Chapter 6: Contact
- Enroute to Outpost 17 -
Unidentified aircraft operating in the area, be advised, you are in restricted airspace, state your intentions."
"To become a pilot and to quit stripping for a living, over."
Owen choked when he heard the exchange, and started shaking with laughter. Nines, who was sitting next to him, but did not have a headset, eyed him suspiciously.
"You're a stripper now?" He asked Colette over the comms.
"Only briefly, but I'd be willing to give you a show if you ask nicely." Colette purred. "I was very good at it."
"Unidentified aircraft, this is Griffin control, I repeat, you are operating in restricted airspace. State your intentions or you will be seen as hostile and dealt with accordingly." The voice stated again, though this time it seemed a bit clipped.
"Uh oh, I think you made them mad." Owen said.
Colette giggled, "I've been known to do that from time to time." She then keyed her mic, "Griffin Control this is Archangel, I am a flight of one Helo, loaded with a combat team from Griffin Outpost 17, en route to Outpost 17 to carry out combat operations, how copy?"
A pause, then, "Archangel, we have not been made aware of any aerial combat operations approved by Outpost 17 command."
"Griffin Control, it was ordered by the temporary Commander of Outpost 17."
Another pause, Owen could practically hear the confusion in the silence.
"Archangel there is no temporary Commander assigned to Outpost 17."
"Mind it I cut in?" Owen asked.
"Be my guest." Colette responded.
"Griffin Control, be advised, temporary command was given to me by acting Combat Team leader G3 following the disappearance of Outpost 17s Commander." Owen reported.
A new voice came on the line, a female one, "An acting Commander can only officially be chosen under extenuating circumstances, and I highly doubt you fit the criteria."
Owen rolled his eyes, "I fit the criteria as laid out by G3 and I've been given temporary command over the tactical dolls stationed at Outpost 17, those are my credentials, please forward them to someone who can actually do shit about them, quit giving my pilot a hard time, and let us do our job."
"Oh I'm your pilot now?" Colette snickered, "I didn't realize we had taken our relationship to the next level."
"You hush." Owen retorted as Nines bored holes into his skull with her eyes. He swore she had some weird sixth sense that told her when Colette was trying to flirt with him.
"Listen here you insolent twit. I am Commander Helianthus, Second in Command of Griffin and Kryuger. I will not have some street urchin plucked from the gutter in a moment of desperation, tell me how to do my job. I will not also let them traipse around my airspace and play Commander with my personnel. So unless you can provide me with something that actually proves you can lead those Dolls into battle, which I doubt, turn that helicopter around so an ACTUAL Commander can take over and actually lead them instead of getting them killed through your incompetence!" Helian roared over the radio.
"Wow, you really pissed her off." Colette stated.
Owen sighed, he hated pulling this card, "This is Sergeant Nathanial Owen of the Combat Applications Group, also known as Operations Detachment Delta of the United States Army, on loan to the Second European Allied Group, and now assisting as a temporary Commander of Griffin and Kryuger. This helicopter is en route to Outpost 17 on a search and rescue mission. This helicopter will remain on course and we will complete our mission, with or without your blessing. Sergeant Owen out."
"Jesus Sar'nt, I didn't realize you were Delta." Colette said in awe.
"And I didn't know you were a Doll, so we're even."
"Wait, really?!"
Before Owen could reply a new voice crackled over the radio sets, "Archangel, this is Fairy 1-1 how copy, over?"
Colette hid her shock and keyed her mic, "Fairy 1-1 this is Archangel, you're coming in clear. What can I do for you?"
"Archangel this is Fairy 1-1, a flight of two UH-60s enroute to assist with retaking Outpost 17, ETA is 10 mikes, can you give us a sitrep of the AO?"
"Fairy 1-1, this is Archangel, we're not over the area yet, I'll let you know in three, be advised, possible Ringleader in the area."
"Fairy 1-1 copies all, talk to you in three. Fairy 1-1 out."
"Sounds like you haven't lost your touch at all." Owen said over the mic.
"Nope, uh-uh, you're not gonna distract me that easily." Came the sharp reply.
"Wha-"
"You didn't know I was a Doll?!" Colette yelled.
"Well I…"
"You had to have known! I mean, there's no way you didn't! Especially..." She let the sentence trail off.
Nines stared unblinkingly up at Owen, he gave her a weak smile. The stare remained.
"Now's not the time, we'll talk about it later." He said.
"Fine." The Hind flared, slammed down, and the ramp dropped, "If you die, I will summon the Great Old One Himself to bring you back so I can kick your sorry naive ass into the dirt." She snapped.
As the team disembarked, Owen swapped headsets, put his combat helmet over on, made sure the NODs were secure, checked that the headset worked and the Dolls could hear him, then exited the Hind. He barely got clear before it lifted off, and roared into the now nighttime sky. Colette would fly in a pattern around the Outpost until she was called upon or if they completed the mission. Owen's team spread out in a loose circle, guns up, eyes scanning. No one made a sound.
