Chapter 8: Search and Rescue (Do I Know You)
Garand lay motionless beneath an old tractor, staring through her scope as four men unloaded their cargo from the storage area from a beat up military truck. Through her scope she saw that they were carrying bodies, but it wasn't her team. They carried the unconscious forms down into the cellar one by one. Once the men were done, they stood around the truck, lighting up cigarettes and talking amongst themselves. Garand was too far away, but it seemed to her they were chastising the youngest man there.
Garand frowned, the young man looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before. After they had finished their smoke break, three of the men left laughing amongst themselves, leaving the youngest one alone. He sat against one of the tires, hands on his...a large eye suddenly filled the scope stared at her through the lens.
Garand jerked her head up in surprise and she grunted in pain as she smacked her head on the bottom of the tractor. She squeezed her eyes shut from the pain as she pulled her knife from its thigh holster, ready to attack whoever found her. Something smothered her face, and she panicked as a vibrating sound filled her ears. Her hand flew to her face and her fingers brushed something soft and furry. With ears. She opened her eyes.
Two kittens had stalked up to her during her recon. She gently moved the one in front of her out of the way and peered back through the scope. The young man was gone. Her adrenaline spiked, had he heard her? Was he sneaking around behind the tractor to capture her too? She crawled out from under the tractor as the kittens danced around her.
She came up to a crouch, rifle at the ready, but no one was around. After a quick scan of the area failed to reveal anyone, she looked down and gave the kittens a quick pat on their heads.
"Go on now, shoo. It's not safe here." She whispered.
One of the kittens rubbed against her leg while the second pounced on the first. They started rolling around in the grass. With the furry ninjas distracted, she ran over to the cellar and saw that it was chained and locked. Garand swore, and took off running into the night. She needed help if she was going to save her team, someone who knew what they were doing.
"I swear to God, if I ever find the stupid son of a bitch who designed this piece of shit, I will shove them feet first through a fucking wood chipper."
Colette's legs stuck out of the bottom of an old slant back olive drab Humvee that she had rescued from an abandoned town. At first she was excited, but now it was two in the morning and she wanted to take the shit box out back and use it for target practice with her Hind.
She maneuvered herself out from under the vehicle and stared wistfully at her beloved Hind. It sat in front of the barn, waiting for the bath it desperately needed. She looked back at the Humvee, sighed, and patted its fender lovingly. Then she went over to the acetylene torch she had. She opened the tanks and lit the gas with the striker. She was rewarded with a blue flame.
"I didn't mean those nasty things I said." She reassured it, "but you need to get your shit together, I need a new set of wheels."
"Hello?" A female voice called.
Colette looked around in surprise and snuffed the flame, seeing no one in the area, she turned back to the vehicle. She leaned in closer to the engine compartment.
"That wasn't you, was it?" She whispered.
The diesel engine didn't respond. She sat the torch down.
"Please, is anyone here? I need help!" It was a female voice.
Colette spun back around and saw a woman clutching a rifle run past the Hind.
"Hey, over here!" Colette called out.
The woman spun around and raised her rifle, her eyes darted around in fear.
Colette raised her arms slowly, she was surprised to see that it was one of the dolls from the Outpost, she thought it was Garand, but she couldn't be sure. "Easy there, I'm a friend."
The rifle lowered, and Garand sighed in relief, "Thank god, you gotta help me!"
Colette lowered her arms and motioned for her to continue.
Garand chewed her thumb nail before spoke, "My team was on a patrol, I was scouting ahead when they were ambushed. I wanted to help but..." She continued to chew her nail, "It happened so fast, G3 was...they were human so we couldn't...even if we wanted to..."
Colette held her hands up, "Wait, your team was killed by humans?" It was true there were anti-Doll groups out there, but the local villagers ran them out whenever they found them.
Garand shook her head, "They were taken, I followed them, they aren't far but...I can't...not by myself."
Colette frowned in thought, "Didn't you guys get a new Commander today?"
Garand shrugged, "We were supposed to, but G3 said we still needed to continue the search for signs for our old Commander."
Colette started walking towards the Hind, "Come on, we're going to pay the new Commander a visit. Time to see if they're as worthless as your old one."
Owen shot up in his cot, the sound of helicopter blades still echoed from his dream. He rubbed his face and tried to clear his head, then he realized the sound was still there, and getting closer. He quickly pulled on his pants and boots, he was in the process of putting on a shirt when someone threw his door open.
