Welcome to Operation Safeguard! With a large Sangvis attack force encircling the village, it falls to 794's extraction team and Station 601's sniper team to hold the line and prevent M4A1's capture.
Turns out, this story just reached 15,000 views this month! To that end I appreciate everyone who took time to read this story and give their feedback for it, and despite my inferiority to say, Johnny Wycliffe or ClearlyInvisible, I'm glad that people are actually looking at this fic and giving it a try, so thank all of you for reading my stories.
(As for this chapter, put on the "Extraction Point" track from MW2 2009 if you want while you read this, as I feel it's rather fitting for the first parts of the chapter.)
To HECU Marine: If you're referrencing Saving Private Ryan, I haven't watch all of it yet, just the Normandy Beach part, and that was condensed into a seven minute music video for Metallica's Fade to Black by someone (fits perfectly with that scene, by the way, go check it out.)
Anyways, it's time to get this thing started.
Unnamed Village, Sector 09
Ukraine, Neo-Soviet Union
July 11, 2062
Tactical Doll M4A1
She hated having to rely on other Griffin units for safety, she really did, but with only three magazines left for her gun she had no choice, crouched low next to a worn Kord MG in a dusty, bloodstained church as the team of Dolls sent to extract her set up defenses in the church, careful not to disturb the dead as they took positions in the building that gave them the best sightlines possible.
"Oy, M4A1, can you hear me?" Commander Becker asked on the radio lent to her by that AK-47 girl.
"Yes, Commander." she replied curtly.
"Okay, uh, without getting into details, what're your specialties?"
"Me and my sisters can operate without human supervision, I have an advanced command module that lets me lead Dolls like a human Commander, but unfortunately I have to rely on others to help form good plans because, at least in M16's words, I'm too smart."
"And you second-guess every plan you make or make a ton of plans to ensure the lowest chance of failure?"
"Yes, that's correct. I'm not sure if my abilities exceed yours, but I can take over for you if Sangvis jams our comms signals."
"Good to know. What's your ammo at?"
"Three magazines' worth, I counted. I'm at a stationary machine gun at the moment, waiting for the enemy to arrive." M4A1 said, physically checking her magazines to make sure. "Does your sniper team have any extra ammo?"
"They're not my team, but they might have some to use."
After a moment of silence, the Commander came back to her with a reply.
"They sent a supply drop on Helian's orders to your position, in the house closest to the northeast side of the church." he informed. "Why I wasn't informed on it before, I don't know, but don't waste any time when you're getting it, because you've only got fifty seconds until those bitches commence their assault."
"Understood, Commander."
Looking towards M1911 and AK-47, she relayed the information of the supply drop to them, causing them to give the order to retrieve it to their Dummies.
"Good, you've got around fourteen minutes until reinforcements arrive, so don't get yourself killed, got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Becker out."
As the commanding officer cut their link the German-accented voice of 601's sniper team filled her ears.
"Be advised, the enemy will commence assault in approximately forty seconds." she informed, causing the brunette to pull out her binoculars and observe the village outskirts, seeing numerous camoflague-cloaked Sangvis Dolls getting into position for an all-out assault.
It seemed like Safe House 03 all over again, but instead of having a whole cliffside's worth of height above the enemy they only had a slightly-elevated, less sturdy church building as their holdout with the extraction team's markswoman perched in the tower, and of course her sisters and their skillsets weren't present.
"Thirty seconds until the attack commences!"
Bringing her mind back to reality the elite Doll heard gunshots all of a sudden, causing the Sangvis Dolls to start subtly shifting their positions as to avoid being spotted and killed, then she felt and saw a golden wave of sorts wash over her, enveloping the village and highlighting every hostile within its range before it faded away, leaving a line of red inverted triangles and outlines surrounding them.
"I've detected over fifty hostile signals encompassing the village, and that's just what's inside the village!" a black-haired Doll with a Howa Type 64 yelled in distress, chancing a look up out of the village. "Wa-sama, could you shoot at them before they commence assault?!"
