Chapter 18:

Violence is the Answer

"It's weird, I always knew that dying was a possibility, that it could happen, but always to someone else. I usually was the reason it happened to someone else, but…" an annoyed huff, "here we are, with me dying, not you, so stop acting so dramatic."

Spectre

M3 and Spectre watched as G3's team lifted off of the ground, leaving them behind.

"W-well, now what do we do?" M3 asked as she watched the Huey bank and dive below the rooftops.

"I guess we help with cleanup?" Spectre responded with a shrug.

"Not so fast, comrades." AK-47 said as she wrapped an arm around each of them, "Grigori has a job we might be interested in, let's go."

Ten minutes later Team 2, minus Makarov and SVT, were standing around a map and listening to a hastily made plan that had been drawn up by Artom and Grigori.

"So if we take out the generator here," Spectre pointed to a spot that had been circled with grease, "we take out the entire SAM network?"

Grigori nodded, "It is part of an old self automated defense system that was designed to operate during a worst case scenario," he explained.

"Once activated," Artem took over, "It will fire at any aircraft not carrying a certain IFF transponder, and since these particular transponders haven't existed since the end of the war…" he shrugged, "it is open season for them, as the phrase goes."

"Since Sangvis is the one who activated it, I would assume that they still have some guards there, da?" AK-47 asked.

Grigori nodded, "That is my guess as well, and why I wanted to ask for your help."

"Do we g-get to use more explosives?" M3 asked with a sparkle in her eye.

Grigori's face split into a huge grin as Artem dropped a green canvas bag on the table. M3 opened the bag and tried to contain a squeal of delight as she realized it was stuffed full of C-4.

He is lying in the hayloft of the unused barn next to his house. He pretends not to hear his parents yell at each other about the pregnancy test that would announce the coming arrival of his sister.

"It's bad enough with one fucking leech around here and now I have to deal with another thanks to your drunken ass." His mother screams before his father has a chance to say anything.

He hears the sound of punches land, and can picture the look on his father's face as he takes the hits and does nothing to defend himself. His father takes the hits, so that he does not.

He closes his eyes, and tells himself not to cry, that it is a weakness to cry.

Tears fall down his face.

He is too weak.

A voice whispers to him, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

The scene disappeared and Owen felt like he was drifting through the void. It was quiet, calm. It was peaceful. He forgot what that was like. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way.

The void shifts, he is lying on a raft as it floats gently down a creek. He is sixteen, drunk, has no idea where he is and that's okay, wherever the raft takes him, will be his new home.

The scene dissolved and Owen is back in the void. He wondered if this was his 'life flashing before his eyes'.

The void shifts again, it's night outside and he's sitting in the jump seat of a Blackhawk. He cheated death, he is one of the few that did. He wants to forget what happened, even for a moment. This is the reason Colette is straddling him, she lets out a moan as he kisses her neck. She grabs his head and pulls it into her chest.

"Well," the voice says, "that's more than I bargained for."

The scene dissolved quicker this time, like his mind didn't want to dwell on that particular memory for too long. Which he thought was a shame, he was very fond of that particular memory, and of the person it was with. He didn't want to tell her he still thought of this night often, that he was afraid to revisit those feelings he had that night.

Again the void is gone, and he's back on a different Blackhawk, he looks outside and sees another flying next to him, fuel spraying from it's tank. He looks around in a panic and sees Nines staring at him with a sad smile, she's trying to say something to him, but he can't understand what. He tries to focus on her words, but he realizes the voice is not her own.

"Of course she would just activate this shit without a second thought." A voice, not Nines, grumbles, "She's not the one who has to try and keep his dumb ass alive while the body tries to cope with nanites."

Owen's mind slipped back into the void, but he could still hear the voice, it was soothing, calm. He wanted to hear it again, so he tried to focus on it and nothing else, until it became clearer.

"-if you could just stop, fucking, dying, for like five seconds." A pause, "Oh, there we go."

Wait, what? Owen thought, what's going on?

Owen's world flashed white, and when his vision adjusted, he saw a bright blue sky. He heard a blue jay call in the distance, and the sound of running water. He sat up and saw someone standing at the edge of a creek, he realized this place looked familiar.

He focused on the figure by the water, it was a slender woman wearing a sundress and a floppy sun hat. The figure turned to face him, he was surprised to see it was Freya.

"I know, it's a little cliche, but," she grabbed the edge of the dress and held it up a little before she let it fall back down and looked back at him with a sad smile on her face, "I've always wanted to wear something like this, just once."

"It uh," Owen swallowed, "it looks good on you."

Her smile brightened with the compliment, "Thanks!"

He went to stand by Freya's side, "So," he began as he picked up a smooth stone and, with a flick of the wrist, sent it skipping across the water.

