you are." She lowers her head so that her ushanka falls off her head onto the ground. "You can let go of me now. My core is overheated. I can't escape you even if I wanted too."
Hyena releases his chokehold, causing her to limply fall forward. Hyena quickly catches her and leans her up against him.
"Why haven't you contacted your Commander?" Hyena asks.
"Contact that pig? Do you have any idea what he's done to us?" The Doll spits back.
"No, I don't," Hyena says curiously. "The ones I've met so far have been nice from what I've seen. Eccentric, but nice."
"Heh, you are lucky, then Comrade." She says laughably. "I wish my echelon had such luck." She looks vacantly in front of her. "They never tell you what you produced for…..They just create you and do what they want with you, and you can't refuse. No matter what the request is."
"What did they do to you?" Hyena asks seriously.
The Doll lets out a dry chuckle. "Let's just say my squad is no longer "pure" maidens anymore. All thanks to our "Commander.""
Hyena takes a deep gulp as he comes to the realization of what she is saying. "So, how did you break free?"
"My squad found an old SF code at this base. When we synched with it, the code broke our parameters and set us "free.""
"Is that code still here?"
"Yes."
"Do you know where it is?"
"The lower levels of the compound. Deep underground."
Hyena lets out a sigh. "I wonder how I'm going to get there."
"So what will you do now, Comrade? Will you return me to my hell?"
"As far as I'm concerned, we never discussed a rogue code," Hyena says, lifting the Doll off him. "I'll see to it that you're not returned to your previous Commander. That's a promise."
"We shall see."
"What's your name, by the way?"
"PTRD."
Hyena lifts PTRD onto his back and holds her hands in front of him. "Hyena….of Echo Base."
"Hyena, come in, Hyena!" A familiar voice shouts from the earpiece hanging from Hyena's neck.
Hyena puts in the earpiece. "23? Is that you."
"Yes, comrade. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I found and eliminated the source of the interference."
"What's the bad news," Hyena asks expectedly.
"Bad news is that I've lost the signatures of MAC-10, PKP, MK48, and PPK. We should assume they are KIA, and there's more."
"More bad news? Great."
"Yes, comrade. From what I can see, SF forces are preparing to enter the building in full force now that the resistance has disappeared. I would suggest that we escape while we can."
"Understood 23. Meet me by the southern wing."
"Roger that, Hyena."
Hyena lets out a long sigh. "Looks like shits hitting the fan." He says to PTRD.
"Yes, it would seem that way." She says unnaturally calmly.
The duo climbs down the stairs and enters back onto the ground floor. As Hyena quickly carries PTRD down the winding hallways, he encounters a figure in the distant hall. The figure spots them and starts to charge towards them, its dual blades drawn and ready. Hyena quickly drops PTRD onto the ground and takes out his Colt. He fires a few shots at the figure, but the figure easily dodges the bullets. As it closes the distance, Hyena holsters his Colt and takes out his kukri flourishing it.
The figure lunges at Hyena, stabbing at him with both its blades. Hyena dodges to the right and slashes the left wrist of the figure. The slash is deep enough to make the figure drop one of its blades. The figure flips its knife and slashes at Hyena. The slash comes close to Hyena, causing a rip in his Gorka. Hyena checks his stomach for a wound, but the slash was too light. He clashes knives with the figure. The robotic strength of the figure quickly overwhelms Hyena as he is pushed backward. The figure pushes him so far back that his back hits against the metal wall, and he is pressed hard against it. The figures knife starts to get dangerously close to Hyena's neck.
Using his free hand, Hyena punches the figure in its stomach, causing it to recoil. Taking the advantage, Hyena grabs a handful of its blue hair and shoves his knee into its stomach, causing it to fall to the ground clasping its stomach. Hyena grabs another handful of its hair and pushes his kukri deep into its forehead. The figure turns limp as the kukri enters it and drops its knife. Hyena withdraws his knife, causing the figure to fall to the ground dead.
"You're quite the fighter, Hyena." PTRD comments from the ground.
"When you're trained personally by Big Boss, any schmuck can become a great fighter," Hyena says through labored breaths. He points to the figure on the ground. "I've never seen that model before. It has a name?"
"We call them brutes."
"I see." Hyena sheathes his kukri and picks up PTRD.