"Commander, there's an unmarked helicopter coming in to land!" MP-40 burst into his room, already in uniform, her namesake clutched in her hands.
"I heard, who is it?" He asked as he fought to find the arm hole in his shirt, he threw it off in frustration and made his way to the door, MP-40 paused to look at the still healing stab wound on his chest.
"It's fine." He told her as he left his office, she hurried to catch up.
"Unknown, I heard the noise and saw it flying this way, but it's definitely not Griffin, there's no IFF response that I can find." She reported.
He continued walking, never breaking stride as he spoke, "Do we have any anti air? A Stinger or a Starstreak? Hell, I'll take a Strela if we got it."
MP-40 almost tripped over herself in shock, "I don't think we've ever had anything like that here."
"Hope it's a friendly chopper then." He sighed.
He stepped out into the brisk night air, and watched as the Hind-D flared its nose before it landed. Owen immediately felt a mix of relief and irritation as the wind from the rotors whipped around him. He saw Colette in the cockpit, shutting things down, but someone else ran out of the back of the troop bay and sprinted across the grass towards him.
"Griffin Doll Garand rep...orting? Owen?" Garand looked confused.
Owen nodded and looked behind her, "Yup, It's me, Owen. Glad you're back Garand, where's the rest of your team?"
Garand shook her head, "They've been taken, I need your help, also the new Commander's help if they're here yet."
Owen immediately turned to MP-40, "I'm taking Garand to the armory, kick Makarov's team out of bed and have them meet me here." He paused, "Find Nines, have her do the same."
MP-40 saluted and ran off, "Oh god, no," he shuttered, "Don't ever salute me again!" He called after her, but the Doll was already out of sight.
"Wait, you're our Commander? You?" Garand looked surprised.
"I'm all you got, now walk with me, talk with me." He told her as he started moving towards the armory.
"Just where the hell are you going?" A voice called to him in the, now quiet, night.
Owen rolled his eyes and turned around and saw Colette leaning against her bird, a cocky grin plastered on her face, "Hi, Colette," he motioned towards one of the buildings, "I'm going to the Armory, where I plan to brief my team, probably get some guns, then I will most likely go shoot people until they die."
The Hind pilot nodded in mock agreement, "Yeah that's good, but...don't you want your guns back?"
Owen frowned, "You took my guns?" He glanced at Garand, who was looking more anxious by the second, it looked like she was going to gnaw the tip of her thumb down to the bone, or... titanium, he wondered what they were made of on the inside.
"Yes I want my guns, I'll deal with your theft later. We have shit to do." He told her.
She hooked a thumb towards the back of the Hind, "Hurry and get everyone up to speed, your stuff is in here and ready to go."
Owen nodded a thanks and started to turn before she spoke again, "Hey Nate?" Her eyes flicked down to the wound on his chest, "I'm glad you're still around."
Owen gave her a smile, "Thanks, now come on, you flew the trouble in with you, you're gonna help."
Owen jogged over to the Armory where Nines, MP-40, Garand, and Makarov's team, minus SVT, stood waiting. Everyone was armed and looked angry.
"Dobroye utro, Komandir." Makarov said as he entered.
"Same to you Makarov, your team squared away?" He asked.
"Da, we've already asked Garand to fill in for SVT-38, so we are at full strength. Everyone is topped up on ammo and awaiting instruction." Makarov informed him, she looked pointedly at his chest, "Am I to understand that you will be sitting this one out?"
"First day here and someone is already trying to start shit with one of my teams?" Owen shook his head, "Hell no, gotta establish dominance early."
Makarov nodded approvingly, but he noticed Nines staring at his chest, her face completely blank, but he saw her grip her rifle tight.
MP-40 shoved a black t-shirt into his hands, "I hope you don't mind, but I don't think it's appropriate for you to run around a team briefing topless."
"Killjoy." Colette muttered.
Owen rolled his eyes and put the shirt on, he double checked everything was lined up right this time.
"Ok Garand, tell us what you got."
Garand nodded and began to explain everything, starting with the team getting ambushed and ending with Garand tracking the truck back to an abandoned farmstead.
"What's the layout like?" Owen asked.
"Two story building, entrances in the front and rear, a set of cellar doors in the back. There's also a partially collapsed building on the north side of the property, probably an old barn. But it was too dark to say a hundred percent." Garand explained.