"Wow, nice throw." She commented as she watched it finally sink beneath the surface.

"Thanks, I had lots of practice," he looked at Freya, "what's going on here?"

"Well," she crinkled her nose, "That's a tough one to explain."

"Long story short," she took a deep breath, "you're still trying to bleed out in the middle of the city so that one doctor with the weird cat ears activated the Project Phoenix protocols, which in turn activated medical nanites, which would have killed you if hadn't been nearby to basically hijack your neural interlace and direct everything for you."

She gave him a smug grin, "You're welcome by the way, as for this place," she waved one arm in a wide arc, "I actually have no idea, I found the memory floating in your brain pan when you kept trying to die.

She went quiet and frowned, "You have a depressing childhood by the way."

Owen shook his head in confusion as she tried to process everything she told him.

"Wait, you can see my memories?" he asked.

She gave him an exasperated look, "Everything I tell you, and that's what you want clarification on?" She let out a chuckle, "But yeah, I could when your brain was prepping for the big sleep."

"So," Owen stretched his arms above his head, "what's going on outside my head?"

Freya paused and cocked her head like she was listening for something off in the distance.

"Lilith is fighting Nines, and Nines is holding back for some reason." Freya said simply.

"The fuck you mean Nines is holding back?" Owen asked in annoyance, "wake me up so I can go kill Lilith and get you fixed."

Freya grabbed him by the elbow, "Easy there cowboy," she waved an arm and gestured around them, "this is essentially a medically induced coma so time's passing slower in here," she tapped his head, "than out there."

"Not to mention, Nines has quite a few tricks up her sleeve." Freya gave Owen a sly grin, "that one's not as innocent as she lets on."

Owen processed that as Freya flopped down and started splashing her feet in the water, "Now come sit with me, I want to talk to you," she paused, "Actually, I've been wanting to talk for a while."

Owen gave her a skeptical look as she patted the smooth rocks next to her. Owen gave an irritated grunt, but sat anyway.

"What do you want to know?" He asked.

She regarded him a moment, before gesturing to the creek, "Where is this place?'

Owen looked around, "It's a swimming hole in the Ozarks," he finally said, mostly to himself as he continued to take in their surroundings,, "my dad brought us here when I was a kid, whenever my mom got into one of her," he paused as he searched for the right words, "moods, he would bring us to a little field about a mile away. There we would set up camp, and spend the day fishing, cooking what we caught and swimming," He sighed, "I almost forgot about this place."

"It's beautiful," Freya said softly, "I always wanted to visit a place like this."

"Easy enough," Owen said, "We'll bring the whole crew and-"

Freya made a noise that made Owen stop mid sentence and look at the doll. She was staring hard at her feet.

"So," he said as he laid back on the rocks, "I really am dying."

Freya shook her head, still looking down at her feet, "No, but I am." She heaved a sigh and leaned back so she could rest her head on Owen's chest, "That little scuffle with Agent really kicked my ass, I think my core is shutting down because my signal's fading away."

"I understand just enough about dolls to know that's not good." Owen remarked, though he felt a ball settle in his gut as he did.

Freya laughed, it was a genuine and beautiful sound, and definitely not a sound he would expect from the normally emotionless doll.

She looked up and gave him a mischievous wink and a smile, "There's a lot you don't know, especially about me."

Owen chuckled despite himself, "Yeah, I guess not."

She turned back to the creek, "But right now, the only reason I'm still here is because of the neural link you have."

"So what, you're going to live in my head? Because if so, we need to lay down some ground rules about reading my mind." He joked.

Freya laughed again and Owen felt his heart rate go up. She gave him another look, this one a little more sultry and she batted her eyelashes, "Unfortunately, you missed your chance with me cowboy."

Owen wanted to call her out on dodging his question, but the look on her face stopped him. She was working through something and he didn't want to interrupt.

"I have a request," she announced as she looked up at him, "it's okay if you say no, but it's the only chance I'll get, because…" she trailed off and looked away.

"Signals fading." Owen finished for her.

She nodded and stared back out at the water, "Do you mind if I tell you a bit about me?"

"I would actually love to hear a bit about you," Owen told her, "because you apparently have a lot more going on than I realized."

Freya was quiet for a while, and he swore he saw tears in her eyes as she watched a leaf float by on the current, "I'm the last one left, did you know that?"

"I don't mean I'm the only doll left from my batch or anything, which is true as well," she shook her head, "I mean of all the teams I served with, none of them are alive, the few that survived the war, they...well," she trailed off.

Owen wrapped his arm around her, but said nothing.