Owen took a moment to gather his surroundings. A small cluster of buildings were barely visible in the moonlight. One large building, and three smaller ones arranged in a sort of semi circle. He assumed this was all there was to the Outpost. There were no lights on, which meant no power. There also weren't any enemies. He looked at his team, no one was reacting to anything. It all seemed...he shook his head, he wasn't even going to think about it. He came behind SKS and placed a hand on her shoulder, she jumped and turned to face him. For a split second he thought she was going to shoot him, "Server?" He whispered.
She nodded understanding, and pointed at the largest building. He held up three fingers, the two rifle dolls and Nagant all gave a quick nod and moved away from the team to take up overwatch positions and to meet with the other two helos once they landed. Sig, Nines, and Spectre formed up behind him in a wedge formation as they moved towards the building. The door to the building had been blown open, a gaping maw led into the darkened interior of the building. Owen positioned himself on the right side of the door-less frames, with Nines behind him. Spectre was on the other side, with Sig behind her. Nines slapped his shoulder, letting him know she was set. Owen was glad they already knew how to... then she slapped his butt. Spectre noticed this and stifled a giggle. Owen rolled his eyes and motioned to Spectre to get ready to enter. Spectre nodded, eyes focused now.
Owen flipped his NODs down, shouldered his gun to the low ready, nodded to Spectre and moved into the building. They entered a small entryway that was filled with parts of dead Sangvis. Owen had to step over two sliced up bodies in a weird goose step just to make sure that he wouldn't trip and cause Nines to trip too.
Before they could investigate further, the steady beat of Blackhawk rotors filled the air. Reinforcements had arrived. Owen heard one UH-60 land, then power up its engines to take off, followed immediately by another. He glanced out of the hole, and saw a large group of dolls moving around.
"To all Dolls of Outpost 17, this is G36, we are on station and ready to assist."
- S09 C&C Center -
"O-k! Both Echelon's are on the ground, UAV is up, and we are ready to go!" Kalina said cheerfully as screens began to blink on around the Commander.
Gentiane nodded her thanks and took a sip of coffee. She was annoyed that Helian had decided to reroute her teams at the very last possible minute from another mission to support this one, but her superior had been absolutely furious and there was no arguing with the woman when she got to that point. So Gentiane had agreed to help retake Outpost 17, and support the dolls there with her own. It wasn't until after she had committed her forces had she been told about a Ringleader operating in the area.
Gentiane sighed as she studied the screen, then frowned. "Does anything look off to you Kalina?"
Kalina stood next to the Commander as she studied the UAV footage as well, "No Sangvis?" she asked.
Gentiane nodded, "Looks that way."
She watched as her two Blackhawks banked away from the area, leaving a third helicopter to continue circling the Outpost perimeter. She pointed to it. "Is that helo from the Outpost?" she asked.
"Ummm," Kalina checked her tablet, "It says here Outpost 17 wasn't authorized any aerial transport."
"Can we get in touch with the pilot?"
Kalina tapped her tablet a few times, and a radio link was established to the helicopter.
"This is Archangel." A curt female voice filled the Command center.
"Archangel, this Commander Gentiane of Sector Oh-Nine, are you attached to Outpost 17?"
"Nope!" Came the cheery reply.
"Are you supporting the dolls from Outpost 17?" Gentiane asked, irritation creeping into her voice.
"Sure am, but I only take orders from Sergeant Owen! You want to talk to someone, get a hold of him!" Static filled the speakers.
Kalina coughed politely, "It appears she's terminated the connection."
Gentiane sighed, and downed the rest of her coffee. Griffin did not pay her enough for this job.
- Outpost 17 -
"Hey Owen, just a heads up, I just hung up on a Griffin Commander, she's probably gonna want to speak to you soon." Colette said with glee.
"Gee, thanks." Owen deadpanned as his team cleared another room that was empty with the exception of more Sangvis dolls that were sliced in pieces. Every single room so far had been like that. Apparently it was of great interest to everyone except Nines and himself. Everytime they stopped, Sig and Spectre began closely inspecting the bodies. After the third room of CSI Sangvis, Owen finally said something.
"Is there a reason you two keep bothering dead Dolls?" He asked as Sig held the remains of one Dolls' torso up while Spectre stripped it down.
"Also, why the fuck are you making that one naked?"
"There's no markings." Sig stated, finger tapping what looked like a burn mark above the Doll's right breast.
"Why would anyone care if a Sangvis Doll got a tattoo removed?" Owen said, exasperated.
Sig shook her head in frustration, the doll's arms and head flopping slightly. "It's where the Sangvis mark goes on every SF doll, we've never seen them removed like this."
"Then take a picture and let's go. Intel gathering comes after an op, not during." Owen admonished.
