1:30 PM
The day went on as normal as everyone started to prep the base for a returning echelon and a new team.
Everyone was given their tasks for the day as Commander Cayden focused on expanding the base.
As the dolls were busy working on the expansion, there were talks among the dolls in their echelons.
An example is in Echelon 1 wherein M1918 BAR and M1 Garand were talking about what happened earlier while the others talked about something else during their tasks.
"D'you find it weird that they're arriving tomorrow, especially when they showed up out of nowhere?" BAR spoke to M1 Garand while the others were talking about a different topic.
"Maybe it's a coincidence?" Garand inquires. "It's not exactly uncommon for G to have new dolls commissioned from I.O.P."
"But a new team commissioned now of all times?" The machine gunner points out.
Garand shrugged, "Fair, it's a weird time to get a new team now but what can we do? We can't exactly protest since the commander is dead set on it."
Before BAR could say anything, Garand interrupted her. "Believe me, I worked with him closely before, and let's just say that he's quite something."
"While I can't fault his thinking earlier, I still find it weird that they'll be assigned to this sector." BAR thought back at what happened earlier.
Garand theorizes, "High command sees him as a capable commander, in his own right? Them thinking that it would be a waste to not invest in his command? It could be any of those as they see this as an opportunity that landed on their laps after all."
"Perhaps so, he has only given us some information. So far only him and his adjutants might know more." BAR mentally noted to keep a close eye on the commander for anything else.
She understood"I'll be honest, I haven't seen dolls who wear that much armor ever since joining Griffin." Garand looked back into her memories.
"True, I haven't seen any particular dolls who wear bulky armor from top to bottom. Much less wearing a specialized helmet." BAR did a comparison with G 's dolls. "I'd be surprised if they can keep up with our pace."
"Those folks aren't particularly subtle either, with their military symbols and equipment on them. They'd stick out like a sore thumb." Garand points out.
"Yeah, it makes me wonder where they came from. Probably some organization in the far future with that kind of weaponry?" BAR theorized.
Garand thought for a bit, "Perhaps so, but no use theorizing until we ask the dolls in question."
"Hey now, I'm a bit suspicious about them. Them showing up out of the blue and now of all times is very off." BAR defends her thinking.
Garand tries to be positive, "Perhaps so but hey, new faces with a chance some of them can be friendly?"
BAR shook her head, "I don't know, one of them is an ice queen that hates us and will most likely distance herself."
"I'm going to try to approach her and befriend her with the others as well." She suggested.
BAR widened her eyes from the suggestion, "I don't think so, you're going to get yourself hurt and I don't want Springfield to ask me why you got injured."
"At least, let me try once, please?" She begged her for a try.
BAR crossed her arms and resolutely stated, "No, I care about your safety, and it's final."
Garand deflated at the rejection of her request. Almost instantly, a dark cloud formed above her and started to rain as if it was a depressing day for her.
She sighed as if she'll regret her decision later on, "Fine, you get one chance. One chance only to try."
She scarily went back to being positive a few seconds after BAR's change of decision. Garand hugged her back with a lot of force which took away the machine gunner's breath from how much she was getting hugged.
Garand was able to get words out as she wept, "T-Thank you! Thank y-you!"
"Sometimes, you try to be friendly with new faces no matter what, huh." Bar ceded her attempts to discourage her.
All she got was a shrug in response, "Can't help it.~"
"You ladies done with your discussion over there? We need help here carrying the items of furniture to the dorms so we can be done with this." Thompson, loud enough for the both of them to hear her.
"We'll be there in a sec! C'mon Auntie, we can't let Thompson wait for us any longer." Garand starts to fast walk towards the rest of Echelon 1 with BAR behind her at a slower pace.
Exasperated at the nickname given by her teammate, "HEY! DON'T CALL ME AUNTIE!" She tried to chase Garand before giving up.
As the pair go back to their echelon, BAR softly mutters in a voice that only she can hear, "I feel like even if I was talking to Springfield about this, neither of you would be discouraged from trying to make friends with the new dolls."
Shaking her head at the thought, Bar just followed her to help with the echelon.
Despite her reservations, she too wished these new dolls were friendly in her mind. Her first impressions of one of them proved that it won't be an easy task.
Surely, the rest of the batch isn't the same as the ice queen, right?
So for now, she'll keep her guard up until it is safe to loosen up without any incidents.
1:55 PM
In another part of the base at a storage area.
Type 97 was holding a clipboard that contained the list of unused belongings and pieces of furniture currently in storage.
She's checking which ones should be used for the two dorms for the basics and as decor. There is some furniture here that is owned by the dolls that weren't currently here.
Suddenly, someone spooked her by grabbing both of her shoulders. This caused her to scream before reflexively turning around to see who spooked her.
It was AEK-999 who decided to be a bit mischievous and spook her.
"Why did you do that?" 97 catches her breath as she recovers from getting spooked.
AEK smiles at the result of her scare attempt, "Why not? You were the only one in the room and I felt like trying to scare you."
97 pouted at her behavior but eventually let it go as she isn't going to be scared by a simple prank.
Moving on from the prank, "So, how is the selection and sorting process going for ya?"