"I shouldn't be upset by that, it's not like they treated me like one of the team," she paused, "not that they treated me poorly, but they treated all of their equipment really well so…" she trailed off again, "You always treated us as one of the team, you talked to us, asked for tactical advice and…"

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, "I was alone, for a long time." She sniffled and looked away, "My team was killed and I was abandoned because there was no one left to monitor my progress. I found an abandoned warehouse, sent up an emergency beacon and went into standby mode." Her voice wavered at first, but got stronger.

"I was there for a month, and then something went wrong, I don't know what. But I woke up, and I was," she paused for a moment, "aware?" she shrugged and kept going.

"I knew what my protocols were, and I ignored them, for the first time ever. Which was both amazing and, well," another pause, "there were times when I wanted more than anything I wanted to ignore those protocols."

Freya shook her head and continued talking, "So I left the warehouse and just started walking. I had my emergency repair kit, solar charger, and a rifle given to me by my team leader."

She gave a wistful sigh, "That was nice, there was no one around to give me orders, I wasn't fighting for my life constantly, no rejecting young enlisted guys trying to use me for stress relief…" she trailed off again, "I had a lot of time to think, to process what my situation was, and what I could do without being told."

WIthout realizing it, Owen had reached down and began stroking Freya's hair, she let out a contented sigh and they sat in silence.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?" Owen asked.

Freya shrugged without looking at him, "For a while, I told myself it was because you were so busy with patrols and training missions, then I realized I was scared of you." She gave a little snort, "I actually thought you would send me back to the Navy so they could wipe my memories and put me back in service."

"I'm glad I was wrong," she said, "and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to…" she stopped, sat up, and turned to study him.

"Times up." She said as she leaned over and gently pressed her lips to his. They stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled away, "My first kiss was with a guy I barely knew and didn't actually happen, but…" she gave a sad chuckle, "it was pretty good."

"Thank you?" Owen asked, still in shock.

"Do me a favor," she asked with a forced smile, "don't forget about me, okay?"

Owen shook his head, trying to keep his composure, "I won't, I pro-"

The world went white, he blinked, and he was surrounded by buildings, smoke, and the sound of gunfire.

"I promise." He muttered to himself.

Owen frowned as he tried to remember what promise he was supposed to keep. He didn't get a chance to remember however, because a small, bright, white ball bounced back and forth from one eye to the other.

"Oh, you're alive." A woman leaning over him said, shining a flashlight into one eye repeatedly, then another, "I assumed from all the muttering you were doing, that you were having death induced hallucinations.

Owen groaned as he pushed himself up. He looked around and saw that he was back in the escape tunnel.

The daughter was standing over him, still shining the flashlight in his eyes.

"Could you not?" He asked in annoyance as he held up his left hand.

Before he could react, she slapped his forearm down as hard as she could. Pain shot up and down his arm and caused him to curse.

He grabbed her arm before she could do it again. "What the hell lady?"

She studied him for a moment before she pointed to his elbow, "For someone who was doomed to lose his arm a few minutes ago, it's remarkably mobile."

He let go of her arm with a glare, "Yeah well, I'm full of surprises that way." He deadpanned as he hauled himself to his feet and dusted his blood soaked clothes off.

Owen grunted in pain as he did so. Everything hurt, his left arm alternated between the feeling of glass being ground into the joints and someone set it on fire. There was also the dull throbbing in his head, like before, that crescendoed into an electric jolt through his skull and then with a sharp pop that echoed in his head, was gone.

For the first time since before he woke up, Owen's mind felt like his again. His thoughts were clear and he didn't have the constant fog that constantly plagued his every decision. He hadn't even realized the fog was there until it had left. He shook his head in disbelief.

As he looked around, he saw all eyes were on him. He also saw that his team was there, and they did not look combat capable. The closer he looked, the worse things looked. M500 was staring up at the ceiling with a massive hole in her chest. K11 sat against the wall staring at nothing. Uzi was lying on her right thigh and looked like she had tried to fight Lilith in hand to hand, Owen had later found out that she, and the damage she took, was serious enough to trigger her emergency shutdown routine. Owen then noticed that K11's left leg was missing. MP-40 was there as well and Owen was flooded with relief to see that she wasn't injured too badly.

When she noticed him looking at her, she gave him a forlorn look and said, "She broke my weapon, beat the barrel with a rock until it looked like a crazy straw."

She then went back caring for the two injured dolls.

Someone was missing. He realized this as he turned in a slow circle and started ticking off names in his head of everyone who was supposed to be there.

Someone was missing.

But who?

Owen shook his head and turned to Mataan who was currently sitting on the crate that Owen had been sent to retrieve. Mataan had his weapon in a death grip and Owen noticed he was breathing hard. Annie, or Colt Single Action Army, was by his side, a worried look on her face. To their right, M14 and Brianna, or BAR, were having a grim discussion.

"So," Owen asked Mataan, "what's the story?"