"Your Kommandant is right." A German voice said from behind. Owen spun around and saw two Dolls holding G36's behind him. Actually one was the Carbine variant and the other was the A2. Both however, were rifles, and the C, while shorter, was a Carbine, not a submachine gun. (MICA Pls.)
"Guten Tag Commander, I am G36c, this is my sister G36. We're here to help on behalf of Commander Gentiane from Sector Nine." The shorter doll spoke quietly while her sister glared at the group.
"Where's the rest of your team?" Owen asked?
"Echelon Two and the rest of our Echelon is currently outside awaiting my return, I'm simply here to make sure mein Schwester isn't going to be under the command of some degenerate heathen." G36 said sternly as the 36c flashed Owen an apologetic smile.
Owen fake tipped his helmet to G36, "And a fine hello to you too, miss."
G36 continued to glare as the rest of the team and, surprisingly, 36c giggled.
"She'll be in capable hands, he's a good Commander, and a better soldier." Nines said in his defense.
G36 nodded, spun smartly on her heel, and left. 36c stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Owen broke the silence, "So, what are your strengths?" He asked.
"Um, CQC, plus I have a temporary shield generator for emergencies." She said quietly.
"Perfect! Welcome to our team of misfits, you're on point." Owen declared, stepping out of the room.
"Uh, but I don't know where I'm going!" 36c called as the rest of the team hurried around her to catch up to him.
"Neither do I! Now let's go!". He called back.
- S09 C&C Center -
"Looks like G36 made contact with that Sergeant on the ground, she sounds piiissed." Kalina sang the last word, clearly amused.
Gentiane snorted, but her eyes never left the screen. Kalina watched them dart around, narrowing occasionally as the Commander studied some small detail. Kalina looked at the screen as well, but couldn't find anything out of place.
"Is something wrong?" Kalina asked.
"No... but...I don't know. Can we get in touch with the Sergeant?" Gentiane responds.
A crackle, then a male voice came through the speaker, "Go ahead, Commander."
"This is Sergeant Owen, correct?"
"It is."
"This is Gentiane, have you run into any SF?"
"Only dead ones with their tats removed." Owen replied.
Gentiane and Kalina looked at each other in confusion.
"Before you ask, I've already told my team to gather evidence, after the op."
Gentiane nodded, "I'll have my teams do the same."
She chewed her bottom lip, thinking, "Sergeant, how long have you been on the ground there?"
A pause as he checked, "About fifteen minutes, why?"
"We were told the area was crawling with Sangvis, that was an hour ago." She informed him.
"Every room we clear is practically full of bodies, no friendly casualties yet. Whatever happened here, it appears we missed the party." Owen reported.
Gentiane studied the drone feed again, "Let me know if you find anything."
"Copy that, Owen out."
- Outpost 17 -
Owen's team continued through the building, and finally found their first friendly casualty in what could only be the Control Room. A doll lay slouched against a large semi circular desk in the middle of the room. Two Uzis still in her hands, both bolts locked back, and a pile of brass surrounding her. Dozens of SF corpses lay piled around her, and by the looks of a couple of them, they were bludgeoned to death, probably from when her guns ran dry.
"Oh no, please no." Spectre choked as she and Sig ran over to their friend. Owen motioned for Nines and G36c to guard the entrance, and made his way to the two distraught dolls.
They were still fussing over her as they knelt beside them to get a better look at the Doll. She was covered in "blood", whether her own, her enemies' or both. Her yellow tank top and sleep shorts were torn to ribbons. He looked around the command center, the intense beam from his weapon light bounced as he searched around until he found what he was looking for, a red coat hanging on the back of a chair. He grabbed it, and returned to Uzi, just as he was about to drape it over her, Sig cried out in alarm.
"Her core's still active, she's alive!" She announced.
Owen looked down in surprise, "She is?"
Sig nodded furiously, "Barely, the signal's weak but it's there!" She looked up, pleading eyes searching his in the glow of the lights, "please, we have to get her out of here, none of us have any quick repair kits."
"Our helicopters have some on board, Commander Gentiane shouldn't have a problem sending them back for an medivac."
Owen was on the radio before G36c finished her sentence, "Gentiane, this is Owen, we have a friendly casualty in critical condition. We need immediate medivac."
"Copy that, helo's are headed your way, and will be there in five.". Came the reply.
"Sig, you and Spectre get her outside." Owen ordered, "I'll take 36c and Nines and finish looking for survivors."
Sig and Spectre both thanked him, and hoisted her up, Owen draped the jacket over her partially exposed form.
"She's had a rough enough day, she deserves a little privacy." Owen explained as Spectre gave him a questioning look. Her eyes welled up in tears as nodded her thanks, they then quickly left the room.
"Alright you two, let's finish clearing this building." Owen told Nines and 36c.