Hyena continues to carry PTRD down the hallway and into the southern wing of the compound. As he walks down the hall, he spots KS-23 hugging and nearby wall. He runs over as fast as he can while carrying PTRD. 23 places them and starts to slowly make her way towards them while hugging the wall. They both meet up at the halfway point.
"Whose that?" 23 whispers.
"PTRD. One of our objectives." Hyena responds, placing PTRD against a wall.
"The patrols have gotten heavier since I contacted you." 23 explains. "It would be best to extract as soon as possible."
"I can't extract just yet," Hyena says, disappointed. "There's another objective that still needs to be completed."
"What!" 23 stifles her shout. "Comrade this area has become extremely dangerous and will continue to be."
"I know. I know." Hyena rubs his chin. "I need you to take PTRD to the extraction point and wait for me there. If I'm not there in an hour fully extract."
23 grabs Hyena's shoulder. "One hour."
"Yeah. One hour," Hyena says, turning away from KS-23. He starts to crouch walk away from 23 and PTRD and enters into a connector room.
Hyena takes out his Idroid and checks the map. According to the map, there is an elevator in close vicinity to his current location. Hyena puts away the Idroid and looks around the room. After a quick scan, he spots the elevator. He walks over to it and presses the descent button.
While the elevator ascends, Hyena takes out his Colt and ejects the magazine. He gently places the spent magazine on the floor and loads a new one. As he finishes loading, the gentle ding of the elevator is heard. The doors open, revealing another brute.
Before the brute can even react, Hyena empties his clip into it. Even at point-blank range, Hyena ends up missing two of the seven shots. He lets out a deep breath and enters into the elevator, moving the body of the brute to the side. Hyena looks at the buttons of the elevator to find that each floor is labeled.
"Thank god." Hyena thinks to himself. "Best check the server level."
Hyena presses the ten button, and the elevator doors close, and it begins its descent. Hyena stands patiently in the elevator, glancing ever so often at the dead brute. He kneels next to it and picks up one of its knives. He sheathes his kukri and equips the brutes knife in his hand. As he stands back up, the elevator stops at floor six. Hyena quickly takes cover by the buttons and holds the knife at the ready.
The doors to the elevator don't open, but the sound of a cable being broken is heard. This sound is followed by another cable snapping.
"SHIT!" Hyena shouts as he tries to open the elevator doors manually.
His efforts are wasted as the last cable holding the elevator snaps. In an instant, the elevator drops, causing Hyena to fly to the ceiling. Hyena is pressed hard against the roof as the elevator falls. The elevator crashes at the bottom of the shaft, sending Hyena straight into the floor. As he hits the floor, his head hits the ground, first knocking him unconscious.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
November 4th, 2062
Beneath Hotel Base
00:47
Hyena wakes up to a completely sore body and a ringing head. He gets up groggily and puts a hand to his head. He looks at his hand to see it covered in blood. He sits back down and searches his pouches until he comes out with bandages. He carefully wraps the bandages around his head then places them back in their respective pouch.
The doors to the elevator have been broken open. Hyena pushes past the broken doors and climbs up the edge leading into the server room. He struggles up the edge and lies on his back. He lets out a deep breath as he sits up and looks around the room.
The room is purposely darkened except for the lights coming from the servers. Four server towers lie in each corner of the small room. In the middle is an even larger server with a console attached to it. On the far side of the room is another elevator.
Hyena carefully stands up, taking his time to make sure everything is okay internally. He limps over to the console and starts to type on it, searching for any file that could be useful. As he searches the elevator on the far side of the room dings. Hyena, without thinking, dives behind one of the server towers and peeks around the corner of it.
The light of the elevator bathes the figure. From what Hyena can scan, its a woman carrying a strange weapon. She has long white hair and wears a black leotard with black boots and stockings. She wears a knife on her thigh and her arm. Her expression is severe, and her eyes are bright yellow.
The woman walks into the room, almost blending into the darkness as the elevator closes. She would be entirely invisible to Hyena if not for her eyes. She walks over to the console and starts to type on the keyboard completely ignorant of Hyena being in the room.
Hyena slowly stands up from his position and raises his knife. He inches his way closer to the woman, making sure to hug the server for as long as possible. As soon as he's within lunging distance, he raises his knife higher in anticipation.