"That's fine, thanks." Owen started to think.
"Were you able to go into the cellar?" Makarov asked.
Garand shook her head, "It was chained and locked, but it's in use. They were offloading Dolls from a truck."
Makarov nodded, "Is the barn safe to hide in?"
Garand nodded as well, "Gives a good view of the front and rear of the house too."
"Komandir, I would like to suggest something." Makarov's red eyes leveled onto Owen's.
"Go for it." He said.
Makarov pulled a piece of chalk from one of her sleeves and began drawing on the side of an ammo can. "We work in two's, one team assaults the front, one the rear, and one the cellar. We can put Garand on overwatch in the barn, and, if Miss Pilot agrees, we can have her be our eyes in the sky."
Owen turned towards Colette, "Well?"
Colette nodded, "Oh hell yeah, let's go break some shit!" AK-47 whooped in agreement.
"How are you set for armament?" He asked her.
"Nose gun's been fed and ready to lay down some hate!" She gave him a thumbs up.
"Cool, and the rockets?"
Colette rubbed the back of her neck, "Well..those are expensive, I bought a project, then I had to buy parts for that project, and then I had to buy..."
Owen waved his hands, "It's fine."
"Winchester on rockets my dude!" Another thumbs up.
Owen felt a headache coming on, then he felt something bump his shoulder, he turned and saw Nines standing next to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow but she avoided his gaze.
"We should be a team." She muttered, "We work well together."
Owen rubbed his temples, "Ok Team One is Nines and myself, Team Two is AK-47 and MP-40," MP-40 glared at the bandana for a shirt wearing doll, AK-47 just winked at her.
"Team Three will be Makarov and SKS, and Team Four will be Nagant and Garand."
"Komandir, a moment of your time please!" Nagant ran up to him and tried to salute, he caught her hands, "No no, we don't do that here." He informed her.
"Ah good, it is always awkward to salute someone who isn't as experienced as myself."
Owen ignored that, "I would like to make a request though, SKS and myself work well together, we have hundreds confirmed kills." She beamed up at him.
Owen glanced up at SKS who was looking at Nagant like she had grown another head, she faced Owen and gave a helpless shrug. Makarov rolled her eyes, "Ten is not a hundred you senile old crow, stop bothering the Komandir."
Nagant spun around, "You insolent brat, I was fighting in the Great War before your first processor was even designed."
"Both of you, cut the shit." Owen snapped, "SKS are you ok with that arrangement?" SKS nodded, Owen pointed at Makarov, "then you go with Garand, I want you coordinating with Colette the entire time. You two will be my eyes and ears when we're in the building." Colette and Makarov both nodded.
"Aren't you going to give us call signs?" MP-40 asked, "It's important for combat effectiveness and unit cohesion if we get call signs."
Owen shook his head in irritation, "Teams One, Two, and Three work just fine."
Nagant pointed at Colette, "She gets a callsign."
Owen massaged his temples again, he tried to push his fingers through his brain, "It's an old...y'know what fuck it. Y'all want call signs?"
He brought up a knife hand and pointed to the teams, "Misfit 2, Misfit 3, Misfit 4, and I'm Misfit Actual since I'm in charge of this insane asylum."
Nagant's eyes shone with excitement, and the general mood suddenly skyrocketed.
He sighed, "Any more questions?"
AK-47 raised her hand, "So what do we do if the targets are human?"
That confused Owen, "What do you mean? They've kidnapped our people, they're enemies. We find them, we put them down. Hard."
"So you're gonna give us the order to harm humans?" AK-47 clarified.
"Should I not? Are you gonna go Terminator on every human you see if you draw human blood?"
AK-47 laughed, "Nyet, of course not." She gestured to everyone, "However, we have to have a specific command to harm humans. We usually can't do anything to cause them any pain."
"Oh." Owen said lamely, "Yeah, you see a human who's trying to kill you, you kill them first." He turned to Nines, "You good to go?"
She nodded, "Good come with me, Colette take me to my gear."
The Hind flared as slightly as it offloaded its cargo. Owen was the first out, his movements fluid and practiced. He crouched and scanned for any movement from the house or the surrounding area. Nines moved next to him And did the same, making sure she covered the areas Owen did not. The rest of the Misfits were not as trained. They hurried off of the Hind and kind of milled around, with the exception of Makarov and Garand who immediately sprinted towards the barn.