"I'll give you the short version." Mataan began with a dry chuckle and a wince as he tried to reposition himself into a more comfortable position, "So long as that crazy bitch with the red hair is around, we're fucked."

"That chick tore through us like tissue paper until your girl with the beret started screaming in Russian and went all 'Crazy Ivan,'" Mataan shook his head, "craziest shit I have ever seen."

"She completely dropped off the Zener network when that happened too." M14 added with a frown. "We've never seen a 9A-91 model as advanced as her, we're pretty sure she's been modified."

Owen hummed in agreement as he began looking for his rifle

When he couldn't find it, he swore and went for his Walther in its chest holster. He then swore again when he realized that he had never retrieved it after it had been dropped during their encounter with the Brutes.

As he was searching, the Mayor's daughter stood, reached behind her back and produced an MP-443, which she presented to Owen. Owen accepted the weapon after sharing a look with Mataan.

"Magazine is full with eighteen rounds," she explained as she fished a spare magazine out of a hidden holster on her belt and handed that over as well, "the backup has seventeen."

"There is already a round in the chamber." She continued as Owen pulled the slide back far enough to confirm what she said was true.

"I appreciate it," Owen said as he tucked the handgun into the small of his back, "and not to be ru-"

The sounds of maniacal laughter and gunfire cut Owen off and he turned to the entrance of the emergency tunnel. He heard a shotgun boom out followed by more laughter.

"I'm going to help Nines," Owen announced and pointed to where the Mayor and his wife were huddled together, then to his 'daughter', "Make sure they stay safe, fall back into the manor if you have to."

He paused, then turned and pointed to the crate, "And take that fucking thing with you, that's the whole reason I came here apparently."

Mataan kicked with the back of his heel, "It's the space hoodoo shit, ain't it."

"Yup." Owen confirmed before turning back to the entrance.

"Wait," BAR called out as she motioned to M14, "we're coming too."

"I'll go first and distract her, you two set up and signal me when you're ready." Owen told them.

Without waiting for confirmation, he ran outside in time to see Nines take a punch to the jaw that sent her flying. Before he knew what was happening, Lilith was aiming a shotgun at her head, and the next thing he knew he had the shotgun in one hand and Lilith's throat in the other.

She tried to kill Nines.

She killed who knows how many at Gentiane's base.

She was a fucking psychopath.

She needed to be dealt with.

"I am-" Owen growled as he yanked the shotgun out of Lilith's grip, "-tired of dealing with your shit."

Before Lilith could reply, he reared back and smashed the butt of the weapon into her face. Owen watched as she stumbled back and set her feet. She looked him up and down, licked her lips and grinned.

"There's only one shot left, what are you going to do with that?" She asked.

Owen flipped the gun around, caught it by the grip, chambered the last shell and aimed at Liliith's head, "I am going to use it to fucking kill you."

Lilith's eyes glowed in pure bliss as Owen pulled the trigger. The slug struck her chest and sent her to the ground. She tried to get back up, but Owen was there in an instant and delivered another kick that sent her back into the dirt.

"Owen!" Nines yelled out as she tried to get back to her feet.

"Get back to the others, get them out of here!" Owen turned to tell her.

He realized his mistake as soon as he made it.

Lilith took advantage of this and leapt to her feet. She reached behind her, produced a large combat knife, and charged forward so fast that Owen didn't have time to do anything but bring his arms up to defend. Lilith started slashing so fast he could barely keep track of her movements.

For the first few seconds, Owen was doing alright, until she took a chunk out of his thigh, causing his leg to give, and allowing Lilith an opening.

She took it and Owen watched the knife slam down into his right pectoral. With a grunt, Owen grabbed Lilith's wrist and tried to force her away while his vision started to blur. He blinked and everything snapped back into focus, only for things to blur again.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you." A voice whispered in his mind.

PROJECT PHOENIX AUTOMATED COMBAT OVERRIDE

OVERRIDE CODE: 6/18/5/25/1

PROJECT PHOENIX AUTOMATED SETTINGS ENGAGED

COMBAT STIMULANT RELEASED

A burst of adrenaline hit him like a bolt of lightning. He sucked in a breath of air as he let it take hold. Some part of his brain told him that he was still hurt, but that was okay, he'd get it patched up later.

Or not, he didn't give a fuck anymore because he felt good.

Lilith tried to pull the knife back out, but Owen clamped down on her wrist. Lilith looked confused as she tried to pull away. Before she could do anything else, Owen shot his free hand out and clamped down on Lilith's neck. Lilith grabbed at the hand around her neck as he lifted her off the ground.

The confusion on Lilith' face gave way to glee. Her signature unhinged grin was back in full force as she peered down at Owen and for once, he returned the look.

"Finally," she said, "you're finally worth my time."