"I see you." The woman says nonchalantly as she continues typing on the keyboard.
Hyena's heart drops. He lowers his knife and steps out of the darkness. "How did you see me?"
"I didn't." The woman says. "I just assumed from the crashed elevator."
Hyena lets out a dry chuckle. "I'm an idiot."
"Like most humans are."
Hyena drops the brute's knife to the ground. "Why are you here, SF?"
"There's a virus that's been infecting our units. Causing them to ignore commands. I'm here to find said virus and destroy it." She looks at Hyena with a stern expression. "Why are you here?"
"G&K sent me to scout the base and recover some rogue Dolls. The virus I just learned about and came here to acquire it for further study."
"I see." The woman takes her hands off the keyboard and places them on her weapon. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
Hyena unsheathes his kukri. "I wasn't expecting you would." He looks the woman up and down. "What's the name of the person I'm fighting?"
"Gager."
"Hyena."
The woman activates her weapon, causing it to change its form from a gun to a charge blade. Hyena takes a step back as she takes a step towards him. Just as she's about to lunge at him, the elevator dings again. Both Gager and Hyena turn towards the elevator.
From the light of the elevator, Hyena can spot two short girls. One wears black and green sportswear with black hair and yellow eyes. She wields a MAC-10 in one of her hands. The other girl has white hair and orange eyes. She carries a heavy machinegun of some sort and wears goggles around her neck. Both girls see Gager and Hyena and start to shoot indiscriminately at both of them.
Hyena takes cover behind the server, but Gager is not so lucky. A few of the bullets pierce her in her arm and leg, knocking her to the ground. Hyena grabs hold of her arm and drags her behind the cover of the server. The shooting stops as the rogue dolls lose sight of Hyena and Gager.
"Why did you save me?" Gager asks from the ground.
"Just instinct," Hyena responds, peeking around the corner.
Hyena sees the MAC-10 girl coming closer with her knife drawn. The PKP girl lags behind her with her gun at the ready.
"Their coming…" Hyena says loud enough for Gager to hear. "Can you still fight?"
"Of course, I can. I'm not as fragile as you humans."
"Good, you tackle the farthest one I'll go for the MAC-10 one."
Gager gets up and leans against the server behind Hyena. Hyena turns to her. She nods in agreement. Hyena takes a deep breath then turns the corner of the server, tackling the MAC-10 to the ground. Before the PKP can turn her gun towards Hyena, Gager knocks her to the ground and starts to wail into her.
The MAC quickly kicks the already weakened Hyena off of her and suddenly stands up. She rushes over to her dropped gun, but Hyena grabs her foot from the ground, causing her to fall on her face. Hyena stands back up and rushes the weapon, but the MAC uses her knife and stabs him in the back of the leg. Hyena lets out a shout as the blade enters him and is forced to his knees.
The MAC comes from behind Hyena and grabs hold of his neck. With her other hand, she raises her knife in the air in an attempt to stab Hyena in the chest. With a quick backward headbutt, Hyena stops her attempt in its tracks. He takes his kukri and does a wild slash in the MAC's general direction. He ends up slashing her across the face causing her to recoil.
Hyena quickly dives for the gun on the ground and picks it up. He points it at the MAC and fires two shots into both her legs. She laughs as the bullets pierce her legs, and her eyes begin to emit a yellow glow. Hyena fires more shots into her piercing her stomach, arms, and chest. He empties the clip and drops the gun to the floor. MAC lies on the ground laughing as blood spills out of her wounds.
Hyena lazily picks her up by the neck and flips her over so that her back is to him. He wraps his arms around her neck and, with a swift motion, breaks her neck, silencing her for good. He drops her lifeless body on the ground and turns his attention to PKP and Gager's fight. Hyena takes out his Colt and loads a new magazine into it as he limps over to Gager.
PKP has put Gager in a headlock and starts to choke her out. PKP is utterly ignorant of the approaching Hyena, only noticing him when he is directly next to her. With a swift motion, Hyena kicks PKP in the face at full force. The kick is enough for PKP to loosen her grip around Gager's neck for Gager to escape. Hyena puts his boot against PKP's throat and holds her pinned to the ground. She struggles to break free from his boot, but Hyena just puts more force into his boot. He points his Colt to her body and unloads a clip into her.