As soon as the last of The Misfits cleared the troop area, Colette lifted back into the air in a lazy circle.
"Valkyrie is up and on station. I'll call em as I see em. Good hunting." She said over the comms.
Owen whispered quick orders, "Move to your areas, report when you're ready and wait for my signal. Don't go loud unless you absolutely have to, capture them alive if you can. Move."
Owen and Nines hurried over to the cellar doors, Owen paused to check the large truck parked next to it, making sure no one was inside. He stood on one side of the doors and Nines on the other. They waited.
"Misfit Two, on overwatch. Nothing to report."
"Misfit Three, in position."
"Misfit Four, in position."
Owen looked over at Nines, her eyes were hard and business like. She looked at him and nodded. He grabbed the bolt cutters off of his back.
"Go."
As soon as he gave the order, he cut through the chains, threw the doors open, and dropped the cutters. Nines peered into the lit cellar, motioned for Owen to stay where he was, and moved down the steps. Owen stood guard at the entrance.
"First floor clear, moving to second."
"Misfit Two, all quiet." Makarov reported.
Owen listened to this while waiting for Nines to give him the clear signal. It never came. Owen peered down the steps that led into the cellar. The lights were on so he could see her shadow, but she wasn't moving, just standing near the bottom step. Owen felt his adrenaline spike, he imagined a group of men standing there, guns aimed at her. He grabbed a flashbang off of his vest and crept down the steps until he was standing next to her in the cellar. He froze.
"Holy fuck." He whispered.
"Cyka." She agreed.
- Minutes prior... -
"Go."
At the signal, MP-40 flung the door open and moved through the entryway, AK-47 was right behind her. So close that she almost hit MP-40 with her gun. MP-40 stumbled and almost fell before AK-47 grabbed her by the collar.
"Too much Stolichnaya da?" AK-47 chided with a chuckle.
"You're the only one who drinks on missions you drunken slav." She snapped.
"You should relax comrade, you're far too pretty to be so angry." AK-47 said matter of factly.
MP-40 ignored her and started moving through the house. Judging by the amount of dust that covered everything, this house had been abandoned for a long time. When she entered the next room, she saw footsteps in the dust that went upstairs.
They met up with SKS and Nagant in the kitchen.
"Anything?" She whispered.
SKS shook her head in the negative and motioned to the staircase behind her, "I'm going to move upstairs." She whispered back.
"Nein, let me and AK go, you two stay here and guard the entrance." MP-40 said as she motioned for AK-47 and Nagant to stay on the first floor.
"First floor clear, moving to the second." She reported.
"Misfit Two, nothing to report."
MP-40 tried to creep up the stairs as quietly as she could, but every step creaked and groaned under her boots. She tripped and almost fell.
"Scheisse." She whispered.
A sound came from above, they both froze. MP-40 strained her ears and heard... snoring? She turned to AK-47 and made a sleeping gesture, AK-47 gave a malicious grin and made her way up the stairs. MP-40 gulped and followed, she found AK-47 standing by the doorway of a bedroom, peering in. Light glowed from a laptop that sat on the floor in the corner of the room. MP-40 could make out three sleeping forms lying in sleeping bags.
AK-47 held a finger to her lips, and pulled her bayonet from the sheath on her hip. She paused in thought for a brief second, then untied the sheath, and slid it back in place over the blade. She then went from person to person, smacking them in the head as hard as she could with the hilt of the bayonet without killing them. She held up each person's hand over their face and dropped it, ensuring that they were indeed unconscious.
She stood and grinned at MP-40, "Komandir Owen may want to question them later." She said in a whisper.
MP-40 made her way to the computer, "I'll see if there's anything useful on here, make sure there's no one else in the other rooms."
AK-47 agreed and left. MP-40 scoffed when she realized that there wasn't even a password needed to access the old laptop. She pulled up the recent files, and found a bunch of inventory lists, payment transactions, and client information. She also found requests from individuals who wanted specific Dolls. She shook her head in disgust, they had accidentally stumbled onto Doll traffickers.
"You two don't...what are you doing here?!" AK-47 cried out in shock from the hallway.
MP-40 heard panicked whispers, she quickly closed the laptop, stuffed it into her satchel she kept with her at all times, because she was a professional adjutant, and ran outside. Something small scampered by as she did, causing her to give out a startled yelp.
"After her!" AK-47 yelled to MP-40.
"Uh, wuh?" Was all MP-40 was able to say.
