Welcome to Chapter Three. This is honestly the earliest I've ever started a major plot point in a story. Anyways, Ian arrives at Sector 09 and gets acquainted with everyone. Enough said.

Also, I have the challenge of writing the character I always portrayed as a civilian as a soldier, but not making him an absolute hardass, either.

It is time to venture onto the Girls' Frontline, comrades!

(Concerning German T-Dolls like G36, I don't know how I should write dialogue in a German accent, so it'll be written normally, but the accent is indicated the first time the German speaks.)

Sector 09 Base

Neo-Soviet Union

July 2, 2062

Ian Becker

It took way too long to reach Sector 09. When the helicopter touched down at the helipad, night had fallen, and Ian was unreasonably tired. All he wanted to do was find the nearest bed and pass out like a champ-- which was weird, considering how long he could normally stay up and be active.

It didn't help that an irradiated storm caused him to have to wear a claustrophobic old gas mask for the majority of the trip.

However, professionalism and habit were enough to keep him up. At least, until he handled any initial business he needed to. Then he went to bed and hoped his subordinates didn't kill him in his sleep.

What? Even after two months with Griffin he didn't trust them entirely, and he didn't know if M1911 was in this base.

The newest Commander to join Griffin removed his old-styled gas mask and set off at a brisk pace along the worn, damaged exterior garages, seeing mechanics and Dolls shutting the buildings up for the night, having not spotted him yet. Not that he had plans to be spotted by anyone yet.

Holding a map of the base in his hand, he followed the route to the main building's interior, where pretty much everything was located. At the very least, his credentials functioned, allowing him to bypass the door scanner with a simple display of showing the dumb AI in charge of the door his ID card.

He entered the bulding with a hum and walked through the decontamination room at a slow pace, careful to not trip on anything as he traversed through the ultraviolet-lit room and to wash away any lingering radiation from the storm.

A minute later he left the decontamination room and finally entered the main building. Just like with outside, this room (and others) were partially damaged and being shut down for the night by servicemen clad in dark grey clothes with Griffin's shield marked on the backs of their shirts.

Leading this cleaning crew was a blonde T-Doll that was wearing a literal maid outfit and holding a clipboard. Thanks to his time in the academy, Ian wasn't so lost as to why the Dolls had such... unproffessional or outdated clothing, like the Japanese T-Dolls' outfits he saw in the sims or the WW2-era uniforms worn by T-Dolls using WW2 weapons, but the maid outfit was still incredulous to him.

She gave a satisfactory nod to the crew after their work was finished, dismissing them to their quarters and turning around to see him.

Her squinted blueish eyes temporarily widened when she recognized his trench coat and arm band, returning to normal as she marched up to him, clearing her throat before she spoke.

"So you're the new Commander?" she asked him in a German accent when she stopped, standing around a foot away from him.

"Just got here." he replied honestly-- and tiredly. "You in charge?"

"No, Frau Kalina is, but she went to bed just a few minutes ago. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Where are my quarters?" Ian promptly replied, tired as hell and ready to just pass out.

"Aren't you holding a map, Kommandant?" the T-Doll maid asked him, reminding him of the fact as he looked at the map in his hands.

Right... I just made an ass out of myself in front of some of the staff. That's gonna be rich.

"Sorry, I spent a whole day on that chopper and all the waiting took its toll on me."

"It's fine. Anyways, by the sound of it, you're likely going to fall unconscious, so allow me to help you to your room."

"I'm fine, but thanks for the offer." Ian dismissed her, not wanting to be seen getting carried by a Doll without even having a scratch on him.

He referred to his map again, following it almost robotically to his quarters, with the maid Doll following him in case he did fall and incidentially making him feel uneasy.

He passed by a door marked with a smiley face patch of all things, dismissing it as the room of that Kalina girl the maid mentioned, and found the automatic door to his quarters next to it. He once again summoned his keycard and swiped it at the scanner, unlocking and opening the door with a hydraulic hiss.

The room's walls were a very nice burgundy color, with black carpet and a queen sized bed with black sheets marked by a Griffin shield on it. A desk was placed flush with the wall, a stack of empty papers neatly placed on it with pencils and pens in a container next to it. Finally, a spare trench coat was hanging on a coat rack next to the door for him to use the next day.

His luggage was taken care of beforehand, the Dolls that handled it having hauled it out to the dorm and stacked it up in a corner much faster than he had gotten there.