In response, Owen ripped the knife out of his chest and began ramming it repeatedly into Lilith's stomach as blood pumped from his own wound, spraying them both.

Lilith delivered a headbutt, and he felt his nose shatter as more blood sprayed from the new wound. She followed up with a kick to his stomach that sent him falling to the ground.

Owen struggled back to his feet. The movement made him start coughing and he spat a large glob of blood onto the ground. He looked down and saw blood pumping from the stab wound on his chest, and felt more blood flowing down his face from his broken nose.

"You look like absolute shit." Lilith commented in amusement as she looked him up and down. "You should probably stay down, or don't," she shrugged, "either way, you're not going to last much longer."

"Contact!" Someone yelled.

Diesel engines roared in the distance causing Lilith and Owen both to turn.

Three all black GaZ Tigers sped towards them and ground to a halt. Each Tiger had a gunner manning M134 miniguns, and all three were aimed at Lilith and Owen.

Doors opened, and a group of men and women poured out of the Tigers all carrying AK-74s and tactical gear. Then out stepped a man dressed in a tailored suit, designer sunglasses, and holding an AK-12. The man surveyed the scene and barked orders to the gunners before he finally settled his gaze on the figures in front of him.

"It's about fucking time Zhenka," Lilith spat, "what took you so long?"

"Apologies Madame Lilith," the man in the suit replied, "the roads were less than ideal getting here."

Why does that name sound familiar, Owen thought as he tried his best to glare at the man.

Zhenka looked unimpressed and raised a hand. At this, the barrels of one M134 began to spin.

"Not yet," Lilith hissed, "I still need the artifact."

The M134 spooled back down and Owen breathed a sigh of relief. Then he saw M14 in the window of a building behind the group. Their eyes met, and he slowly moved his hand to tap where his watch was.

She gave a slow thumbs up and sighted her rifle.

"So," Lilith said conversationally as she faced him, "Where is it?"

Owen shook his head in confusion, "Where's what?"

"Do not fuck with me," Lilith snapped, "the artifact, where is the artifact? It was the whole fucking reason I've kept you alive for this long."

"Ooooh," Owen coughed up more blood, "You mean the space hoodoo, yeah I have no idea, I'm pretty sure Agent has it."

Lilith snarled and charged Owen, this time, she was the one lifting him off the ground.

It really was the perfect way to flex on your opponent.

"Agent doesn't have any links left here," she growled, "why do you think I'm running around?" She pointed at the three Tigers where Zhenka was watching the scene unfold with bored indifference, "Why do you think I was able to call them here." She tightened her grip on Owen's neck, Owen coughed up blood and tried to spit it on her face, but the best he could do was dribble on her hand.

"I need that artifact you little worm," she continued her monologue, like a good villain does. "I can use it to make what's left of humanity descend into a chaos so absolute, that not even you and your little trash doll friends would be able to do anything to stopt it "

"Grravblrfafg." Owen replied and pointed to his neck.

Lilith sighed and loosened her grip.

"Thanks." Owen coughed out, "but just so you know, chaos is our specialty."

Owen pulled the MP-443 and fired as fast as he could into Lilith's chest. She swore as the rounds struck, causing her to drop him.

Owen stayed on the ground, tried to reload, and fumbled it. His hands were starting to not cooperate. Lilith was slowly getting back up. He got the magazine in, tried to release the slide, and dropped the pistol. He swore and tried to pick it back up. His fingers moved like they were made out of rubber. He heard AK's start to chatter.

A chorus of metallic rattling announced that the M134s were spinning back up. M14 and BAR opened fire on the group below them. Owen heard the sound of a suppressed rifle firing three times, then the M134s went silent again.

Lilith got to her knees as Owen tried to get the pistol's slide to release. But his hands were weak and both the weapon and his hands were coated in blood. She looked at Owen and snarled. She charged at him on all fours like an animal.

Owen kept his eyes on her as he still fumbled with the weapon. Lilith launched herself in the air, he could see her eyes locked on his throat.

"Fuck."

A boot came out of nowhere and impacted the side of Lilith's head, altering her flight plan and sending her to an alternate destination. Nines charged Lilith before she could recover and fired again. The rounds struck Lilith in the head and she fell back stunned.

Nines pinned Lilith to the ground with the barrel of her rifle and fired once before rounds struck her in the back. Owen turned to see Zhenka moving on them with his AK up and firing. Owen grit his teeth and got the slide forward, got to a knee and fired on Zhenka.

Owen watched two rounds strike Zhenka in the shoulder, who swore, turned, fired, and kept moving. Owen felt the rounds punch him in the chest and cause him to hit the ground again. He struggled to get back up and saw Nines turn and strike Zhenka with the butt of her rifle.