She ran downstairs, past a very confused SKS and Nagant, and sprinted outside, there was no one.
"I have eyes on a target, looks like...a kid?" Garand's confused voice asked.
"Which direction?!" MP-40 shouted into the comms.
"She's headed our way, we've got her." Makarov reported calmly.
"Negative, do not engage the kid, capture her or let her go." Owen's voice cut through the coms like a knife.
"Net der'ma." Makarov shot back.
MP-40 sprinted towards the barn, she saw the kid running flat out across the grass. She picked up the pace, and easily caught up to the kid. She grabbed the kid's collar and gave a pull off to the side, causing the kid to lose her balance. MP-40 made sure her gun was out of the way and scooped the kid up in mid stride.
"I've got her!" MP-40 cried out victoriously.
"Let me go! Get off me! I'm calling the 'thoritees!'" The little girl started kicking and yelling at the top of her lungs. MP-40 sat her down, but kept both hands firmly on her shoulders.
"Please calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." She dug a small tin out of her uniform pocket, she opened it up and produced two small wedges of chocolate. The girl's eyes locked onto the treat in MP-40s hand. She broke the wedges apart and offered one to the girl.
"I'm not supposed to take chocolate from strangers." The girl stated, eyes not leaving MP-40s hand.
MP-40 frowned, "Well that's no good, is it?" She gestured to herself, "My name is MP-40, I'm a Tactical Doll with Griffin, what's your name?"
The girl's eyes lit up immediately, "I'm Olena! You're one of the good guys!"
Introductions made, the girl snatched the chocolate from MP-40s hand, and began nibbling on it, her wide eyes staring at MP-40 in wonder. MP-40 waited for her to continue, but the girl kept nibbling on the chocolate, her gaze unblinking. It seemed unnatural.
"Um...right, I'm glad you've heard of us." MP-40 said, breaking the silence.
Olena chewed up the rest of the chocolate and swallowed, and spoke, "Yup, my brother, well, he's not really my brother, but he found me after my parents disappeared. But he worked for Griffin until a long time ago. Like, three hundred years ago. He worked on the good guys, he said. Well he said they weren't guys, they were all girls, cept not, because they were robots. But now he works for these guys and they don't seem that nice and they won't let me in the basement. I think it's haunted though, I hear screams and..."
Owen looked around, and instead of a dingy dark cellar, he saw a large high tech lab. It would have been impressive, if it weren't for all the bodies of Dolls. He counted four strapped to gurneys, surgically opened with parts missing. Some Dolls were laying in small crude cells, just big enough to sit up in. None of them made any sound, or even any indication that knew someone was in the room with them.
One unconscious doll was literally chained to the floor. His chest tightened, and anger surged through him. He thought of G3 and her team. Were they here? Did these guys already dispose of them? He shook his head, tried to clear his thoughts and glanced at Nines.
Her eyes were wide in shock, her mouth twitched slightly as she tried to speak. No words came out.
"Nines, you with me?" He asked, but got no response.
"Hey!" He snapped his fingers, and her eyes finally met his.
"Owen..." She stammered out.
"Come on, we need to find our team." He said quietly. She swallowed, her eyes dancing over the scene again. She finally nodded and moved with him.
They made their past the unmoving dolls on the beds. Owen's boot kicked something on the ground, and one of the Dolls in a cage whimpered slightly. He spun to face where the sound came from.
"Owen, they're still alive! We can help them!" Nines slung her rifle and moved towards the cages, one of the Dolls flattened herself to the back of the cage as much as she could to get away from Nines.
Owen pulled the bolt cutters off of his pack and handed them to Nines, "Start breaking them out, and get them topside."
The sound of locks being cut filled the air as he continued moving. He found a flimsy wooden door and pushed it open. Inside he found the Combat Team, each member unconscious and lying on the ground in a circle. He saw that each one had their shirts cut open, with a wire running from their chest, to a large black box in the center of the room. The box gave off a low, pulsing hum, and was warm to the touch.
"Owen, it's AK-47, I need you to come outside. I found someone you may want to talk to."
"Not now, I found G3 and her team, I'm going to try to move them."
"Nyet, he says that's not a good idea, unless you know what you're doing." Came the reply.
"Does he know what the fuck he's doing?" Owen asked, anger creeping into his voice.
"So he says."
"On my way."