"I'm trying to locate their snipers so your troops aren't shot while they get that care package," the sniper replied, another set of gunshots ringing out afterwards. "And you've got twenty seconds!"
It was then that M1911 and AK-47's Dummies returned, carrying a large crate of ammo with them in their arms and setting it down. One quick scan revealed around twenty full STANAG magazines of 5.56x45 as well as the other calibers in use by the team and frag grenades, and as if she were a moth to a flame she crawled to it and opened it up, reaching in and grabbing the ammo as quickly as possible while the Dummies brought ammo to their mainframes.
And just before she went back to her position by the Kord she noticed several crates of C4 at the bottom of all those magazines of ammo.
"Hehe, I think SOP-II would marry you if you gave this to her..." she giggled idly to the Commander despite him not being present.
"Ten seconds!"
Grabbing some C4 and a detonator, she immediately retreated to the MG and manned it, looking through the scope mounted onto it towards the line of SF units hidden in the grassy land and ready to gun them down as soon as she recieved the order. Similarly, the others were in position at their respective places, M1911 armed with a scavenged AKM for better range and penetration over her pistols.
Then suddenly, the clock hit zero, and the enemy immediately threw off their cloaks and blew sizeable holes into the village walls, bursting into the village immediately after, Vespids moving from cover to cover in their advance as the Rippers ran straight towards the church, uncaring of their personal safety.
"Be advised, the enemy is on the move! I say again, the enemy is on the move!" Commander Becker reported. "WA2000, you and your team thin their numbers as much as you can! Everyone else, make sure M4A1 doesn't die or fall into enemy hands!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone inside the church yelled in response— right before they opened fire, the thunderous roar of their weapons filling the air and encouraging M4A1 to follow suit, aiming at the units running into the village from the north and opening fire, her MG's powerful rounds immediately ripping the enemy apart as soon as they hit their targets, splattering coolants and oils everywhere.
The next wave that ran through was smarter, dispersing the second they got through the breach and only losing two of their number to M4A1's Kord. However, that didn't save them from WA2000 and Super SASS, who shot them dead as they tried to avoid the elite's fire.
"So far, so good..." she said to herself as the next wave showed up, prefiring in an effort to stop her from killing them but only landing hits in the thick walls forming the building up. Opening fire again, she was sure not to hold the trigger too long and to give the gun a break every now and then to preserve the barrel but still managed to kill at least six of them before she let the gun cool off, drawing her rifle and switching it to semi-auto before ducking down to avoid the enemy fire darting overhead.
Faintly she wondered how the other Dolls were doing.
Tactical Doll AK-47, Two Minutes Later...
Grabbing a Molotov from her bag, AK-47 lit it with her lighter and tossed it at a trio of Rippers rushing her position, setting them ablaze and allowing her Dummy to finish them off with three bursts to the head.
Re-emerging from the barricade she was using as cover the Russian fired off a couple shots towards a Vespid attempting to flank her position and messed up its maneuver before she noticed a green glint and instinctively ducked low, a high-powered beam lancing over her head a milisecond later.
"Sniper, keep your heads down!" she yelled, clutching her beret to her head as some other hostile units fired at her to suppress her, a bolt puncturing a weaker portion of the barrier and causing her to wince. "Blyat!"
A particularly loud gunshot punctured the air, and when she chanced a look above her cover the Jaeger who shot at her was now dead, slumped over a branch in a tall tree outside the village.
Taking the opportunity presented she immediately brought her rifle to bear and killed a Ripper as it tried to reach and vault over her cover, then she managed to kill a Vespid with a lucky shot to the head, her Dummy destroying a pair of hostiles as well. Afterwards another wave of hostiles showed up, taking shelter in the houses as the two Griffin units shot at them.
With that in mind AK-47 drew a frag grenade and pulled the pin, waiting for the right moment to throw it. That moment came when a pair of Rippers and a Vespid vaulted into another house, in perfect view of a window.