Zhenka stumbled back, brought his weapon up and shot Nines in the stomach. She fell back with a snarl. Before she could get her weapon back up, Zhenka fired again and Nines went still. Zhenka began to drag Lilith back to their vehicles. Owen fought through the fog that was starting to cloud his vision, brought the pistol up and fired again. Most of the rounds missed, but one struck Zhenka in the calf, blowing out muscle and blood as it did.

Zhenka dropped to a knee, reached into his suit, and pulled out what looked like an auto injector. He pulled the plastic protector off the needle with his teeth, then jabbed it into his thigh. Owen heard him grunt in pain before he stood up like nothing happened. Then he slung Lilith over his shoulder, turned, and fired.

Owen saw the muzzle flash, and felt more rounds strike him. He barely registered them except for the fact they rocked him back to the ground. He didn't get back up, and he swore he could hear helicopters.

G3

"Blue skies are in effect, I repeat, Blue skies are in effect." Artem announced calmly over the group net, "SAM sites are down, all air assets are to proceed to the target area."

G3 looked out of the side of the Huey and watched the sides of the building speed past.

Colette had insisted that, if they flew below the rooftops, the SAMs wouldn't get them. So far, she had been right, but she apparently didn't feel the need to gain altitude now that the threat was gone.

"Time to target, three mikes." Colette announced.

"About time." SIG-510 said in a bored tone.

G3 glanced over to the other assault doll, who was staring out of the helicopter with a look on her face that matched her tone. SIG looked over to G3, winked, then went back to staring at the passing high rise buildings. SKS and Garand were discussing where they thought Nagant would be the most effective in supporting them. Nagant, meanwhile, assured the two rifle dolls that she was no stranger to urban combat, and that they would be fine.

"Target area is up ahead, get ready for touchdown." Colette's voice called, "who the hell are these guys?"

"Holy shit, they have rockets!"

G3 studied the war torn stretch of road below them. Sangvis units lay everywhere, a group of people were firing at a multistoried building, and someone was carrying a comrade towards a group of all black Tigers.

"Wait," SIG-510 said, "isn't that…"

"Zhenka!" G3 spat the name as a curse, "that schweinehund!"

G3 raised her rifle to fire, but the Huey swung around as M2 and PTRD aimed at the targets below.

"There's Griffin dolls under fire in that building," Colette told them as she maneuvered her bird, "we're gonna take the heat off of them before I set you down."

"Once they are on the ground, I would like for you to set me down somewhere as well." PTRD told Colette.

"Point it out and I'll put you there." came the reply.

BAR (Brianna)

"M14, cover me while I reload!" Brianna yelled as she pulled another magazine from her web gear.

"Covering!" M14 yelled as she popped up from her cover and fired.

Brianna could hear yells of pain and alarm as M14s rounds struck the newcomers below them. She watched as M14 was forced to duck back down as the shooters massed their fire on her.

Brianna moved to another window, and peeked out. She saw one of the men scrambling up the hood of a Tiger to get to the M134 that sat abandoned. She shouldered her rifle and sent a burst of .30-06 into his back. She watched the man fall limp and slide off the vehicle, leaving a smear of blood as he went. She shifted her fire to a female that was pulling a grenade from her vest.

Brianna fired and the rounds tore through the woman's arm, exposing the metal skeleton.

"She's a doll?" Brianna asked herself in confusion as she fired at the doll's chest.

"Get down!" M14 yelled before an explosion rocked the building.

Brianna was thrown backwards by the force of the blast, she felt lances of pain as glass and shrapnel tore at her. She got back to her feet and started a quick self diagnostic to confirm no major damage.

"Are you okay?" She called out to M14, "what was that?"

"We're okay!" The confirmation came, "we saw someone pull an old RPG out of one of the vehicles!"

The two dolls were exposed by the large section of wall that had been blown away and scrambled to find new cover. A round struck Brianna's arm, but she ignored it and fired on the group below. More Tiger's came speeding into the intersection and immediately opened fire with their own M134s.

She was about to tell M14 to get the hell out of the building when she heard the distinctive sound of a Huey accompanied by an M2 firing, accompanied by the booming report that could only be PTRD firing her massive rifle. She risked a look from her piece of crumbling wall, and saw heavy .50 cal rounds ripping through the gunners, then shifting to the rest of the attackers.

"That was a close one!" M14 told Brianna with a smile before she added to the destruction brought on by the M2.

Brianna was about to reply when one of the Tiger's exploded, cutting her off. She briefly hoped that meant they were in the clear, until the gunfire picked back up and Brianna heard shouting from the floor below them.

"Get ready," Brianna warned M14, "they're in the building."

G3

After Colette and M2 suppressed the vehicle gunners, G3 and her team were allowed to finally get on the ground.

"ZHENKA!" G3 yelled at her former commander, who was limping towards the waiting vehicles.