Owen strode across the grass, he saw a group of huddled dolls being tended to by Makarov and Nines. SKS stood nearby, glaring at four figures kneeling nearby, with Garand guarding them. Her eyes met Owen's and he saw a cold fury there. He nodded to her, she nodded back and continued her vigil. Owen spotted AK-47 talking to a tall lanky man, MP-40 was next to them, entertaining a small girl.
AK-47 turned to him as he approached, "Who's the kid?" He asked.
"She's my..." Owen cut the lanky man off with a glare.
"She's with him." AK-47 said.
"You in charge?" Owen asked the man, who barely looked older than twenty.
He shook his head, "N-no, I just look after the dolls."
"Komandir Owen, meet Alexander, former T-Doll Technician for Griffin Outpost 17." AK-47 announced, a hint of anger colored her words.
Owen looked at the young man in surprise, "So you're the one who runs Frankenstein's lab?"
Alexander nodded, "I have to, if I don't..." His eyes flicked over to the girl.
"Should have killed the coward." One of the men on the ground muttered, the rest of the group murmured their agreement.
Owen turned to the man, "Is this your operation?" He asked.
The man raised his head to look at Owen, "What if it is, Griffin bitch?" He sneered.
Owen turned back to Alexander, "Can you get my people back on their feet?"
The young technician nodded.
"Good, AK is going to escort you down and guard you while you get them fixed up." He gestured to AK-47, "If you do anything suspicious, and I mean anything at all, she has my permission to smoke your ass. You pickin up what I'm puttin down?" He asked.
Alexander nodded again, fear in his eyes.
"Outstanding, go." Owen dismissed him with a glare.
He turned to the man on the ground, "Ok, I need a few things from you."
The man spat at his feet, "I'm not telling you a fucking thing."
"Yes you are, because if you cooperate, things are a whole lot easier for everyone involved." Owen explained.
The man scoffed, "You're from Griffin right?"
Owen nodded.
"You're not gonna do a damn thing then, I'm surprised you're out here at all, but I tell ya what," he leaned in, his voice a whisper, Owen knelt down to hear, "How about I let you take those robots we found on the road tonight, and I'll even give you a discount on some others. So you can crawl back to your hole and leave us the hell alone again."
Owen nodded, "Sounds like an idea, but how about I give a counter offer."
He stood, slinging his rifle behind him as he did so, "How about you tell me why the fuck you thought it was okay to kidnap one of my patrols, and bring them back to your fucking pit. Then you tell me who you're working for, who you're working with, and anything else you think is needed to keep me from wiping the ground with your sorry ass."
"Get fucked Griffin dog, you and your electronic bitches can't so much as touch us, it's in their programming, and you're not allowed to." The man exclaimed, confidence in his voice.
Owen grinned, and MP-40 felt a shiver go down her spine when she saw it. It was the way a cat might grin at a particularly fat fish. She cleared her throat.
"Er, I found a laptop that has a bunch of information you want, Commander." She said.
Owen looked at her, then to girl next to her, "Excellent, thank you MP-40, why don't you two go somewhere else for a bit
He turned his attention back to the man in front of him, "Tell me why and fucking how you grabbed my team."
"Eat shit."
"Garand, get him on his feet."
"Get up, asshole." Garand said as she jerked him upward, the man grimaced in pain.
"Oh, look at that, looks like she touched you and was that some mild discomfort I saw on his face Garand?" Owen asked.
Garand looked at the man responsible for hurting her friends, "I don't believe it was Commander."
Owen nodded, and punched the man in the jaw, causing him to go sprawling onto the grass.
"How about now?" He asked Garand.
"Maybe a little." Garand answered.
"That's too bad, get him back up." Garand hauled the man back to his feet.
"Why the fuck did you attack my patrol?" Owen asked.
"I will fucking kill you." The man spat in Owen's face.
All of the dolls jumped at this, and Owen's vision went red. He felt rage pulse through his body, and the next thing he knew, he was on top of the man, his pistol in his hand and jammed onto the man's temple. The man's face was covered in blood, his eyes bulged in horror. Owen looked at the man in shock, then he looked at his sidearm. He was vaguely aware someone was next to him, he turned, it was Nines. Why the fuck did she always sneak up on him like that?
"Owen," she whispered, "don't."
Owen blinked and shook his head, the red haze clearing from his vision. He stood up and saw her giving him a weird look. He ignored it. He turned to Garand, who was staring at him with intense eyes as she bit her thumb.