"Ah, home, sweet home." he said, admiring his new bedroom. Yawning, he removed his coat and placed it on his rack, then he took his boots, red beret, and tie off, setting them down and caating a glance at the bed.

Despite being so tired, he couldn't help but place one last entry into his journal before going to bed, and the lamp at the desk was on, so he hauled his stubborn ass over to the desk and sat down in the chair, pulling his journal out of a bag and opening it up to the last entry.

Extracting a pencil, he put it to the paper where he left off and began to write.

'The graduation concluded after what seemed to be forever, and I've finally gotten to Sector 09. The trip was far too long and an irradiated storm didn't help matters at all.

So far, I've only met an unnamed maid-class Doll, and the base was shutting down for the night, but there are many more staff members I'll have to get acquainted with.

It is a frontline base, after all.

Anyways, I'm tired as hell, so I'm going to end it here.'

Closing the journal and putting the pencil away, Ian turned the lamp off and climbed into his bed, slipping his gun under the pillow and allowing himself to pass out in record time...

As per his old military habits, Ian was up bright and early, changing into new clothes and putting on his other coat with speed befitting a soldier. After straightening his tie and smoothing his coat out, he slipped on a pair of black gloves and placed his beret on his head, leaving his room to start the day.

As he had slept well last night, he was able to find his way around without much trouble, seeing the staff eating breakfast in the mess hall when he passed it. Exhaling, he had stopped at a room that was marked as his office when he saw the maid again, heading to it as well.

"Hey, miss." he called out to her.

"Wha- oh, guten morgen, Kommandant." she said, approaching him once more. "I didn't expect to see you awake so early."

"Eh, my old job dictated that I get up early." Ian casually replied. "Oh, I never got your name."

"G36." the T-Doll replied. "Would you like a tour of the base?"

Looking around the entrance to his office, Ian decided that getting a tour wasn't such a bad idea-- although going alone with a Doll he barely knew seemed like a dumb idea despite having done the same thing two months ago.

"Yes, please."

A few minutes later the two passed by the inactive depot-like room that succeeded the decontamination room Ian used last night, with G36 telling him what its purpose was.

"That is the Expedition room, officialy known as the Forward Basecamp." she had explained.

"Forward Basecamp, huh?"

"Ja. Once we get enough done here, we can venture out into deeper territories and map them out. However, we barely have enough staff to perform basic combat missions and logistics support, courtesy of Sangvis Ferri."

The anger in her voice at the mention of Sangvis Ferri didn't go unnoticed by him.

"What happened?"

"Our base was attacked three months ago, and we lost a lot of staff, including our old Commander. We had to shut down some of the base's facilities in order for us to focus on repairing the vital structures." G36 told him, regret lacing her voice.

So I was a replacement for the old Commander here. I don't know how good they were, but I've got some big shoes to fill.

"Damn. How did you guys stay afloat after that, having lost your Commander and all." the Commander asked, looking back at the decontamination room entrance.

"Frau Kalina was quite helpful during that time. She has been serving Griffin for years, and after losing the Commander, she took over in his place and worked tirelessly to help us get back on our feet." the maid explained, turning to the door leading back to the rest of the base.

"Come, there is more to see, Kommandant."

Next up was a destroyed café.

"This is the base's main café," G36 explained, as if the bar and the destroyed coffee machines weren't enough, "but Sangvis' artillery destroyed it during the attack."

Looking around the café, Ian had a momentary flashback of fighting through a café just like this one.

Shaking it away, he cast a glance at the bar, which was literally broken in half and caving inwards.

"This place is gonna need a lot of work put into it." he finally said. "Any other rooms get bombed like this?"

"The Command Room. It was their first target, Kommandant, but it was rebuilt from thr ground up." G36 replied. "The dorms are located underground, so ground forces were sent to attack them. Only two of the dorms are intact."

"You know, the academy could have told me how bad things have gotten here." Ian sighed. "Then again, I don't think they wanted me to feel like I couldn't do it because there was so much to do."

"That's my guess. This way, there's more to show you."

Ian followed the maid out of the door, wondering if things could get any worse.

"Of fucking course it had to get worse."

The dorms were definitely in worse condition than the café. Rooms three to eight were filled to the brim with destroyed furniture, dead Sangvis and Griffin Doll bodies, ashes, blood, coolant, oils, and more.