"Metaniye granaty!" she yelled as her Dummy shot the glass out and she threw the ordnance in her hand and ducked back into cover.
A couple seconds later, the grenade exploded and blew a rather large chunk out of the house, but also destroyed the hostiles inside, staining the area with purple fluids. Pumping her fist in triumph, she ducked into her cover to reload her rifle, her Dummy once again mimicking her but taking a hit in the process, the link between Mainframe and Dummy meaning she felt the plasma bolt hit as well.
Fuck...
Quickly patching up the wound on the Dummy with some repair foam, she immediately picked her rifle back up and started fighting anew, eager to decimate the oncoming machine horde.
Tactical Doll M1903 Springfield
Loading a stripper clip into her rifle, Springfield immediately targeted a Vespid attempting to breach Howa Type 64's position from below the church tower and fired at it, striking it down instantly and racking her bolt again. About a minute or two had passed since the attack started, and only AK-47 had reported a minor casualty on her Dummy, but was still combat-capable.
Seeing a green glint in the corner of her eye, the veteran Rifle immediate targeted it and fired, the round hitting that glint and flinging a Jaeger off her perch on a building, again racking her bolt for another shot.
"How's everyone doing?" she asked as she took aim at another hostile below.
"Still got plenty of ammo and no damage."
"No further damage done."
"I'm still intact, Fraü Springfield!"
"My area's clear for the moment!"
"I've got multiple squads hounding my position!"
Turning to the north, Springfield saw about fifteen hostile Dolls firing at M4A1 from cover, avoiding her MG's fire as they attacked, and the rest of her magazine immediately found itself in the heads of three separate Vespids, shifting the others' attention her and causing her to immediately take cover to avoid the incoming fire.
Thankfully Wa-chan's team got the warning, and soon all but two of them were struck down by their fire.
"Oh, thanks, Wa-chan." she thanked the sniper on the radio.
"You're welcome— shit, you've got enemy reinforcements!"
Looking to the village walls, she could immediately see fresh Sangvis troops flooding into the combat zone. Loading another stripper clip into her rifle she took cover again and gave a warning to her team.
"Understood!" M1911 yelled, the gunshots distorting her transmission telling of her continued fighting.
"Got it, if you see anything unusual in their ranks, tell us!"
"Wilco, M4A1!"
As she targeted another Jaeger and blew a hole through her skull the Rifle couldn't help but feel dread as the enemy reinforcements kept piling on in, as if the enemy had some kind of ace up their sleeve, waiting for their defenses to be withered down before whoever it was made a grand appearance.
Disregarding the thought Springfield simply found another target and went back to sniping once more.
Tactical Doll Howa Type 64, Three Minutes Later...
Despite winding up with different stations Howa 64 and MP5 had eventually wound up sharing the latter's Dummy as they defended their positions, using it to ferry ammunition back and forth to them as well as grenades. About five minutes had passed since the assault commenced and the defenders were doing a rather good job with it, Howa 64/MP5's side being no exception.
"Mein Gott, will they ever stop coming?!" MP5 yelled, placing her shield as a stationary asset before returning fire to the enemy.
"I don't think so, their battle tactics mainly revolve around overwhelming the enemy with numerical superiority from what I heard!" Howa 64 yelled back, scanning the area again and detecting fresh troops rushing in from the southeast before opening fire again, striking down a Vespid with nearly-unmatched accuracy before doing the same to a Ripper. "We just have to hold until reinforcements arrive, then we'll be safe!"
"How long will that take?!" her ally yelled as she threw a grenade.
"Eight minutes!"
Nodding in understanding the white-haired Doll dumped the rest of her magazine into an advancing pair of Rippers before returning to cover and reloading, causing the Japanese AR to pop out and fire on a pair of hostiles before her weapon clicked empty and she had to reload.
