December 24th, 2062

Sangvis Ferri Trenches

1630

Hanzee walks through the remains of the trenches. His helmet is on as he uses it to scan the bodies he passes. He stops at a point and kneels down. He picks up a severed arm and scans it.

"This belongs to Gager." He says quietly as he inspects it.

He looks around for a body, but can't seem to find anything. He begins to dig gently into the dirt below him with the survival shovel attached to his back. Sure enough, he hits something metal. He starts to unearth the metal being and is unsurprised when he unearths the body of Gager.

Half the synthetic skin covering her face is blasted off. Some of her white hair has been burned from her head revealing the black metal underneath that forms her actual face. Her legs are completely gone and her body is riddled with shrapnel holes. The only thing that looks functional is her left arm which maintains its integrity except for a few missing fingers.

Hanzee takes a seat next to the mangled Gager and takes out a cigarette and contemplates what to do. He takes the smoke and places it in his mouth and lights it, taking a long drag from it. He lazily removes the cig from his mouth and lets out the smoke.

He looks down at Gager's corpse to see that there is some movement in what's left of her fingers. He leans over Gager and inspects her fingers. As he leans over she starts to cough.

"Look who's alive," Hanzee says sarcastically.

"What happened?" Gager says through coughs.

"We got bombed to hell and back that's what," Hanzee says taking another drag. "Looks like our forces got decimated."

"Did you kill the Commander?" Gager asks.

"No he got away in the confusion," Hanzee says feigning anger. "We'll get him next time."

"I see."

A loud gunshot echoes across the battlefield.

"Sounds like that's our sign to leave," Hanzee says putting out his cig. He starts to take off his tactical backpack and chokuto.

"What are you doing?" Gager asks.

"Making space for you," Hanzee responds. "I'm not leaving you on this godforsaken battlefield."

"You don't have to. I can transfer my mind to a backup body back at base." Gager says unemotionally.

"Yeah well, let's avoid doing that," Hanzee says picking up Gager and putting her on his back. "No comrade left behind or some bullshit like that."

"As you say."

Hanzee adjusts Gager on his back and starts to jog in the direction of the SF base.

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Hanzee jogs through the forest taking great care to make sure Gager doesn't fall off his back. The forest is dense with trees and the ground has turned to slush from the previous snowfall. Each step Hanzee takes drains him of both his energy and his motivation. He jogs for a few more steps before coming to a full stop in an opening in the forest.

"Why have we stopped?" Gager asks in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"There's a strange thing that Humans call being tired," Hanzee responds sarcastically. "I've been going at this pace for the last 15 miles. I legitimately can't go on without some sort of sustenance." He says placing Gager against a tree stump.

Gager looks at him with her half a face. "You humans are pathetic."

"True." Hanzee says exhausted taking a rest by the same stump. He digs through his pocket and finds a ration can. He takes his knife and opens the can. He downs the contents of the can in one gulp and lets out an exhausted sigh.

"I need to sleep, Gager," Hanzee says fully leaning against the stump. "Please keep watch and wake me if anything."

"Do not go to sleep Hanzee," Gager says annoyed. "You will continue to the base."

Silence answers Gager as Hanzee instantly falls asleep. Gager lets out a huff as her companion slips into unconsciousness.

"Damn human," Gager says gritting her teeth.

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December 25th, 2062

Forest 01

0430

Hanzee wakes up quietly. His body wishes for more sleep, but his mind already starts to think something is amiss. He opens his eyes to see that Gager is missing.

"Gager?" He calls out.

No response.

Hanzee stands up and looks around to see the indentation in the snow where he placed Gager. He is surprised to see that there are footsteps in the snow leading towards her and then walking away.

"Shit."

Hanzee slaps his cheeks to fully awake himself and starts to follow the tracks. The tracks lead away from the SF base but don't lead towards the Echo base. Instead, they lead in a new direction. Hanzee follows the tracks slowly making sure not to make a sound. As he follows the sound of celebration can be heard. A familiar sound hits his ears. The sound of men having fun.

Hanzee gets low to the ground and crawls on his belly towards the sounds. He reaches a small overlook and looks down. Below he can see a firepit with multiple figures around it. Laughter can be heard. Hanzee crawls until he is within earshot of the campfire.

"Who knew we'd find a prize like that out in the forest." One man says.

"That's what happens when you trust my judgment." A woman says. "Once we take this SF bitch to the right people we'll be paid handsomely."

"You did disable her memory transfer right?" A man says.

"Yes, I did it right after we removed the robot's head."

Hanzee squints his eyes.

"Alright, so we'll sell its body for scrap and deliver the head to G&K and get a nice payday." The woman says. "Should we have woken up her prisoner?"

"Nah. I'm sure when he wakes up he'll be thankful we liberated him from her clutches."

The group laughs and continues their small talk. Hanzee sneaks into the camp taking cover behind temporarily set up tents. He opens the flaps of a tent and gently calls out Gager's name, but gets no response.

He moves to the next tent and opens the flaps to see what looks to be a workshop. Mechanical pieces are strewn all over the floor of the tent and on a table to the far end of the tent lies the head of Gager. Hanzee quietly makes his way towards it making sure not to knock any pieces. He makes it to Gager's head and picks it up.

"Hanzee…." Gager says.

"Still alive?" Hanzee says attaching her head to his belt. "Good stay quiet and we'll get out alive."

Hanzee sneaks back out of the tent. He quickly glances at the campfire to see that the mercs have gone about their business. Hanzee takes this opportunity to sneak out of the campsite undetected and enters the forest.

Hanzee maintains a quick pace as the campsite becomes more and more of a distant memory. The duo however remains silent as Hanzee starts to slow down.

"I'm sorry Gager." Hanzee starts. "If I hadn't fallen asleep you wouldn't be in the state you are."

"You disobeyed a direct order from your Commander," Gager says annoyed. "You will be punished for this."

"I understand."

They continue in silence. Hanzee can't help but bite his lip. He stops in his tracks.

"Whats the matter Hanzee?" Gager asks.

Hanzee lets out a deep breath letting the evaporation escape his mouth like cig smoke. He removes Gager's head from his belt and places it in the snow.

"What are you doing Hanzee!" Gager yells at him.

Hanzee remains quiet as he neatly adjusts Gager's head so that it stands straight.

"I'm sorry Gager, but this is where we part ways," Hanzee says ripping the patch off his shoulder. "I wasn't happy with what we did back at Echo base." He drops the patch in front of Gager. "I should have never abandoned my post."

"Hanzee!" Gager grits her teeth.

"May this be farewell Gager," Hanzee says. "Send my regards to Destroyer and Derrick."

Without another word, Hanzee flees away from Gager and disappears into the forest.

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Hanzee moves through the cold forest. His fists are clenched as he walks past pine trees. A crunch in front of him attracts his attention. He looks up to see a woman with ice white hair. She wears black equipment which exposes her stomach and armpits. She raises her AK-15 and points it at Hanzee.

Hanzee lets out a sigh and raises his hands above his head. The sound of an incoming chopper hits his ears. The light from the helicopter's searchlight beams over the duo. Before Hanzee can say anything the woman charges him and takes him down. The throw knocks Hanzee unconscious.