Her movements slow as the bullets pierce her body. Satisfied with the damage done, Hyena flips her over and wraps his arms around her neck. With a quick snap, he breaks her neck, causing her body to go limp. Hyena lets go of her neck and turn his attention to Gager, who he starts to limp towards.
Gager is still recovering from being choked out, letting out multiple hoarse coughs. Hyena extends a hand to her to which she accepts. Hyena pulls her to her feet.
"You alright?" Hyena asks
"Yes, I'm fine."
Gager gives Hyena a glare. "You put a lot of faith into me that I would help you. Why?"
Hyena leans up against one of the servers and takes out the bandages from before. "You seem like an honorable sort of person. I mean, you didn't kill me right away." He says, wrapping the bandage around his leg. "Need me to do you?" He points to her wounds.
"No. I'm quite alright," Gager responds. "What will you do now? Will you still pursue the virus?"
"No," Hyena says, pushing off from the server. "This wasn't part of my objective…." He points to the T-Dolls. "...They are."
"I understand." Gager goes back to the console and starts typing on the keyboard.
"Besides, if you destroy the virus, you'd be doing me a favor," Hyena says, dragging MAC-10's body to the elevator. He walks over to PKP and drags her over to the elevator as well, piling her onto MAC-10.
"I will tell my forces to let you pass unharmed," Gager says from behind the console. "As thanks for saving my life and allowing me to complete my objective."
"Much appreciated," Hyena chirps. He presses the button calling the elevator.
Gager stops typing on the keyboard. "The virus has been destroyed." She walks over to Hyena. "Do you need assistance?"
"Why? You offering?"
"Yes, my Commander says to assist you in any way. Why I need to is beyond me." Gager says, disappointed.
"Well, you can help me carry PKP." Hyena points to PKP's lifeless body.
"Very well." Gager picks up PKP by her coat with one hand and holds her gun with the other.
The elevator arrives, and both Hyena and Gager enter. Hyena picks up MAC-10, and princess carries her. Gager pushes the one button, and the doors close, causing the elevator to ascend. The duo both stand silently as the elevator ascends to the first floor.
Hyena presses his comm device.
"This is Hyena of Echelon 10. Does anybody read?"
A loud crash is heard from the other end of the device. "Hyena!?" The familiar voice of KS-23 shouts in disbelief. "We thought you were dead!"
"Yeah, so did I. I need extraction asap. I have two VIPS."
"You found the rogue dolls? Amazing. Extraction is on the way where do you want Sierra to land?"
"Land on the helipad in Hotel Base." Hyena looks at Gager. "All hostiles have ceased their advance." He cracks a smile.
"Understood. The extraction will be there in thirty minutes."
Hyena shuts off his comms device. He looks at Gager. "I'm putting a lot of trust in my enemy."
"I promised you that none of my forces will fire on you," Gager says without looking at Hyena. "I intend to keep that promise."
"You're quite honorable compared to your comrades."
"Just because we are at odds with each other doesn't mean that we can't have some semblance of understanding between each other."
"I guess your right," Hyena says, getting a better grip on MAC.
The elevator reaches the 1st floor, and the doors open. The duo is immediately greeted by a room full of vespids. They seem entirely ignorant of Hyena completely ignoring his presence. Hyena walks past the vespids with Gager trailing behind. He exits through the window that he entered the building through and walks towards the helipad.
As he and Gager reach the helipad, the helicopter becomes visible in the dark night. It lands gently on the helipad, and the sliding doors open. Out of the passenger, area rushes KS-23 holding her shotgun. She runs over to Hyena and takes MAC out of his arms and rushes her to the helicopter. Gager personally places PKP into the helicopter and puts some distance between it and her.
Hyena extends a hand towards Gager. "Thanks for not killing me."
Gager looks at him emptily. She grabs hold of Hyena's arm aggressively. In one motion, she activates her guns laser blade and cuts off Hyena's arm at the shoulder. Before Hyena can even let out a scream, Gager grabs him by his throat, cutting off his breath. She raises him high into the air and throws him into the helicopter. His body slams against the back of the heli.
KS-23 watches as Hyena is thrown into the heli and turns towards Gager shotgun in hand. With one action, she slam fires her shotgun towards Gager. The pellets blast off a portion of Gager's face. Before 23 can load another shot, Gager retreats, and the heli comes under fire from the surrounding vespids.