Returning to cover she performed another scan as she replaced her empty magazine with a fresh one, detecting only twenty hostiles on all sides with the scan. Despite the lower numbers she couldn't help but feel as though the enemy's leader was watching the battle nearby, a perpetual sense of dread eating away at her with every second that passed that said leader was waiting for the right time to strike.
"You've got enemy reinforcements!" one of the 601 snipers reported, and a scan revealed that the enemy count went from twenty to forty nigh-instantly as new enemies threw their cloaks off before entering the village.
"Kuso...!" she swore as she popped out to return fire again. "Mō shinu dake!"
But despite the amount of reinforcements they sent, despite whatever ace in the hole they possessed, though, she was never going to give in, she thought, because she was a soldier of Station 794, and no matter how hard it could get, no matter how bleak it may have seemed, a soldier of Station 794 never surrendered.
Model SP524 Executioner
"Jaegers, status report."
Far away from the battle a single Doll stood atop a mobile Command Post, watching said battle go down with a pair of binoculars. Brushing some of her jet-black hair out of her face she saw as the Anti-Rain wimp she was supposed to be capturing tore through her forces with an old Kord machine gun, her face weirdly composed as she alternated between it and her own rifle to let the beast of a gun cool off. Otherwise, a tall, mature-looking Doll in the church tower above the target popped Doll after Doll with a museum piece of a rifle, a fierce-eyed blonde armed with the venerable Kalashnikov rifle kept her area locked down with the aid of a Dummy and grenades, a loli Doll with an MP5 and a Japanese-looking one with an overcomplicated battle rifle worked in tandem to defend their area and a shorter blonde with stylized old American formalwear fought to defend her sector in the fortified church, her sector distinctly more vulnerable than the others.
"The enemy is defending the church surprisingly well, Executioner." one of her Jaegers reported. "As for our units, they have sniper support by the looks of it, besides the M1903 in the tower, and we're getting counter-sniped every time we get into position."
"Damn. Any weakpoints in their defense?"
"The northern sector manned by Tactical Doll M1911 is more exposed than the others, and she is currently using a non-Imprinted weapon, which reduces her ability to hit targets by a good margin. Also, she's only a common security model, so she's simply the weakest one in their team, but if you attack head-on you'll be fully exposed to the mounted machine gun M4A1 is using. Otherwise, the front entrance is similarly exposed, but we've detected a large amount of C4 on that Doll's person, so you'd risk it being used on you upon entry."
Nodding in appreciation of the "grunt" unit's observation the Ringleader looked to a nearby hilltop to see a four-Doll team of sniper/spotters, which were a major problem to her if they were left unchecked, and while flipping the bird with an oversized forearm/hand she marked their positions for her units to fire on them.
"That should deal with the counter-sniping." she told her snipers as she lowered her binoculars. "Keep the enemy occupied as long as you can, don't kill the target, but destroy that MG, it's about time I showed up."
Picking up an oversized sword embedded in a neighboring tree, Executioner jumped off her perch on the MCP and shot forward with a strong kick, disappearing into the forest with blistering speeds as she approached her target.
Tactical Doll M1911
As she struck down a Vespid with a couple rounds to the head M1911 couldn't help but feel sympathy for her fellow 794 veteran as the unfamiliar-to-use AKM in her hands kicked against her shoulder with each shot. Unlike M4A1 and AK-47, the HG's side of the church was rather exposed, and unlike MP5 and Howa 64 she didn't have a fancy survey/early warning module or a shield module, making her side's defense that much harder. Sure, they could've planted C4 on the buildings surrounding the church or whatnot to stall the enemy, but they barely had time to even get the supply drop to the church before Sangvis had swarmed their asses.
Despite that, though, she still defended the church with everything she had, her Dummy throwing grenades or spotting additional hostiles for her to shoot as she fired upon the enemy.
"Watch out, got a Ripper by the well!"
"I've got eyes on a Vespid taking position on that rooftop!"
"Careful, they've sent a swarm of Scouts to overwhelm us!