Most of the building had been more of the same, more SF dolls mysteriously ripped apart, and only a few shot to death. The closer they got to the server room, however, Owen noticed more and more deaths caused by bullet wounds.
He motioned his team to stop as they approached the closed door marked "servers". Dozens of SF bodies and empty brass casings littered the floor. G36c cautiously made her way to the door and stacked up next to it. Owen stood behind her, with Nines opposite of them both. Something immediately felt off. Owen couldn't place it, but the feeling was definitely there, a sense of being hunted.
"Careful guys." He whispered.
Nines nodded and pulled her rifle in tighter, as G36c opened the door and stepped forward. As soon as the door opened, the hair on the back of Owen's neck stood on end. On instinct, he grabbed 36c by her collar and yanked her back from the door as a flurry of gunfire erupted from the other side. Beams sizzled through the air and tore through the wall across from them.
Owen primed a flashbang and threw it into the room. As soon as it exploded he stepped into the doorway, gun up. He saw a tall stunned woman with white hair holding two swords with guns on them. He opened fire before she could get her bearings. The rounds hit their target but she showed no sign of pain. Instead, she fixed Owen with an evil stare.
"So the Griffin Dog finally decided to play soldier and take back his base." She taunted. "It's a little too late to play the hero, isn't it?"
- S09 Control Room -
Gentiane watched as the medivac landed and the injured doll was loaded up. As it lifted back off, she noticed a lot of distortion on the feed that had not been there before. She squinted as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Dozens of points around the Outpost were shimmering. Gentiane's eyes widened as she figured it out.
"Oh shit." She muttered, "Get me an area wide broadcast, now!"
Kalina tapped her tablet, then gave Gentiane a thumbs up.
"All Griffin Units at Outpost 17, you're surrounded! Find a spot that looks distorted in the distance and fire!"
No one responded, Gentiane's head snapped to Kalina, who was frowning at her tablet.
"Long range comms are being jammed, on their side." She reported
"Fucking hell." Gentiane picked up her empty coffee cup, and refilled it.
She returned to the monitor in time to see a Jaeger unit appear out of nowhere, sprawled backwards and staring at the sky.
"Good." She said with a smile, they figured it out.
- Outpost 17 exterior -
SKS picked a spot that had been shimmering since she set up at the top of the Command Center. She exhaled slowly as she squeezed the trigger. The rifle kicked against her shoulder as the round leapt from the barrel towards her target. SKS's aim was true and a Jaeger materialized out of nowhere, a hole through its visor.
"Hit! Couldn't have done better myself!" Nagant cheered.
"They have advanced cloaking!" SKS cried out into the battle net, "We can't pick it up with our sensors but they cause a visible distortion. Pick a spot that shimmers and open fire!"
Rifle fire echoed through the night as the sniper dolls picked their targets and fired. The response was immediate, and the battle for Outpost 17 began in earnest.
- Outpost 17 Interior -
Nate Owen was flying. Which would be fine if he was outside, in the helicopter. But he wasn't, he was inside, and would have preferred both feet on the ground.
He thought this just before he impacted a solid brick wall, and fell to the ground. He coughed, and groaned.
"Owen!" Nines called out as she and G36c opened fire at the same time. With a snarl, the Ringleader raised one of her blade guns and fired point blank at G36c.
"No!" Owen cried out, as G36c was thrown off of her feet and thrown into Nines, sending them both sprawling. With a roar, Owen came up behind the Ringleader and bashed her in the back of the head with his M16, as she stumbled forward from the surprise blow, he let the rifle dangle in front of him and brought the Winchester up to his shoulder.
"That wasn't very nice." The Ringleader admonished as she regained her footing and spun around, blade guns pointed at Owen's chest.
"Get fucked." Owen aimed center mass, held the trigger down and slam fired five slugs as fast as he could. All five hit point blank and sent her flying backwards. He reloaded and re-slung the shotgun, then slapped a fresh mag into his M16, he hit the bolt release and sent a round home. Owen walked over to the Ringleader and put a burst between her eyes. He then kicked both blade guns, sending them skittering across the room. Finally he let out a sigh of relief.
Nines groaned again, as Owen went over to help her to her feet. After she was up he went to check on G36c, but saw that she was already getting up and brushing herself off and looking a little disheveled, but ok.
"How did you..?" Owen started to ask but trailed off.
G36c straightened her beret and gave him a small, embarrassed smile, not quite meeting his eyes, "Shield generator remember? Though usually the rounds just deflect, hers had quite a lot of force behind them, ja?"
She checked her weapon, and found it serviceable, "Thank you for worrying about me though. It was sweet of you." She mumbled, staring down at her rifle.
Before Owen could reply, Nines slammed him from behind with a bear hug, "I thought you were going to die again!" She wailed.
G36c raised an eyebrow, "Again?"
Owen shrugged as he gave Nines an awkward half hug, "It's a long story."
"So, it was you."