Dorms one and two were operational, but they were quite literally just interior warehouses with some cardboard boxes and an ammo box as furniture.

"I personally have no idea why Sangvis attacked the dorms, but in doing so, they ensured that we hardly have any space to house T-Dolls, much less our human service personnel." G36 explained. "They killed many of us off, human and T-Doll alike."

"No quarter given, huh." Ian muttered to himself. "I'll try to get the base repaired completely as soon as I can."

"That sounds wunderbar, but we're spread too thin for-"

"So let's cut SF back." the veteran cut her off. "I'm here now, and they certainly won't expect for Sector 09 to have gotten a new Commander so soon. Although... how many T-Dolls do we have?"

"Including me, we have about seven Dolls." G36 answered. "Three of them are scouting the local forest and city, I'm here, and the other three are on standby."

"Okay. Let's finish up here and go see them. I need to know who I'm working with here."

"Verstanden. I'll notify them."

Ian stood in front of a room marked as the Command Room, which even from outside of it, looked newer compared to the rest of the base.

Then again, Sangvis Ferri had dropped a bomb right on top of it three months previously.

"This is the Command Room, where operations are organized and executed. Miss Kalina and the other Dolls should be in here, getting ready for drills." the blonde maid told him.

"I understand." Ian said before pushing the door open, causing four sets of eyes to settle their gazes on him.

The first one was an M1911 Doll that recognized him at once, forgetting about her briefing in order for her to greet him, the blueish light of the room reflecting off her hair.

"Mr. Becker!" she said, unapologetically cheery. "You made it!"

"I sure did, although you should call me Commander, now." the new Commander said, giving the short girl a few headpats before casting his gaze upon the other people in the room.

The first new one had long, lions-mane-esque blonde hair with a pair of fierce sapphire eyes and a bright red beret on her head. She wore clothes that were reminiscent of a Cuban guerilla fighter, with white gloves, a worn red scarf, a sort of green bikini top to cover her large bust, brown ammo pouches on her stomach and a bag on her waist, black shorts with jungle-camoflagued fatigues attached to them, and knee-high black boots. She had an AKM on a sling hanging off of her neck and a bottle of vodka in her left hand.

The second one was very childlike, with silvery white hair, big blue eyes, a red beret (that seems to be a trend at Sector 09), a cute black and white dress with a small red necktie and a big red bow on the back, black stockings, red shoes, and an MP5.

The third one was human, unlike the two T-Dolls in the room. She had orange hair that was tied up into a ponytail on the left side of her head, blue eyes like the AKM Doll's, a pair of black glasses sat on her forehead for safekeeping, a beige jacket she left open to counter the summer heat, a white button-up shirt she also left partially opened, exposing a rather dangerous amount of cleavage along with a black, lacy bra, a red bow in place of a necktie, a belt with pouches attached to it, a short black skirt, mismatched stockings, and dark brown work boots.

The three girls stared at Ian with a look of wonder, likely surprised at seeing another Commander after a month of not having one in the base.

"This is Ian Becker, Sector 09's newest Commander!" M1911 introduced him to the three.

The ginger went first, approaching Ian for the first time.

"Welcome to Sector 09, Komandir!" she said in a Slavic accent not unlike the one he adopted when using his aliases, a lively look on her cute face as she shook his hand. "My name is Kalina, and I'm honored to be your logistics officer! These two ladies are AK-47 and MP5."

The AKM (or AK-47, if one didn't pay heavy attention to firearm detail,) approached him next, offering her hand to him.

"I'm AK-47, and I'm glad to serve under you!" she said, shaking his hand a lot more aggressively than Kalina did.

The MP5 was last, skipping along in a very M1911-ish manner and offering her small hand to him.

"MP5 here! I may be short, but I can handle anything Sangvis can throw at me!" she said in a high-pitched German accent, a determined look on her round face.

Ian shook her hand, only to feel the little Doll nearly crush it with how much force was applied.

Noticing his discomfort, MP5 yanked her hand back, apologizing in an instant.

"It's fine. I just didn't expect you to squeeze so hard." he told her.

"Anyways," G36 said, getting everyone's attention, "Kommandant Becker came here to aid us in containing Sangvis Ferri in this Sector, as you may have guessed."

"So does he have a plan to deal with them?" AK-47 asked.