Turns out, the Dummy was a lifesaver in that regard, allowing her to take advantage of the knowledge she gave to deal with the aforementioned enemies, hurriedly reloading her rifle after scrapping the Scouts rushing her before taking cover inside the church itself, plasma bolts striking her cover in rapid intervals afterwards.
"Hey, I'm taking heavy fire over here!" she yelled, flinching as she nearly took a hit and blind-firing with her pistol to try and lighten the pressure on her.
"Argh— me, too!" M4A1 yelled as a bolt struck her chest, her high-end construction saving her from heavy damage or death as further rounds struck her Kord, melting it down at last and destroying their one advantage on the north side of the church.
"Hang on, we'll— shit, they found us!" Super SASS yelled over the comms as the sound of plasma fire erupted on her end. "You'll be without sniper support for thirty-five seconds, over!"
"Fuck!" the blonde cursed as she tried to return fire— only to see a green glint and duck back into cover, a high-powered beam pierced through her former position. "Springfield, I'm taking heavy fire!"
"So am I, and Wa-chan's team's relocating!" the veteran Rifle warned over the comms.
"Damn it! Howa, scan the area!"
At that order a golden wave washed over her— and her pseudo-blood ran cold when the outline of a figure moving at ridiculous speeds was made visible, an explosion symbol above the inverted triangle marker atop its head and her vision flaring gold at the top edge— a part of the Forewarning module spread to allies upon a scan that immediately told of her imminent danger.
"Watch out, I have eyes on a powerful enemy heading straight for—!"
"Surprise, bitch!" the figure yelled over Springfield's warning as she effortlessly crashed through the wall she took cover behind, a large, mechanical forearm wielding an equally-oversized blade smashing into her midsection with tremendous force and sending her flying through the air and into the opposite wall, agony rippling through her frame as she was lodged into it, her optics and audio glitching out sporadically as she tried to recover.
Faintly she could hear her allies yelling about a perimeter breach, but with warnjng signs of all varieties pestering hef vision her focus was fully on dislodging herself from the wall, willing her Dummy to run to her position and grab hold of her midsection, pulling with as much strength as it could muster but being unable to pull her out alone.
"H-Help!" she called out feebly, her voice module hoarse from her systems' disruption.
The Doll heard a voice yell to her, but with her audio screwed up it just sounded like a faint scream, the thought that whatever hit her was slaughtering her friends encouraging her to make her Dummy brace a leg on the wall then pull, pushing with that leg to give it more force and eventually dislodging her from the wall at last, a quick bop to her head partially restoring her audio and visual modules.
"RINGLEADER!"
"I can't get a bead on her, she's too fast!"
"Shit, MP5's down!"
"We've got hostiles breaching the perimeter!"
"Damn it, we gotta get out of here!"
Standing up on unsteady legs, the damaged HG drew her silver pistol and raised it towards the lightning-fast black blur with an unfocused grip, firing a couple shots at it— just as the massive blade it bore was suddenly driven through her chest with blistering speeds.
"AARGH—!" she yelled in agony as the slab of metal punctured her chest, barely missing her Core as it was buried to the hilt in her and all but ensuring her death.
"Shoulda' stayed in that wall, bitch." the Sangvis told her right before she pulled the blade out and punched her to the ground, warning signs flaring harder than before as her condition was marked as critical.
N-No shit... stupid systems...
As her eyesight glitched out and her hearing grew fainter and fainter, she tried to will herself to get up, but her body refused to respond to her commands, and all she could feel was her own blood-like coolants as they pooled beneath her and the pain that wracked through her frame nonstop. Despite this she managed to reach for the sky with a feebly-raised hand, begging for someone to save her, but it was futile, and eventually her visual and audial modules shut off entirely as her hand lifelessly fell to the ground once more, the darkness of death swallowing her completely.
Tactical Doll AK-47
"Hey, I'm taking heavy fire over here!"