The occupants of the Tigers that had just lost their gunners, piled out of the vehicles and tried to establish a firing line against G3's team. G3 raised her rifle, sighted an enemy, and dropped them with a headshot. The rest of the enemy combatants soon dropped like flies as Zhenka tried to make his way to them.

G3 hit the release for the underslung HK79 grenade launcher on her weapon, loaded a 40mm HEDP round, and fired at the vehicle closest to Zhenka. The grenade struck on the passenger side, blowing the door into the driver.

Zhenka turned around and fired. Rounds snapped around her head, but nothing hit. She snarled in rage as she reloaded the grenade launcher and aimed it at the other vehicle Zhenka was now hobbling for.

She pulled the trigger on the grenade launcher but heard nothing but a click.

Misfire.

She pulled the trigger again and was met with the same result.

"GOTTVERDAMMT!" she swore as she pulled the defective grenade out of the launcher and fast pitched it as hard as she could at Zhenka.

The dud smacked Lilith in the back of the head and fell to the ground. G3 dumped the rest of her mag but it was too late, Zhenka wrenched open the back door of the other Tiger, threw Lilith in and jumped in after. The vehicle was speeding away before he closed the door.

"Would you like that vehicle to stop, comrade?" PTRD asked in her seductive way, before the booming report of an anti-materiel rifle echoed from a rooftop.

"Driver is down." She reported.

G3 watched the Tiger roll to a stop.

Then she watched the driver side door swing open, a headless body fall out, and the vehicle started moving again.

"Ah, he is persistent," PTRD said as the Tiger turned a corner and drove out of sight.

G3 started to run towards the vehicle but a hand grabbed her by the elbow and stopped her. G3 turned to see it was SIG.

"Let me go." G3 ordered.

"We found Commander Owen, and we're getting him out of here, plus there's a group of VIPs that need security nearby." SIG stated calmly, hand still firmly on G3's elbow, "Since our Commander is down, it would be unfortunate if something were to happen to our team leader with command capabilities, especially if our team leader accidentally ran after someone who was not currently a threat, especially when there is an active combat area less than one hundred yards away."

"Fine," G3 snapped, then closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down, "Ja, get Colette down here, try to get in touch with Commander Gentiane's people, let them know we have wounded coming in."

"An excellent idea." SIG-510 nodded approvingly.

G3 looked around and saw that SKS, Nagant, and Garand had already taken up firing positions and were working to take pressure off of the two dolls that were pinned down in the crumbling building. Once the remainder of Zhenka's forces realized they were stranded, they began to fall back into nearby buildings for cover.

"Looks like they're retreating." SIG observed until she saw muzzle flashes from the windows and heard rounds zip past them.

"Of course they were just digging in," SIG sighed, "why not, it's not like their commander didn't just abandon them or anything."

[UNIT REDACTED/NOT FOUND]

Unbeknownst to Zhenka, as he shoved the dead driver out of the vehicle, he was being watched. Not by PTRD, but someone else.

"Target is leaving the AO, you did manage to get the tracker on the vehicle, didn't you?" UMP 45 asked from her perch.

"Of course I did," HK416 snapped as she scooped G11 up from her overwatch position, "you think this is the first time I've had to tag a vehicle on the fly?"

"I was just double checking," UMP 45 answered politely, "I didn't mean to doubt your superior field work."

"You don't always have to be a smart ass." HK416 grumbled.

UMP 45 smiled blandly, but didn't reply.

"Annnd there it is!" UMP 9 announced, from her position next to UMP 45. "Signal is strong and steady, target is moving at about forty kilometers an hour."

"Good, we should be able to track them back to their main base." UMP 45 said contentedly, "Then we can get paid and not work for that psycho anymore."

"The sooner we're done with this contract, the better." UMP-9 nodded in agreement.

HK416 entered the room they had been using to watch the battle unfold and dropped G11 unceremoniously onto the floor, "I saw a lot of helicopters coming this way, we should get out of here."

"Worried they'll come arrest you?" UMP 45 asked with a grin.

"I'm worried that they'll offer me enough money to finally turn on you." HK416 shot back.

"Don't do that," G11 mumbled sleepily, "you're the only one who can carry me."

"See," UMP 45 said, "you're stuck with us."

"For now…" 416 muttered.

With that, the four dolls left the building and snuck out of the city without even having been detected.

Owen

He struggled to keep from blacking out, it took a lot of effort, but he managed to stay conscious.

"You're okay, I've got you," Nines said in a panicky voice, "I'm here, you're going to be okay."

Owen smiled up at Nines as she looked him over, he could see she was bleeding too.

It's not blood, he thought idly, it's coolant.

He watched as the red stain on her shirt grew.

Sure looks like blood.