"You said that truck worked?" He asked her.
"It does."
"Good, keep an eye on these guys." Owen turned and walked back over to the cellar, Nines hot on his heels.
"What happened back there?" Nines asked.
"Just lost my cool." Owen said.
Nines frowned but didn't say anything else. They made their way back into the lab, where he found Alexander and AK-47 standing over the doll that was still chained to the floor. G3 and her team sat nearby looking disoriented, but ok for the most part. G3's eyes lit up when she saw Owen.
"So you're the new Kommandant, ja?" She asked him.
Owen smiled at her, "At least until someone better comes along, how are you feeling G3?"
"Not so good." She confessed, "But better than the rest of my team, and much better than everyone else already here."
Owen nodded, "Don't worry, we'll get you over to Gentiane's base and get you fixed up in no time."
He joined AK-47 and Alexander, "So, what's the deal with her?"
Alexander looked at her with what could have been pity, but also fear, "They brought her in about two days ago unconscious, she went berserk and tried to kill me when she woke up. I tried to help her, but nothing worked. They did this to her."
Owen nodded, "So what's your deal here? Why are you helping them?"
Alexander let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair, "After I got fired from Griffin, these guys found me and offered me a job. Pay was decent and they told me I would be doing illegal doll repairs. Basically providing cheaper service for those who couldn't afford it. I brought Olena with me to live here, and they...well...they forced me to stay when I found out what they were really doing. I tried my best to treat the dolls as nice as I could though, to make things easier for them."
Owen nodded to the doll chained to the floor, covered only by a blanket, "This is your idea of being nice?"
Alexander winced, "I wanted to help her, the other's...it was all I could do to get them to not...do anything unpleasant."
Owen sighed, "Fair enough. Do you have any clothes for her?"
Alexander nodded and dug through a case next to the doll, he pulled a white coat and blue jeans out, Owen grabbed the coat from him.
"Cut her loose," he told the technician.
"Are you sure?" He gulped, "I want to help her, but like I said, she's crazy strong and fast and the shackles are also what is keeping her knocked out..."
"I'm sure, what's the worst that could happen?" Owen asked.
Nines groaned.
Alexander shook his head as he adjusted some dials on the wall, "Just...so much could happen, we could all die, for one."
"So be it, just wake sleeping beauty here." Owen said.
"You got it boss."
The shackles broke loose on their own and clattered to the floor. The Doll groaned and rubbed her head, her hand froze and her eyes snapped open. Her gaze locked onto Owen immediately. He held out the white coat, as a peace offering. "I'm Ser...Commander Owen, with Griffin and Kryuger. We're not here to hurt you, you've been captured and put under for a while."
The Doll looked down at the blanket covering her, she snatched the coat from his hand. He averted his eyes as she stood silently. Nines met his gaze, an eyebrow raised. Owen stuck his tongue out at her. Nines rolled her eyes and continued watching the Doll. Alexander, meanwhile, tried his best to melt into the wall.
"So, Griffin Commander, was it, why are you here?" The Doll asked. Owen looked up, and saw she was dressed in just the coat. Owen tried not to look at her long toned legs, he did, but he failed, for just a moment. Nines cleared her throat. "
Right, ah, ahem. Some guys snatched one of my teams earlier this evening, so I came to get them back." He told the ceiling.
"So this was property reclamation then." She stated.
Owen stared into her blue eyes, "No, it was a rescue mission for my team, we don't leave people behind. Look lady, do you want to put on some pants or something? It's cold out."
She held his gaze, and something about her seemed so damn familiar. He had seen her before. She blinked and turned around to grab the pants off of the floor. Owen averted his gaze again, Nines scowled at him.
"You do know we're not a couple right?" he whispered to her.
"Da, but that doesn't mean you can slobber over every pair of legs that crosses your path." She whispered back.
"I am not slobbering." He defended himself.
"Yes you were, Sergeant Owen." Nines and Owen turned to her in surprise, she had put the jeans on, and in her hand was a pair of surgical scissors. She lunged at Owen, scissors wielded in front her. Owen went to block the attack, but lost his balance. The scissors plunged into his forearm.
"Fuck! Ow!" Owen yelled. Nines brought her rifle up and fired, most rounds missed but one went through the Doll's leg sending her off balance and stumbling to the floor.
"Hold fire!" Owen yelled.