Owen spun around, shoving Nines behind him, his rifle came up and fired on the moving Ringleader. She sprinted forward, and ripped the rifle out of his hands, and tore the strap off of his neck, before tossing it aside. She then grabbed him by the already hurting neck and lifted him off the ground. Nines dumped her mag into the Ringleader, but she just got backhanded for her troubles.
"Darling, if you keep playing hard to get like this, I'm going to have to start taking offense." The Ringleader purred as she looked Owen in the eye.
"I never was good at the dating game." He choked.
G36c started firing in bursts at the Ringleader's back. She grunted in pained annoyance and spun around, using Owen as a human shield. 36c immediately held her fire, the Ringleader took advantage of that, darted forward and bashed the Doll in the side of the head. 36c flew into the wall and slumped over, Nines tried to get back to her feet but the Ringleader kicked her in the stomach so hard she flew up and dropped back down. Nines let out a pained whimper.
"I hope you don't mind, but your Commander and I need to have a very long talk about why he killed so many of my troops in the city." She said as she dragged him out the door and out of sight.
- Airspace above Outpost 17 -
Colette wrenched back on the stick and the Hind banked up and away, she let out a whoop of joy. Three successful gun runs so far, this was the most fun she'd had in years. As she banked around she noticed something glowing off in the distance.
"Hello," she said mischievously, "What are you?"
As she flew closer, she saw that it was a large pylon that emitted a purple and crimson glow. She thought about blowing it up, but decided to ask permission first, for once.
- S09 C&C -
"Griffin Command, this is Archangel, how copy?"
"Oh now she wants to talk." Gentiane grumbled to Kalina, she had been trying her best at coordinating the defense of the Outpost, but the fighting was chaotic at best.
"We read you Archangel, go ahead."
"I'm currently holding position past the northeast side of the base, near clearing close to the tree line, can I get a positive ID on this structure I'm looking at?"
"Wait one." She motioned to Kalina, who refocused the drone feed to the area in question, "Is that a Control Node?" Kalina asked.
Gentiane frowned as she opened up another comm link, "G36, this is Gentiane do you read?"
"Go ahead Commander, I read you!" G36 had to shout to be heard over the gunfire.
"Did you verify that there was a Ringleader in the area?"
"G3 get down, M2, focus fire on that tree line on the right! MP5, link with CZ805 and FN2000, we need to put pressure on that flank!" She shouted, then, "Sorry Commander, repeat?"
Gentiane repeated.
"Not out here, but I haven't heard from Owen or G36c, they're still inside!"
"Copy that, do you need a resupply?"
"Negative, we're holding on so far, but if we don't go into offensive soon, that could change!"
"Standby G36, I need to confirm something then I'll coordinate with your teams on an assault."
"Copy that!"
She closed the connection, "Kalina, bring up the positions of everyone we have, then enemy positions, get ready for an offensive push." She ordered.
Kalina nodded and began working, and Gentiane opened another comm link, "Owen, do you copy?"
"So, Alchemist, was it? Do Ringleaders usually kidnap people, or am I just that pretty?" Owen's voice came through the comm link.
Gentiane paled, "Oh fuck."
She opened a battle wide communication, "All units, be advised, the Ringleader is in the main building! Archangel, put two rockets into that pylon and stand by for orders!"
- Outpost 17 Interior -
"After I see how you look after a few hours of interrogation, I'll decide if you're pretty." Alchemist said conversationally, hand firmly placed around the back of his neck in a vice, ready to crush his spine if he took a step out of line.
"Well hell, I can't tell if I should be terrified or excited." Owen said.
"Don't worry, darling," she leaned in, lips inches from his ear, "for you, I'll pull out all of the stops." She purred.
"That's good to hear, I wouldn't want you to half-ass the torture." He replied.
They were close to the opening now. An explosion could be heard in the distance, "Looks like they found that traitor's control node. Not that it matters, much like you, those units outside are all mine." Alchemist said nonchalantly, "I killed all of hers."
"He's not yours, bitch." A voice snarled from behind, laced with venom, followed by a suppressed burst from a rifle. Owen felt the rounds hit, and caused Alchemist's body to jerk from the impact. Her grip slackened, and he made his move. He burst forward, drawing his M9 at the same time. He spun around and mag dumped into her chest, the 9mm rounds causing her to stumble backwards. He stepped forward, grabbed her arm and slung her towards what was left of the doorway.
"Archangel! Fire mission in front of the main building, danger close!" He cried into his headset as he kicked her square between the shoulder blades. Before she could recover he reloaded the pistol and mag dumped again. Alchemist let a frustrated growl.
"I can't see shit Raider, where's the target!"
He brought the shotgun up, "Marking target now!"
When he reloaded the shotgun earlier, he didn't go with slugs like he had previously, he loaded them with Dragon's Breath shells. He squeezed the trigger, and pumped as fast as he could. He could feel the intense heat wash over him as Alchemist was engulfed by the lit magnesium pellets. It was like a short range flamethrower.