"U-uh, I'm just thinking about how we're going to decorate the two dorms?" Looking back at the clipboard in her hand.
AEK rubs her chin after taking a look at the clipboard. "Maybe put their items as decor or we can design their dorm?
"I was thinking that too but it's going to be hard to find them in this storage room." 97 pointed at a large number of furniture and personal items in the room.
"We could sort them out and take the generic beds and cabinets outside first, as they will be transported to the dorms when it's cleaned up."
97 inquired about the suggestion, "Good idea but who will transport them?"
"I heard that Echelon 2 has a doll who is good at handling heavy equipment and good at construction so she can do that." AEK shrugged at the inquiry
The 97 got an idea of which doll her teammate was talking about, "Are you referring to PPSh-41?"
AEK snaps her finger, "Yes! That's her. The one with blue eyes, blonde hair with a braid on her top left, and wearing a light brown ushanka."
"She is good at piloting the one construction robot. Although, it wouldn't hurt to help her move some of the furniture." 97 added.
Understanding that she cannot carry the larger personal, AEK reasoned out, "True, I can't argue with that. I can at most carry small personal items but you may have to ask for help from saying S.A.T 8 if you need help carrying ."
"Got it, let's go find these personal items in this room." 97 excitedly stated.
AEK pointed at the piece of paper on the left side of the clipboard, "What personal items are we exactly looking for?"
97 listed the things on the piece of paper, "For Echelon 4, we are looking for: a small metal box with something inside them, a stack of 3 books about history, a lab kit, a sling bag, and some personal accessories that are stored inside a box."
"Hmmm, they might not be too hard to find here if they have some sort of label on them." AEK put the underside of her right hand on her chin. "Also, I've noticed that most of the items in the list are for the entire echelon except for AUG. Does she have anything at all in her part of the dorm?"
97 turned her head to look directly at her teammate before sighing, "AUG didn't have much in her room at all. She just prefers the emptiness for solitude if anything."
"I'll be honest, she's been pretty religious since being transferred to this base. Well if her cold demeanor and reclusiveness say anything." AEK thought about her.
A new voice was heard by the both of them, "This is classified but her previous life before joining Griffin was a nun in a church from Austria. She used to clean up the historic place before leaving, possibly to join up with IWS2000."
The duo turned around to see MP7, another doll in their echelon, leaning on the door frame outside of the room.
97 starts talking while pointing at her, "How long have you been..."
"I've been here listening to both of you since AEK suggested how to decorate Echelon 4's dorm." MP7 starts playing around with the lollipop stick in her hand.
Realization sets in for the duo, "Oh..."
"Well, I'll stop eavesdropping on you two~." She stops leaning on the door frame and before she goes back to the rest of Echelon 3, "By the way, when you two get the chance to meet the new team of dolls, I suggest keeping your guard up. It'll keep you from getting yourselves into trouble."
She promptly left, leaving the two dolls in the storage room confused but they understood what she said to them.
"Speaking of new dolls, what do you think of them in terms of looks?" AEK asked, thinking back on the commander revealing the new team of dolls to the
97 scratches her head with her left hand, "They look unique? Like, Griffin has their military-type T-Dolls but them? They're something else."
"True, not even our AR or MG T-Dolls get to wear that much armor and equipment." AEK mentions with subtle envy, "Almost as if they prefer being closer to the frontline than some or most of us usually are."
97 not understanding the subtle envy that her teammate stated, "I'm not surprised if the commander gives them more dangerous missions that some of us would hesitate to accept."
"Perhaps so, although the commander might want complete details of their specs, who knows what he wants with the new team." AEK crosses her arms.
"Maybe so, since we will only know tomorrow. We should probably be looking around now, let's go work on sorting the personal items in the note. They won't get sorted out by themselves."
"Yeah..., we should go find those personal effects." AEK starts looking around the pile for the specific items. "Did they at least put them in a container so it is easier to find them?"
97 remembers talking to a familiar logistic officer, "I remember that all personal items and furniture were transferred here via large crates. One of them has numerous labels that belong to Echelon 4."
"Alright! Let's go find that crate~." AEK enthusiastically announced as she started roaming around the area looking for a specific crate.
97 shouts at her as she runs to catch up to her, "HEY! Wait for me, don't leave me behind!"
They both went their merry way to find that crate. While the storage area is large, it shouldn't be impossible for the two to not notice a large crate with a lot of labels on it.
3:30 PM
At this time, Cayden is currently typing away on all the documents that needed to be done on a laptop. His hand and fingers moved at a fairly fast speed to get most of the documents ready.
He remembers how much paperwork he had to do in his previous career in the military as a lieutenant. While it isn't much compared to back then, he'd want them done as soon as possible so they don't become an issue later on.
A few minutes as he was concentrating on working on the current paperwork, someone knocked at the door of his office. It was loud enough for him to temporarily glance at the door from his laptop.
A female voice was heard from the other side of the door, "Commander? May I come in?"
"Sure, come inside! I need to be updated on the progress." He went back to filling the documents as his office door opened.