"You're not taking me like they did!" The Doll snarled as she got to her feet. Nines sprinted towards her and ran her knee into the Doll's face, hard. She spun the doll around and slammed her head into the ground repeatedly, screaming in rage as she did. Owen got to his feet and made his way over.
"Jesus Nines, stand the fuck down!" he grabbed her by her shoulder. She tried to shake him off, but her hand slipped and she punched him in the face, sending him flying.
"Nines, what the fuck?!" He shouted as scrambled back to his feet..
Nines froze in horror at what she did, giving the Doll a chance to get on her feet. She shoved Nines as hard as she could and turned to bolt up the stairs, before she froze, twitched a few times, and fell down flat.
Alexander stood up, a bright yellow taser in his hand. Owen shook away the stars in his vision, while Nines whimpered on the floor, he looked at Alexander.
"Like I said," the technician said, his breathing heavy, "So fucking much could happen if we wake her up."
"Fair enough." Owen rasped.
Makarov ran down the steps, followed by Nagant, "What the hell is going on down here?" She asked, then she looked at Owen, "You've been stabbed again." She told him calmly.
Owen looked down at his arm, and saw that the scissors were still there.
Nagant ran over, "No worries Komandir, allow me to help."
With that she wrenched them out hard.
"JESUS FUCK!" Owen cried out.
Nagant held the bloody scissors up triumphantly.
Owen gritted his teeth, and pinched her cheek, "Owowowowowowowowowow." Nagant complained.
"Go. Help. Nines." He managed to keep his voice calm.
Owen stood shakily to his feet, his head swam as he did. Alexander came over to help keep him steady, he had a strip of cloth in his hand and started tying off the hole in Owen's arm.
"If they ask, you and your sister were captured by these guys. You work for me now, understand?" Owen said.
Alexander nodded, "Thank you boss."
"If you betray me, or my girls, I put you in the dirt." Owen said.
"Fair enough." Alexander said as he finished.
Owen nodded, satisfied, and made his way over to Nines. Nagant was trying to calm her down, but she had curled into a ball and just kept murmuring to herself. Owen looked over to Makarov who watched the whole scene with a blank expression.
"Garand found some kittens," She reported, "She's going to bring them back to base."
Owen shook his head in irritation, "Fine. Did you radio Colette?"
Makarov nodded, "She's about to land. I loaded some of the other Dolls into the truck, and got in touch with Miss Kalina. She is sending two more trucks and another combat team to help us search the house and secure the area."
"Thank you Makarov, you and MP-40 are running things, I'm going to get Nines to Gentiane's."
Makarov nodded, "Da, a good idea."
Owen knelt down, Nines hadn't moved, he ran a hand through her hair. "Nines, hey Nines, you with me?"
She was trembling, and she kept muttering to herself, her eyes darted back and forth. Owen bent down and tried to pick her up, but she curled up tighter. Owen bent down and picked her up, Alexander looked at him in surprise. He ignored the technician and made his way up the stairs and back into the night air. Colette was coming in to land, MP-40 was marshalling her in with Olena standing nearby, watching the whole thing unfold.
Nines hands wrapped around Owen's neck, her trembling stopped, "I'm so sorry Owen."
"It's ok, it's not like you stabbed me."
"Nines let out a weak chuckle, "I guess." She pulled herself closer to him. He sat onto the ground, making sure not to drop Nines. He felt exhausted.
Nines muttered something else.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Nothing." Nines said.
Owen watched as G3's team loaded up into the Hind, then as the Doll that stabbed Owen was loaded up.
"You really fucked her up." Owen commented.
"She hurt you." Nines said.
Owen untangled himself from her and stood, "Yeah, it was kinda hot watching you beat the shit out of her though." he said and walked towards the Hind, leaving Nines blushing behind him.
He paused and turned, "Come on, let's get the hell out of here." he told her.
After they loaded up into the Hind, Owen realized he wasn't sure where he left his rifle.
He looked around the crew area and saw someone had set it bya seat next the rear door, barrel sticking outside of the helicopter.
The door started to close and Owen scrambled to unstrap himself, but it was too late.
The door closed, crimping the barrel closed. The door opened again, and this time Owen was free and grabbed the doomed rifle. "Fucking...fuck." He said as the door closed again.
He sat back down staring at the rifle, its barrel now bent at an odd angle. He sat it down gently in the seat next to him and stared at it. Exhaustion really did take him this time, and he lowered his head and passed out.