Ducking back into cover after throwing a grenade AK-47 heard her leader's warning loud and clear, and when her grenade exploded she tried sending her Dummy out to her— only for said Dummy to take numerous hits to the back, the pain from such hits forcing a sharp cry of pain from the mainframe's lips as the support unit fell to the ground and dropped her weapon.
"Shit, just lost a Dummy!" she reported angrily, returning fire to the Vespid responsible and forcing her into cover. "Where's our sniper support?!"
"We've been compromised!" one of the two snipers yelled, firing at their own targets. "Sorry, but you'll be without support for thirty-five seconds!"
"Proklyat'ye!" she yelled in response, ducking back into cover again. "Can anyone provide aid?!"
Nobody answered her, and she was about to return fire once more when Howa 64 scanned the area— and revealed a lighning-fast hostile unit rushing to the northern entrance where M1911 was stationed, the explosion symbol above her head marking her as a shock trooper of sorts.
Oh, fuck...
And before she had any time to warn her the wall burst to pieces and the HG was thrown effortlessly across the room, slamming into a wall with tremendous force. As the Russian turned her attention to the new player on the field and activated her Strike Force module to get a better visual on her she saw exactly what she was.
Long, silky-black hair trailed behind her and glimmered from the setting sun while bloodred eyes turned to the VIP and a bloodthirsty grin manifested on a sharp, angular face. Her lithe frame was clad in a somewhat sheer sleeveless top with grey armor plating over the bust, and black shorts hugged her lower half with cybernetic legs for enhanced movement, a gauntlet-clad left hand with a pistol, and a gunmetal grey oversized right forearm with an equally-oversized broadsword in hand. Coupled with the twin-pronged horns on her head and she looked like a devil, with the speed and ferocity to match.
"RINGLEADER!" she called out, firing on the hostile.
As expected she merely dodged the bullets fired at her, instead ripping M4A1 from her post and flinging her across the room with superhuman strength, her rifle slipping from her grip as she hit the ground, then she raised her handgun and hit MP5's Force Shield generator with a well-placed shot— right before she swung her blade in a diagonal arc and nearly cleaved the SMG in two, coolants and sparks spilling from the wound in equal measure as the life left her teal eyes and she hit the ground.
"Damn you!" Howa 64 yelled in anger, narrowly dodging a similar death with a roll and landing a successful hit on her with her weapon, although the armor plating protecting her took the hits.
"Shit, MP5's down!" AK-47 yelled as she fired at the bitch again, keeping her from grabbing a dazed M4A1 as the fired rounds grazed her legs and torso.
"We've got hostiles breaching the perimeter!" someone yelled as hostile infanty units began to flood the church, the Russian AR's attention shifting to them instead as she tried to take them down, her rounds killing two of them before her weapon clicked empty and she cursed, throwing a grenade instead and drawing her Makarov.
"Damn it, we've gotta get out of here!" she yelled as the grenade exploded and took out a chunk of hostile infantry, then turning her attention back to the Ringleader she was just about to shoot her— just when she darted forwards and a sickening thunk filled the air, followed by a horrific cry of agony.
"Shoulda' stayed in that wall, bitch." she told her victim, pulling her blade out and revealing who it was— M1911.
Suddenly, the shouts of her surviving comrades and the gunfire from the infantry pouring in around her died out, and the only thing she could see or hear was her second-oldest friend as she was punched to the ground like a discarded ragdoll, coolants quick to pool beneath her from the hole in her midsection as the life in her eyes rapidly faded away. In her final moments she feebly reached for the sky with the last of her strength, but as if someone flipped her off switch it fell just as quickly, her head tilting to the side and her mouth parting only slightly, then as if her own Digimind wanted to dispel any and all thoughts of this being a hallucination the green skull-and-crossbones marker shown for a dead Echelon member materialized above her head and finalized what the Ringleader had just done.
Then her eyes shifted to the one responsible as she approached M4A1 again and her shock twisted into unspeakable fury as a feral war cry tore from her lips.