An orange-haired woman entered his office room with a tablet in her right hand. She wore a loose white dress shirt top with a ribbon tie and a short black skirt with white lines on it. She wears a beige G jacket over her shirt with added patches, a mismatched pair of long socks, and high heel boots.
She's Kalina, the logistics officer for G and this base. She helps Cayden with resource management, and logistics and helps handle the dolls in the base.
Ever since he joined Griffin, she has been a huge help in the base along with the other personnel. Cayden is forever grateful for their roles in keeping Sector 9 afloat during turbulent times.
Shaking his head to listen to Kalina, who was waiting for his approval before she began.
He nods as a gesture for her to keep going, "Go ahead and tell me the report in full details."
Kalina began with the report, "Alright~! Echelon 1 just finished up on the new dorm for Echelon 4 and will be in the cafe to relax as Springfield will need to manage it in the meantime."
"Alright! How about the other echelons?" He stopped typing on his laptop to listen to her.
"Echelon 2 is currently working on cleaning up the parts of the base that haven't been cleaned up. Some of them, including StG44, we're pretty enthusiastic about cleaning the 'filth' that has grown there."
He shrugged at the seamstress needing to keep everything vey clean. At first, it weirded him out as she would go far and wide to keep everything absolutely clean, including her clothes. He eventually got used to it just like the other eccentrics of the other dolls in the base.
From Thompson's flirting towards other dolls to SOP-II's collection of Sangvis doll body parts, he could've sworn he has seen it all.
However, he did jokingly requested G36 to keep her 'potential girlfriend' from going too far with the cleaning, during his fourth of being Sector 9's commander.
Needless to say, G36 was not amused by her commander's humor. Reluctantly, she complied as both remember an incident that needed room to be vacated because it smelled like a 'chemical gas bomb' in the report.
It took 2-3 days for the room to be cleared from the nauseating smell of cleaning chemicals. Neither Kalina nor Cayden was happy about that incident as it slowed down operations due to the allocation of some important resources back then.
He snapped out of his thoughts to focus back on Kalina, "What about Echelon 3? How are they faring now?"
"So far, it's been a piece of cake for them with 95 efficiently sorting tasks for each member." She paused, "At the moment, they just found the crate that contains Echelon 4's items and will be transported by PPSh-41 via the construction robot. Type 95 said she wants to help in the transportation process."
"Alright! That's all the echelons. How about the two teams stationed here?" He turned a page.
Kalina listed off from her tablet, "AR Team and Team 404? They were assigned with surveillance of Sector 9 and some 'improvements' to the tech here in this base."
"Lemme guess, SOP-II requested 'help' from 45?" Cayden looked at her, concerned by what she said.
Kalina hesitated, "...Yes?"
He slumped on his office desk chair with both of his hands on his face from the response.
"It'll be different this time, RO635 is there to make sure 45 doesn't do or say anything weird to Sop." She assured him but was met with a blank look as if he was unconvinced.
He remembered a moment of how SOP-II was dragged back to a repair bay to get a reset due to overheating. He could assume 45 gave her a very direct answer to Sop's constant question about sex since no one could answer her question.
Fortunately, someone was able to answer her question but unfortunately, it was UMP45 who decided to answer.
He relented as a lot of things happened that changed, "I just hope that you're right."
Changing the subject after viewing her tablet in which she has things to do, "I hope things go smoothly, I have to do some errands. I'll see you later."
"See you later too and stay safe." Cayden waved at her as she started to walk out of his office partially in a hurry.
Kalina gave him one last look and chuckled, "Don't worry Cayden, I'm not going to let some paperwork take me down." She gave him a two-finger salute and then left to do her work.
After she left, Cayden took out a green card and stared at it for a few minutes. He and Kalina were permitted to go to a green zone if they ever wanted to. They both refused as Cayden wants to stay with his comrades while Kalina wants to stay by his side. The latter is something that he doesn't know yet.
Surely nothing bad will change his decision, right?
It is nice to see the base lively in the aftermath of a large battle.
A voice was heard inside his office, "Having fun thinking to yourself?~"
Cayden was partially startled and reflexively went for his Barrett REC7 on his left until he recognized the voice.
He calms down with his right hand on his chest, "Oh Dandelion, can you not intentionally scare me like that? You're gonna give me a heart attack soon."
A physical form of Dandelion manifests in front of his desk standing in front of him. She looks like M4 but is much more goth for her appearance. Her pale skin, light yellow eyes, and black dress make her look like a Nyto. However, she currently affiliates with Griffin & Kryuger.
She currently wears Cayden's G coat over her dress that he gave her not so long ago for better identification.
"Nope~." Dandelion smugly smiles at him.
Cayden groans at her behavior, "Well, what do you want this time?"
"Not much other than wanting to watch this new development.~"
"Please tell me that you aren't planning to do anything to the new team. I don't want an incident happening because of you." He looked at her with concern in his eyes.
She gave him a smile which made him sweat a bit, "Well, I wouldn't meet them as soon as tomorrow but I will later on.~"
"Just don't do anything weird to them, please?"
Dandelion shrugged, "If you say so.~"
Cayden sighs but lets it go as he grabs his mug full of warm coffee to drink before going back to finishing up on papers.