"Holy shit! Alright I got eyes on the target, get clear! Guns, guns, guns!"
The four barrel 12.7mm cannon roared and Alchemist disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke.
"Hit that bitch with rockets!" Owen yelled into the mic.
"Bitches love rockets!" Colette cackled with absolute glee. Owen heard the rush of the rockets firing and grabbed Nines and jumped further inside before he felt the shock-waves from the impacts jolt through his body. He vaguely recalled the last time he was this close to a Hind gun run, it didn't end well for him. Owen and Nines were covered in dust and debris.
Owen groaned, and looked down to see he had landed on top of Nines. Her face was a whirlwind of emotion as she blushed bright red but also fought to keep a smile off of her face.
"You ok?" Owen asked, as he tried to get up.
"Mmhmmm." She mumbled.
Owen shakily got to his feet, and looked back towards the front of the building, half of the wall was blown into a pile of rubble exposing the entire entry way to the night sky.
"No fucking way." Owen said in disbelief.
"Target is still up!" Makarov cried over the net.
Owen pulled a frag out of one of the pouches on his chest, and started walking forward, rage filled him, and he saw red.
Alchemist looked more like a skeleton than anything else. She slowly and jerkily stood up, and flexed one of her hands, examining it, she then turned to Owen. Half of her face was missing, the other half covered in ash. Her face slowly spread into a grin as she pulled a dagger out of a hidden holster.
"Time to die, darling." She said, her voice coming out garbled and distorted, Owen pulled the pin and held the spoon in place on his grenade.
She darted forward and Owen did the same. She jumped up, dagger in hand and brought it down. Time slowed for Owen as his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest. He knocked her arm aside, and released the spoon, it flew off with a metallic ping. He shoved into her snarling mouth with one arm and grabbed her throat with the other. He held her in front of him, lifted his boot, and kicked her in the stomach as hard as he could.
As Alchemist flew backwards he felt her punch him in the chest, as he looked at her face, he saw the grin was back. The grenade exploded, and her head disappeared as the shrapnel tore it apart from the inside out. Owen let out a sigh of relief, then became aware of an intense heat in his chest, making him think he'd been hit by shrapnel. But as he looked down, he saw the dagger, buried up to the hilt in the chest plate. The world began to spin, he turned around and stared in confusion at Nines limping towards him. He wanted to ask her if she was ok, if 36c was ok.
"Nines?" He was all he managed to get out before the ground rushed up to meet him.
- S09 C&C -
Kalina and Gentiane stared up at the screen in amazement.
"Did he just?" Kalina sputtered.
"Yeah..." Gentiane said.
"But he..."
"I know..."
"Should we...?"
Gentiane nodded as she stared at the screen. What had just happened? No one had ever gone toe to toe with a Ringleader and win. She blinked, shook her head in astonishment and requested a medivac into the area. She then continued directing the T-Dolls as they mopped up any remaining SF in the area.
- Outpost 17 -
G3 stood behind M2, directing which way the Doll should adjust her fire and calling out areas for the rest of her team to search for stragglers. A Vespid jumped up, and G3 immediately put her back down. G3 smiled, she couldn't let M2 have all the fun.
G36 helped load Owen up into the Blackhawk, her uniform singed, torn, ripped and blackened from the battle. She heard him muttering, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. She leaned over and he cracked one eye open, "36c, still inside." He struggled to tell her. He then passed back out. Nines finished loading him with a nod to her. A medical doll started working on him immediately.
"I'll hold the helicopter, she's in the back by the server room." Nines told her, "but please hurry, he's not doing well."
G36 gave a stiff nod and sprinted into the building. She made her way to the server room, and found her sister slouched against the wall. Her chest tightened, and fear took hold.
"Sister?" She asked timidly.
G36c didn't move, and she thought her world was collapsing, she picked her sister up and moved as fast as she could to the helicopter. As she did, she scanned 36c's core, it was operational, but her body had shut down due to extreme internal trauma. That made G36 feel a little better, but not much. As she made her way outside, she saw the UH-60 still sitting there, blades spinning.
Upon seeing G36 emerge from the building Nines jumped out and ran over to G36, and helped her load her sister onto the helicopter. After all three Dolls were on board, the helicopter lifted off ground. G36 looked down and saw that all of the SF dolls had either retreated, or were dead. She allowed herself a tight smile. Outpost 17 was back under Griffin control.
- S09 C&C -
Gentiane flopped down in her chair and lit a cigarette. She took a deep breath, held it in, and finally exhaled. Kalina had just finished rerouting a logistics team to go hold Outpost 17 while the rest of the Dolls either rested or were repaired.
"Do you think we'll have to reimburse that Hind pilot?" Kalina asked nervously.