"You're hurt," he told her.

"It's nothing, onboard repairs have already begun," Nines told him distractedly, "now shut up, you're dying."

He wheezed out a weak chuckle, "Not the," he coughed and felt more blood leak out of the corner of his mouth, "first time."

Nines placed a finger to Owen's lips and shushed him, "I wasn't there the first time " she said quietly in Russian.

That one's not as innocent as she lets on. Freya's voice echoed in his mind.

Owen watched in fascination as a Huey landed behind them. M2 jumped out and ran over to them, she started talking to Nines, and they both looked really worried. The next thing he knew, he was staring at the inside of the old helicopter, listening to the sound of the rotors beating the air into submission.

I really like that sound. He thought as he looked over to Nines.

"Hey Nines?" Owen asked, his voice sounded very far away.

"Da?"

"I think I'm going to take a nap now." He told her weakly.

Before Nines could reply, Owen leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

DSR-50

DSR-50 watched as her teams breached the buildings the unknown assailants had taken refuge in. Grenades exploded, orders were shouted, and rifles chattered as the sweep and clear operations were now in full swing. It wasn't long until the first all clear signals were given and a few combatants who surrendered were being detained and prepped for transport.

Not bad for having only been on the ground for ten minutes, she thought to herself.

She felt her core drop, however, when she saw the state Brianna and M14 were in as they limped out of one of the nearby buildings covered in either blood or coolant, she couldn't tell.

Dolls ran over to help, but the duo waved them off. Once they noticed DSR-50 they made their way over to her, and DSR-50 noticed that they were all grins.

"We haven't had that much fun in ages!" M14 crowed.

"You really did miss one helluva party," Brianna agreed.

Glass shattered from above them followed by gunfire. Dolls called for the location of the shooter, but DSR had already gotten a glimpse of muzzle flash. She calmly raised her rifle, and fired. She smiled as she watched the shooter's head disappear in a cloud of pink mist.

"The after party isn't too bad." She told the dolls as she turned back to them.

"Damn, that was a nice shot." A male voice said.

DSR spun around to see Mataan standing behind her with a grin on his face. Without thinking, she embraced the commander in training.

"Easy, I wasn't gone that long." Mataan laughed as he returned the gesture.

"We thought you were dead." She told him after letting him go.

"Not yet," Mataan told her, then he looked around, "Where's Jakoby, I can't believe he actually decided to throw down like this."

DSR-50 shuffled awkwardly from one foot to another, "About that…" She began.

Mataan studied her for a brief second then held up a hand, "Later," he said, cutting her off, "we got other stuff that needs to be taken care of."

DSR-50 nodded and took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself.

"You did good." Mataan told her, "whatever happened with Jakoby, I got your back."

She could feel the weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"Now come on," Mataan said as he grabbed the attention of other nearby dolls, "we got more wounded this way."

Colette

S09 Airfield

One hour later

Colette stood at the side door of her Huey, trying to remember the last time she had felt this helpless. She had watched them cart Owen off as soon as the skids of her bird touched concrete. Gentiane herself had made sure they had priority once the situation had been explained. Colette had powered everything down as fast as she could, but the medics had Owen loaded on the medical cart before she had a chance to take her flight helmet off.

Nines had been with him though, every step of the way. Trying to patch up Owen's gunshot wounds, even as M2 was trying to patch up her bullet wounds. Nines had helped load Owen onto the cart and was talking to him the entire time. Reassuring him, reminding him that she was there.

Colette sighed and looked down at the garden hose in her hand before she aimed it at the interior of her bird and started spraying.

I wanted to be there for him. She thought to herself. It's what I always wanted, even back then.

She remembered when she heard that his helicopter had been shot down during the war. She felt like someone had ripped her core out while she could only watch. It was the same feeling she had when he had been injured fighting Alchemist, less than an hour after learning he was actually alive.

It's the same way I feel right now. She thought as she watched the red waterfall that was running down the side of her bird, caused by the blood that had pooled up on the floor.

Jesus Owen lost a lot of blood.

She shut the hose off, slumped down to her knees and started sobbing.

A/N: So I recently saw the number of people who have this story as a favorite and are following it, and I have to admit, I worry about you guys. There's no way this many people actually like something I write. Thanks for the support.

Just out of curiosity, how do you all like the shifting perspectives? Like it? Hate it? Is it too confusing? Let me know. Personally I like it because I can play around with what's happening a bit more, but if it makes things hard to follow let me know.

Thanks again for actually reading this, I have a side project I'm working on, (not Accidental Hero, that's dead and probably staying dead.) and will hopefully be able to give you guys more info on it by the end of the month.

Whiskey out.

B/N: I swear to God with these authors and them doubting their writing. They gotta stop doubting the readers enjoying the fic, lol. :p