Someone suddenly knocked on his door which took his attention and Dandy looked at the door.
A familiar voice was heard, "Cayden? Are you available right now?"
He start sweating as he knew the voice to be Star's, "Uh wait, I'm-"
Seeing the opportunity, Dandy imitated M4's voice, " Come right in~, we're free.~"
"M4!? Is that you?" Star exclaimed before opening the door.
Cayden tried to stop her, "Wait wait-"
Star opened the door to see Cayden and Dandelion together. She makes a forced smile that radiates anger, "What are you doing being near Cayden, you brain parasite?"
"Hmmm? We were just having a pleasant conversation about the new team tomorrow.~" Dandelion responded, unfazed from the anger radiating from Star.
Her shocked expression changed and started making angry noises.
Before Star could make any more angry noises, Dandy decided to leave, "Time for me to leave. Have fun with your time with Star.~"
Cayden asked her while Star starts getting flushed and begins to sputter unintelligible words, "Can I have my coat back at least?"
"No.~" She turns invisible in which she leaves the two alone.
He slowly turns to Star she finally calms down but her face is still red from Dandy's teasing,
"So, you were about to say something?"
"I-Is it okay if both of us can eat out at Springfield's cafe if you do that is?" She stutters her confession out of nervousness.
Cayden widened his eyes as this was a surprise to him but a welcome one. He isn't the type to go out and find a date as he prefers being by himself.
While he is still thinking of an answer, Star is sweating a lot as it is the first time that she confessed to him. It started as a small attraction to him after her return to G but then it rose
It did surprise him that the Star of all the other dolls seriously confessed to him. The others were mostly teasing him into finding a suitable partner since he is at a ripe age. His thoughts were racing on why Star chose him.
Maybe he sees her as outstanding? Does Star view him as an equal? He is unsure why but maybe she can explain why.
"Well, I'll accept your offer. I'll be there around 6:15 PM if that's fine with you?" He suggested, treading carefully with his next words.
Fighting through her embarrassment to respond, "...I'm okay with that."
"Alright! I'll see you late-"
He got interrupted as the next thing he heard is Star quickly moving toward him hugging him. Again, he was surprised by the hug that his subordinate gave him. He reciprocated by giving her a comforting hug, even if he was reluctant.
To him, the hug felt warm and comforting even. Something that he never expected to get especially from someone like Star as she tends to usually wear her poker face or have an unreadable face.
In contrast to Cayden, this was something that Star needed to give to him as a way to thank him for listening to a request that she should've asked a long time ago. She wasn't sure if he would accept her request.
The reason she offered to say it to him is that she wants to say how she feels about him ever since she returned to Griffin after her 'stunt'.
She's been thinking a lot of things after getting repaired by Dier, a mechanic that works with Squad 404, about her team and Cayden as well.
She wants to get this out of her chest because she hasn't had a proper chance to talk to him, especially with all the events that happened. Plus, the commander seeing her as outstanding in her own right is something that Star wanted for a long time.
She's gonna have to explain it a bit more later on. Before she lets go of Cayden, she mutters in a soft voice that he can hear, "Thank you."
She leaves the room and closes the door behind her with a small smile on her face.
'This day keeps on getting better for me, huh.' He thinks to himself until his thoughts are interrupted by a sudden ringing of his phone.
He immediately took it out and checked who was calling him to see the name, 'Havier Witkin' calling him.
He reluctantly accepted the call and prepared himself for what the old man had to say.
He cautiously began, "Hello?"
"Hello there Commander, it's good to see you still alive." He calmly responds.
"I could say the same for you... Mister Havier."
"Oh, that 'Mr' sounds very forced." He continues, "You sound like you've got a lot of pent-up frustrations, hm?"
"As if any mission you gave would make me think of treating you with any politeness at the end of it."
"I'm sorry, I really am." He paused before reasoning out, "None of us were expecting a long battle before you could come back."
Cayden sighed seeing as he had to contend with the old man, "Well, tell me what is it that you called me for."
Havier chuckles, "Well, I have a different mission for you this time."
6:10 PM
Star is currently occupying a table for two at Springfield's Cafe waiting for him to show up. She recently just got the hot mocha coffee that she requested from Springfield.
There were some dolls in the base that was in the cafe as well. However, it wasn't crowded yet as they haven't entered the cafe en mass yet.
The atmosphere here was quite relaxing which is nice to have once in a while.
She checked the time on the clock on one of the walls of the cafe and saw that it is currently 6:13 PM. She looked out at one of the windows beside where she is sitting to see the sun almost finish setting.
The sun setting looked beautiful to see, something she hasn't been able to appreciate ever since first arriving at Sector 09.
Not a second so soon, Cayden showed up then Springfield approached him to ask if he wants anything. He orders hot coffee and today's sandwich.
Springfield noted it down and left to get his order sorted.
He spotted Star sitting near one of the windows and sat down on the seat that was on the opposite side from where she sat on.
The atmosphere between them turned awkward as both were unsure who should talk to first.
Deciding to break the awkward silence, Cayden elected to go first.
"About what you said earlier," he paused, "...why did you offer me on this?"