"TY GREBNAYA SUKA!"
Drawing her bayonet knife and hastily attaching it to her rifle she shot forth with everything she had and slammed the bayonet straight into the Sangvis' unprotected lower back, not quite killing her but surprising her enough so that she could push her away from the VIP, blackish oils spilling from the wound. Despite the successful hit she was far from done, dodging a retaliatory swipe of her sword out of adrenaline alone and striking at her again, landing a successful hit into her midsection before she was kicked away, clutching the grip of her AKM for dear life as she landed next to M4A1, recovering quickly and preparing to charge again— when Howa 64 slapped something onto the target's back and rolled away before that something exploded, the smoke from the explosion obscuring the target but giving AK-47 enough time to remember her mission and snatch M4A1 to her feet, her namesake rifle handed to her by a wounded Springfield.
"Get 1911 and go!" the Russian ordered hoarsely, pointing to the dead Doll— and her ally nodded in understanding before running to her aid. "Howa, get MP5!"
While she was distracted, a Ripper had tried to kill her with her SMGs, only for M4A1 to raise her rifle and dot her head with a pair of bullets, killing her instead.
"Flashbang out!" the elite then yelled as she pulled out and threw a flashbang grenade, causing AK-47 to turn away from it and deactivate her audio modules as it detonated, blinding and deafening the nearby Sangvis and giving them an opening to escape. "Let's go!"
Rushing forwards and impaling a Vespid with her bayonet she pushed the hostile off of it and kept running, drawing her Makarov again and firing a couple shots at a nearby unblinded Vespid to force her into cover before holstering it and esczping the church, M4A1 in tow.
"Commander Becker, the enemy has deployed a Ringleader and we've sustained heavy casualties!" the brunette reported urgently. "We've left the church and are trying to—"
"COME ON, YOU BASTARDS, IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" said Ringleader yelled, unnervingly undeterrer by the C4 that had just exploded on her back.
"How close is that backup, Commander?!"
"Four minutes! What's this Ringleader like?!"
"Black hair, oversized sword, murders Dolls for fun...!" AK-47 shouted over the plasma fire lancing overhead. "Tanked C4 like it was nothing...!"
"Fuck, looks like they sent one called 'SP524 Executioner.' She's a shock trooper, meant to break defensive lines and let her allies attack more efficiently much like tanks or landships in WW1! Keep your distance and make liberal use of explosives or target her stomach, legs, and sword arm!"
"Yes sir!"
"Okay, uh, I've spotted a mobile Command Post about a kilometer away from your current position, but I doubt you're in a position to destroy it—"
"Send 601's spotters to do it, we don't have much time!" M4A1 called out as she nearly took a hit from the enemy. "M4 out!"
Storing her radio the elite tossed another grenade at the enemy, this time a frag, and when it detonated it managed to take out a whopping seven hostiles, lightening the pressure put on them by their pursuers and allowing them to take shelter in the marketplace, hiding behind a fruitstand and allowing AK-47 to reload her weapon as numerous infantry units ran past them.
"You okay, miss Prima Donna?" she asked breathlessly, peeking around the corner to see the hostiles leave the marketplace.
"I'm fine, but... I'm sorry about your friend, miss AK." the elite told her, hanging her head low.
"Look, let's kill that Executioner bitch, then we can talk about that." the Russian said hastily, holding her hand up. "Anyways, if 601 can get that thing broken then we'll have much less infanty to deal with, then we can take on Executioner without being shot in the back."
"How much C4 do you have?"
"Haven't used any, got a plan for it?"
"Rig the church and lure Executioner back to it, because she's likely looking for us as we speak..."
Nodding in agreement she looked around the stand again, finding no hostile presence, and she then picked her radio up and contacted Howa 64.
"Hey, rookie, where are you at?"
"We're leading the enemy astray around the village houses at the moment, is the HVI safe?" the Japanese AR asked.
"Yeah, she's fine. How the fuck did they find us, anyways?"