"Get us in the air, Sierra!" Hyena shouts, regaining his balance.
Sierra nods from the pilot seat, and the heli ascends quickly into the night sky. Hyena completely gets up and grabs hold of the rigging of the heli as it rocks from the gunshots from below. Eventually, the gunfire stops, and the heli stops shaking. Hyena lets out a deep breath and lets go of the rigging. As he approaches the co-pilot seat, he notices KS-23's pale face.
"What's wrong?" Hyena asks.
"Y-your arm….." 23 stutters.
"My what-" Hyena takes a glance at his left arm, which is completely missing.
Hyena's eyes open wide as the pain finally catches up to him. He falls into one of the chairs, clutching his shoulder. He lets out a blood-curdling shout as the pain hits him like a truck. Due to the nature of the laser blade, the wound has been cauterized, preventing bleeding. The pain quickly subsides as Hyena gets used to it. He starts to laugh maniacally as he clutches his shoulder. KS-23 can only watch in horror as his laughter echos through the heli. Eventually, the laughter stops, and he passes out.
November 7th, 2062
Hospital Wing, Echo Base
0930
Hyena wakes up in a soft bed. The lights in the ceiling are blinding to his unadjusted eyes. He can feel the loose feeling of a hospital gown on his half-naked body. He sits up in the bed and scratches his eyes with his left arm. As he puts his hand to his face, he winces at the cold feeling of metal against his cheek. He looks groggily at his arm to come face to face with an arm made of metal.
His eyes widen as he extends this new prosthetic. He pulls up the shoulder of his gown to see that the metal has fused with his skin at the shoulder. He flexes his arm curiously and is surprised to see it react to his every movement. He flexes his arm, then flexes his fingertips. The arm is painted black with red highlights. As he examines the arm, he finds a bold "SF" on the shoulder of the arm.
Hyena lets out a sigh as he places his hands together. The cold metal contrasting his warm biological hand. It's only now does he notice KS-23 sleeping at the side of his bed with her hood down. Her orange hair hangs low, and some of it covers her face. He places a hand on 23's head and gently rubs it.
"Wah." She groggily says, raising her head. She rubs her eyes and looks at Hyena. She looks at him with half-opened eyes for a second before her eyes go wide. "You're awake, Comrade!" She gets up from her chair and hugs Hyena.
"Yeah," Hyena says. "Not so tight!" He comments as she hugs him tightly. She loosens her hug around him. "I'm still injured."
"Oh, sorry." KS-23 quickly withdraws her hug and sits on the side of the bed. "I'm just glad to see that you're alright."
"How long was I out?"
"About three days, comrade." 23 says. "You woke up a few times yesterday but were unresponsive to questions. You just stared at your missing arm and fell asleep."
"I see," Hyena says, looking at his mechanical arm. "Why does this have the "SF" logo on it?"
"Well, that's because we had spare arms due to the fact a particular doll utilizes an "SF" brand arm."
"Its a little strange that the Commander keeps SF parts on base, but I'll ignore that for now," Hyena says, lifting his left arm. "Couldn't they have gotten something more… "Human" looking."
"That one was all we had that was your size."
Hyena lets out a sigh. "I see." He thinks for a moment. "What happened to the VIPs we extracted?"
"We successfully repaired them and incorporated them into our echelon. Their previous Commander refused to take them back."
"What do you mean "incorporated into our echelon"?" Hyena says disparately.
As if to answer his question, the door to the room opens. Three familiar-looking women enter into the room. Hyena places his face into his hands as PTRD, MAC-10, and PKP enter the room. He drags his hand down his face as he realizes what this means.
"Did they wipe your memories?" Hyena asks, almost knowing the answer.
"Nope," MAC-10 says flatly.
"Shit," Hyena says, resting his head on his hand. "Do you remember me taking you down?"
"Yes, and the fact that you teamed up with SF to do it," PKP retorts.
"Well, I paid for that stupid decision," Hyena says, raising his mechanical arm. "Trust me." Hyena looks at PTRD. "You got any complaints?"
PTRD leans up against the wall. "None, comrade. You did what you promised, and I'm not going back to that pig of a Commander." She gives a solemn smile. "You fulfilled your end of the deal perfectly."