"Well, I offered this because it's been a long while since you last rested and I kind of owe you this for a long while." Star gulped as she isn't sure how he'll react to that.
He rubbed the stubble on his chin while processing the reasoning. She isn't wrong as he does need to avoid overworking himself.
"Fair enough. I can't fault your reasoning, it's been a long while since a doll invited me at all." He shrugged.
Sighing in relief at his reaction, "You can thank me for it. Also, there is something that I should've said earlier."
"What about it, hmm?" Raised his eyebrows along with his suspicion.
A bead of sweat starts dripping from her forehead, "I've been meaning to say this…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Springfield walked up to their table with a round tray in her right hand.
"Here's your order. A hot coffee and today's sandwich, Reuben sandwich." She listed the food and the beverage on Cayden's front.
"Thank you." He nodded at her.
"You're welcome and enjoy your order, commander.~" She smiled then she turned her attention to Star, "Is there anything else you want to order?~"
"I think I'll just have a slice of chocolate cake, a dessert wouldn't hurt much for me."
Humming jovially at the request that she took down on a notepad, "Alright~! One slice of chocolate cake, coming right up."
She leaves the two of them alone to prepare Star's order.
"How does she stay so positive, even until now?"
Thinking back to the previous times he talked to her before shrugging, "It's probably her or Garand's thing to be somehow positive despite all the shit that happened."
"Perhaps so." She paused before going back to the topic, "Anyways, i-is it fine that we go on a date?"
He was stunned at her question, while this is something that he should've expected since T-Dolls go get attached to their commander. He wasn't expecting it now.
"...what?" Was the only word that came out of his mouth.
"What I said is-"
He gestured to stop as if he got the message, "I got what you're trying to say."
"But I want to know, why?"
"Well…," She gulped, "You see, ever since you've actually suspended me from field combat due to my stunt. I've been thinking about everything you've done and I regret letting my wish to be more noticed as it brought down others."
The atmosphere between them tensed up as he recalled the events.
ST AR-15 running off and blowing up happened to cause a chain of unfortunate events. When she came back to Griffin, he wasn't happy at all. In fact, he angrily shouted at her for going AWOL and for indirectly causing other problems.
Suffice to say, she became a shaky mess after his outburst. He relegated her to logistics and to be a forced adjutant whether she liked it or not.
It's been a long while since the events and he was less cold to her than before to her. Although, he hasn't completely moved on from that.
He raised his eyebrows, suspicious of her intentions, "Even if I did accept your confession, how do I know that you won't suddenly leave again?"
"I have reflected on my actions and will stick by your side to the end. I'm willing to be punished again if I step too far out of line."
He rubs his chin, thinking of the appropriate answer, "Unfortunately, I can't give you an immediate answer to your question but I'll think about it."
She exhaled from the answer as if it no longer weighed on her heart.
"However, you're forgiven but not forgotten. So for now, let's talk about something else. Wouldn't want to spoil this evening by being gloomy now do we?"
A few seconds later, Springfield walked in between with a slice of chocolate cake in her right hand.
"Here's your slice of a chocolate cake.~"
Star gave her a nod as a sign of a 'Thank You.'
"You're welcome and enjoy the rest of the evening together~." She spoke with a cheerful tone as she winked at them before leaving to attend to other dolls in the cafe.
Not a moment too soon, more dolls in the base started to enter the cafe. Thankfully, Springfield has company to help her in managing the cafe, via her dummy links
This somewhat quiet but pleasant evening just became a bit busier for her.
7:05 PM
They both left the cafe after they both finished up and paid for the meal to not clog up the cafe for the other dolls who will occupy it. As much as they want to stay there longer
They both started to walk towards their quarters until the sound of someone or something sprinting at a high speed towards them.
The next thing that Cayden knows is that he got hit by what feels like a speeding train going at nearly max speed.
He landed on the floor on his back, thankfully no injuries other than being dazed. Although his belongings that he carried happened to spill on the floor.
"SOP!?" He could've sworn that he heard Star's and Ro's voices at the same time.
He looked in a daze at who was clinging to him. His vision clears up from the daze to see SopMod II clinging to him with a dangerously big smile.
"Com-Man-DER!" SOPMOD announced, with a large smile. "I found you~! Look at what I made!"
Still feeling dizzy from the impact but still responsive, he decided to look at what SOP is trying to show him.
Although his vision is somewhat blurry, he could make out what looks to be a plushie of herself. How she got the materials or how she made them is something he doesn't want to know. It's probably from what she does with the Sangvis parts she 'acquired' from the battlefield.
"Commander! Are you alright?" He heard from Star as he looked in front of him to see her and Ro trying to separate SOPMOD away from him.
Star managed to pull SOP away with Ro before she went back to help Cayden get back on his feet. At the same time, Ro is scolding her for tackling him at an impact that would've got him injured.
He looked to Star when she focused on him as if looking back at everything that happened, "If tomorrow and the following days are going to be rougher, I'm gonna need a vacation real soon from this."
Rolling her eyes from the complaint at his current situation, she helped him get up from the floor. He proceeded to dust himself before collecting the belongings that he dropped on the floor.