Gentiane let out a chuckle, and ashed her cigarette, "Probably should, she did help take down a Ringleader."
Kalina groaned, "That's going to be expensive."
Gentiane's cell phone rang, "Hello?"
"Commander Gentiane, it's Kryuger."
She sat up straight, "What can I do for you sir?"
"I understand it's late and you're busy so I won't waste your time, but when you get a moment, I'd like to talk to you about the operation you're currently working on." Kryuger said.
"Of course sir, I'll have a report ready by tomorrow." She said.
"No rush, I know there's quite a bit to go over. Let Helian know when you're free and I'll fly out to meet you."
"Yes sir."
"You did good Commander, don't forget to get some sleep." Kryuger said, and hung up.
"Oh sure," she muttered, "Like I'm going to sleep now."
- A city in S09 -
- 4 days after the battle for Outpost 17 -
"Hey you, you're finally awake." A familiar voice said.
Owen groaned, "Not this shit again."
The voice laughed, "Don't worry Nate, you're not dreaming this time."
He cracked his eyes open and saw he was lying in a hospital room, a woman in a lab coat, cat ears and a cup of coffee stood beaming over him.
"We've got to quit meeting like this." She said slyly.
"The fuck happened to me this time?" He croaked out, and immediately became aware of how dry his throat was. He saw a bottle of water in the bedside table and went to grab it, only to wince in pain as he jerked the IV tube in his hand.
The woman tutted, and handed the bottle over, he gave his thanks and began to gulp it down greedily.
"This time it was a poisoned dagger. A bit old fashioned, especially for a Ringleader, but it seemed to work well. A particularly nasty toxin, even with all the improvements I've added to you last time, it nearly killed you." She told him cheerfully.
"Fascinating, who are you?" He asked.
"Oh! I'm Persica, I'll be working with you when you get the job at Griffin!" She told him.
Owen shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs, "I never said I was going to work there, it was temporary."
Persica laughed and waved a dismissive hand at him, "oh please, we both know you're going to work there, in fact, Mr Kryuger will come by later to offer you the job."
"Oh, great." Owen deadpanned.
They were interrupted as Nines entered the room. As soon as she noticed Owen was awake she let out a gasp and rushed over.
"Owen, you're awake!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck.
"Ow- shit- Hey, easy!" Owen protested as Nines unwittingly attempted to rip the IV lines out of him.
"Oh that's ok, you don't need those anyway." Persica said offhandedly as she scrolled through her tablet.
Owen glared at her but turned his attention back to Nines, who was still leaning against the edge of the bed, trying her best to restrain herself from climbing into it to give him another hug. She was mostly successful.
"Are you ok?" Owen asked, concern in his voice, "what about G36c, Colette, and the others?"
Nines beamed proudly at him, "Everyone made a full recovery! Apparently Griffin had never had a one hundred percent survivability rate against a ringleader, they even found the dolls that stayed to defend the servers!"
Owen frowned, "We were in there, I didn't see anyone."
"We also came under immediate attack, they were in the back. Apparently she had been interrogating them for information about the Commander of the Outpost."
"Did they find anything out about what happened to him?"
Nines shook her head, "No, they searched the area where we found the car, but there was no sign of him. No one knows what happened, they're still out looking for him right now, but they've basically already written him off."
Owen snorted, "That's rough."
Persica scowled, "It wasn't like he was employee of the month. I don't know why Kryuger even hired that monster."
Nines nodded, "That's what everyone told me. He treated all of his dolls pretty poorly."
The trio ate terrible hospital food and chatted for a while. Owen asked questions about what had happened while he was asleep, both the most recent time, and the time during his 'lost decade'. Persica kept asking questions about his body and how the augmentation process held up.
"Honestly Doc, other than when I first woke up and fell on my face, I didn't even notice." He told her.
She sipped her sixth (seventh?) cup of coffee and nodded smugly, clearly pleased with herself. "I designed the OS to be as unobtrusive as possible, but," a gleam showed from her eyes, "I left it open for...tweaking."
Owen suppressed a shudder, "So, how much of me is still human anyway?"
Nines continued to eat from a cup of yogurt, but Owen swore her ears twitched slightly. Persica took another swig of coffee, but stared at him from around the cup. She let out a satisfied sigh, smacked her lips and threw the cup away. "Just awful." She announced then turned back to Owen. "You're human enough."
Owen sighed, Nines choked on her yogurt, "I'm a T-Doll with my brain scanned in or some shit aren't I."
Persica found that hilarious, "No, of course not," she wiped a tear from her eye, "but it would be exciting if you were..." She trailed off and stared into space. Owen waved his hand and snapped his fingers. The action pulled at the stitches in his chest. He grimaced.
"Oh right, you're more human than not, but I'm taking this conversation as consent to scan your brain should you ever need a full body replacement." She announced and turned to leave.