"I just got here last night." Ian told the drunkard. "Anyways, I'm going to try and get the situation under control, but for now, I need to see what you're capable of."

"Speaking of that, I was organizing a drill just now." Kalina said, pointing at the holotable in the center of the room.

"Oh, you were?"

"T-Dolls need training just like the rest of us, Komandir. Anyways, come here."

Kalina walked over to the holotable, bringing Ian along with her.

"Uh, I know how to operate the holotable, Kalina." he told her, placing a hand on the edge of said holotable.

"I know. There's just a few things I need to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"AK-47 model Dolls tend to have improperly seated or faulty Fire Control Cores, so don't get angry if Miss AK underperforms in the upcoming drill."

"Fire Control Core?"

"It's a module that supplies A-Dolls with all relevant information pertaining to a single weapon, as well as general combat tactics. In other words, FCCs turn A-Dolls into T-Dolls."

"Ahh. I ought to have her examined when I can." Ian told her. "I can't have any defective Dolls in my units. Not when things are this bad."

"I know. Either way, I'm sorry you got sent here while we're in such a bad state." the ginger haired girl told him.

"Don't blame yourself, Kalina. You worked hard to get the base in shape again, and I'm sure you could've gotten more done if you had more time. But there's nothing we can do about it except move on."

His words calmed her down a little, and she then remembered that she was organizing a drill.

"Komandir, this is where the drill's taking place." Kalina pointed to a small forest near the base, highlighted in blue.

"The area's already set up for many different exercises, but I was setting up a standard training exercise when you got here."

"Good to know. Carry on with it, I want to see what they're capable of."

The newbie Commander looked towards his new T-Dolls and addressed them. "You three get ready and head out to the drill site. I'll brief you on the way."

"Yes, sir!" the three yelled in unison, leaving the room to carry their new mission out. As they got outside and entered a Humvee, Ian reflected on his actions in the last half hour. He felt like he did something wrong somewhere, as if he said the wrong thing at some point or the like.

"Hey, Kalina."

"What is it?"

"Do you think I'll be good at this? Being a Commander, I mean." Ian asked the girl. "I feel like I screwed up at some point back there, as if I didn't act right or something like that."

"Sir, the only right way to act is being yourself. The T-Dolls like it best when you're honest, you know."

"I figured as much." Ian sighed, looking back down at the holotable. "But what about on the field? I know I got past the sims, but in reality, I've never been off the field in warfare, so I don't know how I'll be able to lead them as well as I need to."

"Hey, don't be ridiculous. If you got past Griffin's rigorous entry exams, then you obviously have potential. Potential that I'll help you realize. Besides, you passed the US Army's basic training, and from what I hear, it's pretty difficult itself. Not to mention Germany."

Ian was about to ask her how she knew about his service in the US Army, but then M1911 explanation of how she found him came to mind.

"Griffin sends out T-Dolls to scout for potential recruits, then Logistics scans all existing databases for the individual in question. We found you in the US Army's database, and they figured that sending a T-Doll that was built in the US would put you at ease."

Oh, yeah. This girl's the head logistics officer for the base. Doesn't really seem like it, though. Too carefree in my opinion.

"Oh, yeah. And here I am getting lectured by a girl who looks like she's in her teens."

"Hey! I'm twenty-three, just so you know!" Kalina corrected him.

"You're only four years younger than me?" Ian asked, looking at her again and seeing a mock-irritated look on her face, her arms crossed over her chest. "Wow. What else should I know about you?"

"Oy, Boss." AK-47 said over the comms. "Weren't we supposed to get briefed by you? Or are you too busy talking to miss Kalina?"

"Ready to start your your career off, Komandir?" said ginger asked, placing a hand on the rookie Commander's shoulder.

"Yup." Ian looked back at the holotable, where a chibi form of M1911, marked "Echelon 1," was now located. "Alright, ladies, let's get this over with."

I'll be covering the tutorial mission next chapter, because honestly, I need to get the other stories' chapters done. Either way, as a newer GFL player, I need to get referrences fot a lot of stuff, so don't get mad if I get things wrong.

I have a better mobile device now, but for some reason, somebody saw fit to give me a supervised account instead of letting me use my own, so no GFL until later. Even worse, I'm gonna miss Dual Randomness. At least Shattered Connexion's in the permanet events list, now.

See you around!