Subsequently, he approached RO635 and SOP-II who they had finished a few seconds ago. SOPMOD turned her attention to him as she held a plushie of herself to present to him.
He gave a closer look at the plushie in question, "May I know who or what this plushie is?"
"This... is SOPMOD II Jr!~" Sop shouted at the volume where it might've been a bit too loud.
In his view, the plushie does look like SOPMOD, however, it wears her original attire. Instead of red eyes, it has a pair of comical white eyes and a pair of pinkish circles on its cheeks. For some reason, it has a 'w' shaped mouth rather than a normal one.
Surely, it's just a normal plushie, right?
"You will need her so that you aren't alone~." SOPMOD II enthusiastically hands him the plushie.
He takes Junya in his hands as he partially squeezes the plushie which makes what seems to be small laughter coming from it. Suddenly, it starts laughing after being the last squeeze. Not unlike the laugh that can be heard from a battle maniac.
Giving a weird smile to SOPMOD before asking her even though he knows the answer, "How did you make Jr?"
Enthusiastically answering with no care of the concerned tone of his question, "SOPMOD II Jr? I made her from the collection of scraps and parts from the field~."
While he was unnerved by her, he was relatively unsurprised. He got used to her antics even though she might be acting like she's insane.
"Should I even watch over it?" Ro voiced her concerns about the live plushie since it may cause trouble.
Unsure about how to handle it, "I don't think you need to?"
"You still have to worry about tomorrow's work so you need to be well rested for tomorrow." Star pointed out.
"I know, I know about that. But..." Looking down at the plushie who is looking at him with a puppy-like look, "Can I at least keep Jr for just tonight, please?"
Groaning at him wanting to keep it, "Fiiiine, but I won't be responsible for what happens in the morning."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine tomorrow when I wake up." He reassures Ro.
Sweating his reassurance, Star gave him the heads up, "You might want to clean up your room as well or G36 isn't going to be happy about why your room is a mess."
"As I said, I'll make sure everything is clean tomorrow and I'll give SOP-II Jr back to SOPMOD before reporting if that's fine with everyone here?" He states.
Silence then permeated the four of them.
With no one to protest, "I'll take the silence as a yes."
"Take care of SOP-II Junya and make sure not to lose her~."
Cayden nods at her. Losing her is not going to be the least of his worries though.
It's the mess that he or G36 will have to clean up when SOP-II Jr makes when left alone.
Before joining with the rest of her team, "By the way, thank you for understanding me, it means a lot that you were able to go."
"You're welcome, I needed it anyways. Also, I'll give you an answer when I'm ready." He shrugged.
"W-Well, good night to you and see you tomorrow." She nods before being dragged back to her team by SOP-II.
Waving at her as she waves back at him, "Yeah, good night to you as well."
After being left behind and being the only one in the corridor, he looked at SOP-II Jr which he was holding in his hands.
Sighing helplessly at his predicament, "What am I going to do with you?"
The plushie somehow was able to speak, "Commander~, let's play~."
The man checked his watch and saw that it was 7:39 PM, "Alright, let's play. I guess..."
He decides to retire to his quarters and spend the remaining time enjoying the evening himself with Junya.
It somehowreminds him of the times that he wished that should've never ended abruptly.
6:00 AM, the next day
A plane is on a runway preparing to take off after all the dolls have boarded it. It not only carried them but also their personal belongings, supplies for S09, and more ammunition.
9 T-Dolls are seen walking toward the plane. Echelon 4 and G36c were enthusiastically chatting with each other about how they were going to go back to the place where it all began.
However, a certain team is missing a member that wasn't with them as they were about to board the plane.
"Where. Did. She. Go?" An irate special operations doll, Volleygun, asked for the handgun doll in their team.
Responding with the best that Katrine can, "I don't know where she is. I wasn't constantly checking on my team when I was paying attention to the details that the scientist told me."
"You are the leader of this team and that is how you respond? This team is not gonna last long." The machine gunner negatively stated.
The Kasrkin gestures both of her hands to intervene, "Hey now, let's calm down for a second. The girl is most likely raiding some armory to get some fancy new weapon."
Rolling her pair of red eyes, "Now of all times? Please."
"You didn't stop her when you had the chance to do so." The pistol doll deflected back to her.
"..."
Grizzly Mk V, one of the dolls from Echelon 4, concerningly asks, "Hey, is everything alright? Your team seems to be missing a member."
"Everything is not alright as we're missing a..."
A loud shouting can be heard approaching their way, "HEY! HEY!"
All of the dolls that heard the shouting turned to the source to see a T-Doll catching her breath.
The jungle warfare doll has both of her hands on her knee to rest a bit, "I'm... here..."
"Where were you and what is that?!" The scion berates her teammate for showing up late as she points at a weapon that was carried.
Showing the other with what seems to be a grenade launcher "You see..., I had to get this beauty. No way that I'll let the opportunity pass."
"Is that a Milkor MGL grenade launcher?" Grizzly chimes in with awe as she looks at the weaponry.
Casually talking about it as if it belongs to her, "From looking at a small patch of the description on this beauty, yep it is that grenade launcher."