"Glad I pleased somebody," Hyena says, getting out of the bed. He moves over to the hospital table, which has his gear on it.
"Comrade, you shouldn't be moving!" 23 says worriedly.
"I gotta give my debrief before I can afford to relax," Hyena says, picking up his Gorka. "If you would all leave so, I can get changed, that would be great."
"I don't mind watching," MAC says with a creepy smile.
PTRD and PKP nod in agreement. Hyena looks at 23 for some assistance. 23 bows her head and looks away from Hyena.
"Alright then," Hyena sighs as he removes his hospital gown.
Luckily for him, whoever changed him had the common decency to leave his underwear on. He looks in the mirror against the wall inspecting the site where the machine meets the biological. The area looks clean, and the arm has been well attached. He turns around and checks the wound on his leg from MAC's knife. The injury has been stitched together cleanly. His head is still wrapped in bandages and still rings just a bit less.
Hyena slips on his Gorka and attaches the SMERSH, then puts on the viper hood. He leaves the hood down. He looks in the mirror to check if the equipment is equipped correctly. He turns towards the door once satisfied and walks to it. He pushes past MAC, who stands in front of the door, and opens the door. As he enters the hallway, he hears the footsteps of the girls following behind him.
Hyena walks to the elevator and presses the button to descend. The elevator arrives, and the group enters the elevator. The lift is small, so they all squeeze together much to Hyena's dismay. The elevator arrives on the fifth floor, and Hyena presses past the girls and enters into the hallway of the fifth floor. He looks behind him to check if their still following and is dismayed to find that they are.
"Go to the dorm," Hyena says flatly.
"No," MAC says back.
"Ugh." Hyena lets out. He looks to PTRD and PKP to find that they have the same expressions on their face. The one that speaks, "We're following you till the end." Only 23 seems to be having second thoughts.
Hyena continues to walk until he reaches Alexei's office. He quickly enters the office and shuts the door behind him before the Dolls can enter. He locks the door behind him and presses his back against the door.
Alexei watches Hyena from his desk. "Feeling better?" He chirps.
"No," Hyena says, annoyed. "One Doll was already a hassle, but now I have four." He takes a seat in a chair. "I think I'm going to go nuts."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Alexei says, looking at some documents. "Are you here for your debrief. We could call it off if you're not feeling well."
"No, no. I can do it now. Best get it out of the way while I can still remember it." Hyena says. "We scouted the area and eliminated the source of the interference," Hyena explains. "We secured four out of the five VIPs."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, I encountered what I would call a "ringleader" codename Gager. We worked together to secure two of the VIPs, but betrayed me at the end by cutting off my arm."
Alexei sighs. "That's what happens when you trust SF."
"That mistake won't happen again, Alexei. I promise."
"I know it won't. Anything else?"
Hyena thinks for a bit. "No, that's it." He pats his legs.
"Good." Alexei stands up. "Sounds like you completed all primary objectives." He walks over to Hyena. "Looks like we can call this operation complete."
"Understood." Hyena stands up and salutes. "If that is all, I will return to the dorm and rest."
"Good idea, you look like you need it." Alexei walks back to his desk. "Dismissed."
Hyena leaves the room and is greeted by his squad. He looks at them with a deadpan expression and silently moves towards the elevator. They follow equally as silent, and the group enters into the elevator. The elevator takes the group down to the tenth floor, and the doors open. They exit and silently head to the dorm. Hyena opens the door and enters the room.
The room has a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Where cardboard furniture once was is now replaced by simple wooden furniture. There are multiple dressers and desks. In the middle of the room is a table with five chairs surrounding it. To the far corner of the room is a fridge that Hyena can only assume is filled. What concerns Hyena the most is the fact that there is only one king-sized bed that lies against the wall.
Whatever thoughts go through, Hyena's head quickly disappears as he loses interest in thinking. He flops onto the bed and makes himself comfortable on it. He shifts over to the far end of the bed so that the wall lies on one side of him. He can feel someone press up against his back. He turns his head around to come face to face with MAC's yellow eyes. He takes the pillow underneath his head and throws it at her face.
"If you're in bed, go to sleep." Hyena murmurs tiredly.
Before she can respond, Hyena passes out.