"I don't consent to-!" He called after her but the door closed before he could finish. "shit…"
Nines giggled and finished her yogurt, throwing the cup in the trash, "It wouldn't be so bad though, would it?" She asked.
"Being a Doll?" He asked, she nodded in response.
He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin as he thought, finally he gave a shrug, "I dunno, all I know is being human, so I couldn't say one way or the other."
Nines nodded, satisfied with the response. A knock came from the door and she went to answer it. She spoke briefly with a man at the door, signed for something and thanked him. She then returned with a massive "Get Well Soon!" bouquet.
"The fuck?" Owen said in surprise.
Nines shrugged, "It came with a card." She said and set the envelope on the bedside table. The front of the envelope simply had his name penned in cursive.
He stared at it for a moment, "Hey, Nines?"
She sat back down and gave him a questioning look, "Hm?"
Owen kept staring at the envelope, "You don't have to be here, you know?" He faced her.
"I'm sorry?"
"Not that I don't appreciate the help, but you spent ten years locked in a room looking over me. You don't have to anymore. I don't know if you're like a genie and have to be set free, but I release you of your obligations. You should go live your life, catch up on what you missed the last ten years. Get a normal job, or something." He said, and he meant it, he felt bad that she got stuck underground because of him.
Nines gave him a smile, stood up and walked over to his bedside, leaned over, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm right where I want to be." She said before standing back and going back to her chair. "Besides,without me around, you'd be dead at best, or a prisoner at worst."
Owen couldn't help but grin, "Thanks Nines, but I have to ask something else."
"Oh?"
"What in the hell are you wearing?" He asked.
Nines immediately began to blush, "I-is there something wrong with it?"
Owen fixed her with a state, "It's almost a see through nightie and black underwear, one typically wears that to bed, and usually not for sleep." He explained.
"W-well I got on the Griffin board while you were sleeping and tried to get caught up on what women wear now. A Doll named..." She paused to think, "DSR-50? Suggested this and another Doll named MDR agreed." She pulled at the hem, "Is it ugly?"
Owen shook his head, "God no, it looks great on you, but, maybe not everyday wear, ok?"
Nines blushed harder and nodded.
"I tell ya what, when I get better we'll go find some stores and get you something a bit more... practical, deal?"
Nines nodded again, face buried in her hands.
"Also, we need to have a talk about trusting strangers online."
A knock came from the door.
"Enter!" Owen called.
The door opened to reveal an absolute beast of a man with a large red military style coat draped over his frame. He regarded Owen with a fierce, calculating gaze, Owen met it with his own.
"Can I help you sir?"
"You are Sergeant Nathanial Owen, of the Combat Applications Group?" The man asked.
"I am." Owen replied.
"I am Berezovich Kryuger, formerly part of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, now Founder and Director of Griffin and Kryuger." He stated.
Owen tensed slightly, Nines did as well, eyes never leaving the large man.
"What can I do for you?" Owen asked.
"I'm here to offer you a job, however, given the fact that we," Kryuger motioned to himself and then to Owen, "probably fought against each other at some point during the war, especially given your deployment history, I would understand if you said no."
Owen relaxed, and offered a chair to Kryuger, who politely declined, "You are one intimidating motherfucker, you know that?" Owen told the large man.
Kryuger let out a low rumble that was probably a chuckle, "Sorry, it comes from years of working with spies and diplomats."
Owen nodded, "That's fair," then shrugged his shoulders, "In response to the job offer, I'd love to, but I'm still in the Army. They typically frown on people having a part time job."
Kryuger nodded, "I've already spoken with an acquaintance of mine at the American Consulate. He's informed me that your retirement papers are awaiting your signature, plus they are processing your back pay for the last ten years. I've been informed that it's not an insignificant sum."
Owen kept a blank face, but he felt like he'd just been gut punched. He never thought about being out of the military. It was all he knew. He always thought he would just be killed in action and that would be it.
Kryuger nodded in understanding, "Take some time, think it over. Transitioning back to the civilian world is...unique, especially in this day and age. If you need any help, whether you take the job or not, feel free to contact me."
Owen nodded his thanks, mind numb, "Ok."
Kryuger nodded to Nines and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Owen? Are you ok?" Nines asked, concern in her voice.
He nodded again, but didn't say anything. It was too much to take in, his mind began running in circles. He looked around for something to distract him, anything. He saw the envelope, opened it and mindlessly read the get well card inside. He frowned at the end, then re-read it. Owen's face went pale.
Nines started to worry, and when she asked him what was wrong he just handed her the get well card.
Dear Nate,
I was absolutely delighted to see that you were alive and well following our meeting. Though you weren't the one I was looking for, I truly am glad we got to meet. I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing just fine, and that I'll be out of the area for a bit to finish some unfinished business. I hope you have a quick recovery, and I'll come visit you soon, my Darling~
~A
C&C = Command and Control
S09 = Sector 09