"Did you steal it from the armory?" The Kasrkin gave her a disapproving stare.
Shrugging off the accusation, "Nope, I tactically 'acquired' it."
"So you did steal it." IWS states, being shocked at a fellow doll's action.
Once again, Jet denies it, "Nope. I just found it lying around."
She lied naturally as she breathed.
"Riiiiggghhht. Come on, we should be boarding the plane now. Persica is already waiting for us, don't want to keep her and the others waiting." Grizzly gestures to the newly mint team to hurry up.
Seeing as they were the last ones, they hurried up with their belongings onto a plane and then took a seat, even though the design of the plane looked weird. They wore the seatbelts to avoid getting thrown around like a ragdoll during take-off and landing.
Not a moment so soon, the speakers in the plane spoke with a friendly tone, "This is Tsisana, the pilot speaking~. Welcome aboard our flight to Sector 09. The weather is clear and so will our flight today. I hope that you all enjoy the flight, ladies and Madam Persica~."
Persica rolled her eyes at the remark while the others took the announcement with different reactions.
"Sector... 09?" Katrine questioned with confusion in her voice.
IWS hesitantly answered, "It's where it all began, at least for us and our commander."
"Your commander?" She could feel the stares of the four dolls bore into her, each with different intensity.
She starts sweating until one of her teammates, P90, comes to her rescue.
She backed up IWS, "Well..., he's a good person but he can be strict and scary at times."
The Kasrkin raised her eyebrow at the slight hesitation. While she doesn't know if they can read her facial expression, it's good that she wears a mask to hide it fairly well.
The other dolls of Echelon 4 were either minding their own business or chatting with the other dolls.
She glances at the others before leaning forwards toward the two dolls, "You sound hesitant there. Is there something bad that happened or are you hiding something from us?"
"Uuuhhh,..." IWS and P90 can't get the words out whether it is out of fear or uncertainty.
"You seem to have secrets of your own? In that case, neither of us will intrude any further, at least for your sake. However, we do not like being uninformed of matters of importance." The scion's cold and menacing tone struck fear into the two dolls. There is no subtlety but only straightforwardness in her statement.
Crossing her arms as if to add to her statement, "Our patience is not infinite, do not try to fool us or there will be retribution to come."
With that statement out into the wind, a part of the ship
Persica silently disapproves of the unnecessarily threatening message. This feels way too similar to how M4A1 Mod3 acts except it's been mostly all bark but no bite. Although she'd rather not see the 'bite' part at all, it can be scary to see someone be true to their threats.
The plane has all its doors closed in the meantime, to prepare for taking off. It starts accelerating on the runway with the interiors starting to shake due to the take-off.
This three and a quarter of an hour flight became somewhat on edge from there on out.
9:05 AM
The morning is when the important things need to be up and operational for the day's daily business.
Of course, the runway and the adjacent small airport need to be operational to receive the passengers that will arrive in 10 minutes.
Overlooking the scene from the outside of the airport is Helian who happens to be waiting for a certain commander to welcome the guests.
Feeling the nice weather and being able to have a morning cup of tea is something that she could have once in a while. Working in Griffin & Kryuger can be a headache at times, especially with bureaucracy and politics that can prove to be a problem.
Some days tend to be better than others.
Her attention turned from the nice background to the sounds of a person approaching her location at a hastened speed.
"Why the rush? You are a few minutes early, Cayden."
"My apologies," Pausing to catch his breath after running as if he was nearly late, "I had to drop off a live plushie to SOP-II."
Raised her eyebrows at his current state and his statement, "A plushie from SOP-II and it's alive? I find it hard to believe that."
"So do I but this is SOP-II that we're talking about, who casually uses parts from God knows where and how."
"Also, I know that you are the commander and all but please fix yourself up. You look like you got up on the wrong side of the bed." Helian points at his looks.
Cayden frowned but cleaned himself up and fixed his clothes to look more professional, "Anyways, where is Director Kryuger? Shouldn't he be with us right now?"
"Him? He has some errands to run, he will show up later to greet the guests. He did, however, ask me to be his stand-in."
He shrugged, "Ah, that's a shame."
Helian adjusts her monocle, "Tis a shame but we have to make do with whoever is available now."
"In that case, how much longer before the plane arrives?"
"In about,..." She opens up her tablet to check the time and landing, "7 minutes and you can see the plane in the far distance circling to prepare for landing."
"Huh?"
Cayden looks up to see the plane that was scheduled to arrive today, circling the base to find a good way to land.
"By the way, what are the supplies that this base is supposed to receive?"
"Let me see." Helian opened up an email sent from Persica about 30 minutes before she boarded the plane.
"So, we will receive ammunition for the rebuilt T-Dolls, the new dolls, and the ones in the base as well. Another is the supplies that are needed to keep the base afloat for some time: food, water, and so on."
He nods, "They should be enough to keep the base afloat and handle operations and logistics for the while."
Not a moment too soon, the plan starts descending to land on the runway. It starts to gear down its landing gears to smoothly land on the runway. Within 30 seconds, it touches the runway and then proceeds to immediately apply brakes to slow down the plane on the runway.
"Anything you want to say before we welcome the returning and new guests?" Helian raised her eyebrows at him.
He shielded his eyes as he looked at the horizon, "This future will be very different from here on out."
They both started to slowly walk toward the plane as it did a taxi off the runway. Both of them could see the ground crew work on directing the plane to where it should taxi and bringing the necessary equipment to offload supplies.
The moment they both reached around 20 meters from the plane, the passenger doors of the plane opened. Echelon 4 exited the plane, one by one, to look around the environment that they long missed.
They instantly spotted Ms. Helian and the commander walking toward them and then two of them decided to run towards them. The rest took their time to approach them instead.
P90 and K11 being the hyper ones in the echelon surprisingly managed to stop in front of them.
"Commander~, we're back~." Both of them were excited, almost as if they would jump at him for a hug.
Smiling at the entirety of Echelon 4, "Heh. Welcome back to Sector 09, Echelon 4."
The rest waved or nodded at him before joining up and walking towards the base. There's a lot of things that they need to catch up on.
G36c stood up straighter after she moved up to the commander, "T-This is G36c, reporting."
"At ease, you need not panic as you will be attached to Echelon 2. By the way, G36 is waiting for you." He somewhat calmed her down. She does need to calm down her nerves.
Her eyes widened at his last part of what he said. G36 being here is enough to bring her joy even if she could not express it.
He moved his head to gesture to her to go, "Go ahead and see her. I won't stop you from your reunion."
She nodded twice as if she was in a hurry then proceeded to run to the base to find her. She misses her dearly. Helian didn't try to stop her either.
His attention turned to Persica and the four T-Dolls trailing behind her. His eyes scrunch at the sight, whether it is Persica or the dolls that will give trouble later on is unknown.
The four dolls soon approached the two officers, stood up straight and saluted at them. Normally, it'd be weird for the normal T-Dolls to do this but there are some that are programmed to know military gestures or how to react when there is a commanding figure nearby.
Deciding that Helian will go first,"So, you're the dolls that we heard about?"
"Aye, Miss...?" The Steel Legion asked.
"Helianthus or Helian, whichever works for the four of you." She gestures her hand to Cayden, "And this is the commander that your team will be under."
Her hand moves to a man who despite himself being presentable, there are traces of bandages that can be seen. Not uncommon to see an officer being injured and in recovery, perhaps it hasn't been that long since he went into the frontlines.
"Hello, I am Commander Cayden and it's a pleasure to meet you. I apologize if my appearance seems lackluster." He gestures his hand in front as if waiting for one of them to shake hands.
The Steel Legion stepped forward and grabbed his hand to shake his hand, "It is a pleasure to work for you, Sir. Although, I'd be concerned of her health especially if you're going to be a commander at all."
"I'll be fine, I have gone through worse. So now, I'm assuming that you are the current leader of this team? Because I was not told of who would lead this ragtag of a group" He raises his eyebrow at her then partially glanced at Persica.
Nodding at his question, "Aye, it's usually the Sergeant that leads a squad or team for us at least."
He takes his a look at each team member that compose the squad. The same could be said for the team with each having different looks at him.
The scion is giving him a icy glare as if he looked like he isn't good enough to command her. He was unfazed by the glare, he isn't going to be intimidated by a colder HK416.
His eyes fell on the Kasrkin, "By the way, would you mind if you take off your helmet? I know that I've already seen your face but I would like to see the face of who I'm going to command, face to face."
Without needing to wait, she immediately takes off her helmet to reveal her somewhat sharp face and braided brown hair. "Satisfied, sir?"
"That is good enough for me, so what is your team name? I will not ask for your names or your weapons as I've been debriefed on that matter. However, a name to represent this team would matter more."
The Steel Legion suggested as no one else in her team react violently with that suggestion, "I know that this name is unusual for the names that your squads usually name themselves. So we go as 'Steadfast Fury'."
Deciding to humor her, "You're right, that is an unusual team name and it sounds very improvised."
"Because sir, I just made it up on the spot."
He could've sworn that heard someone groaning behind her but he choose not to tackle that.
"Alright then, I believe that your team will be briefed on your first mission today. I believe that we will be taking our leave, Ms. Helian and Ms. Persica?"
Yawning before respond, "Aaaalright, have fun and good luck."
Helian nods at him, he has an important task to do for today and needs to be in the command center at this time.
Persica followed Helian as she will be shown where her new workplace in the base will be. It's really nice to be able to set up a place where her work is much more accessible and nearby to observe any possible changes.
"Follow me."
The ragtag team followed him to be briefed on their first mission.
The Catachan questioned, "Sir, may I ask what we'll be doing?"
A chuckle can be heard from their commander, "Oh? Your team will be kicking some cultists' ass."
Author's notes:
Apologies for the late publish but here's Chapter 5. A peaceful chapter but with some drama
Chapter 6 will be combat based to see how the new team on the block performs.
'Tsisana' is a female name that means 'Of the sky' in Georgian.
One last thing:
If anyone wants to join the discord, feel free to join: https/discord.gg/Njah2u7Y
Thought for the day: A logical argument must be dismissed with absolute conviction.