"Not sure, but they may have had surveillance on this place after the first patrol was wiped out."
"Hey, uh, do a scan for shits and giggles."
Her ally complied, a golden wave washing over them and highlighting the hostiles present— Executioner's signal still active but stood atop the church tower instead, searching for them with the high ground. Thankfully, though, the tarps covering the marketplace kept them concealed.
However, two Rippers were entering the marketplace to search for them, SMGs out as they split up to cover more ground.
"Alright, they've gotta go." she decided, poising herself to strike. "Take the one on the left."
"Got it." M4A1 said, positioning herself to a good shooting position as the enemy went past them.
"Now."
As a suppressed gunshot rang out and the first Ripper died AK-47 shot forth, impaling the other Ripper's Core with her bayonet before shoving her down to the ground and pulling her blade out.
"Alright, let's move. Stick to the buildings and don't get spotted." she ordered— just as fresh gunfire rang out from nearby, around Howa 64's position, and then she heard metallic footsteps behind her.
Rolling out of the way of the subsequent plasma fire she turned to see M4A1 cleanly eliminate the attacking Vespids with well-placed shots to their Cores, then retreat from the stand as more Sangvis infantry poured in from both ends. Getting away from where they came the Russian executed another bayonet charge, ramming her blade into a Ripper's throat before pulling it out and slashing another one's throat before running forth, M4A1 following her through the gap made as they traversed the marketplace, tossing two frags behind them as they escaped the marketplace.
"Where's that backup at?!" she yelled as she hopped into a small hut through its window and stuck her gun out to fire at their attackers, forcing them back and damaging them with the hastily-aimed shots while M4A1 vaulted into another window to follow suit.
"We're deploying now, outside the village, but they're sending reinforcements up the hill from the south!" a familiar German-accented voice responded, the thumping of helicopter blades audible on her end.
"Khvala Gospodu!" the Russian AR said in breathless relief, looking outside to see smoke pouring from somewhere in the distance. "Watch out for Executioner when you get here, she's already killed two of us!"
"Scheiße! Understood, where is she?!" G36 asked.
"Last I checked, she was at the church—!"
Suddenly the roof of the hut caved in and bloodred eyes locked onto the two, causing AK-47 to drop the radio and hastily vault out of the hut the way she came along with M4A1, just as a bloodstained sword nearly sliced her in half then chopped a hole through the wall.
"Cone on, where's that anger and fury from earlier, Kalashnikov?!" a rough-sounding voice yelled as its owner burst through the wall.
"Fuck off, bitch!" she yelled back, firing blindly at Executioner's position as she went around the village wall, trying to put some distance between them.
"Get that C4 planted in the church, I'll keep Executioner busy!" M4A1 then told her.
"Got it, bring her there when I'm done!"
Without staying to hear a reply AK-47 split off from the elite AR, beelining towards the church and bayoneting any Sangvis stupid enough to get in her way.
Tactical Doll G36, One Minute Later...
Excluding the attack on Station 794, there had never been a situation befitting the term FUBAR as much as this one, G36 thought as she fast-roped down onto the ground, her specially-set up team following suit. The village was easily in a worse state than it was when Echelon One deployed into the area, with gaping holes in the church or other buildings and smoke pouring from numerous areas in the village, the sounds of gunfire and screams prevalent amongst them.
"M500, Sten, take point!" the maid ordered, and the dog-eared Shotgun from the smuggler op and the Redcoat assisting Springfield in the Café shot forth, eager to engage the enemy. "MG3, P38, mount up somewhere and provide covering fire for us! G3, with me!"
"Ja, gnädige Fraü!"
As the others went to follow their orders MP5's gentle-faced older sister stuck with her, and G36 ran forth into the battlefield with her in tow, gunning down a Vespid firing on a pinned-down Springfield and Howa 64 with a burst to the head.
"Fraü Springfield, are you alright?!"
"N-No, she's nearly dead." Howa 64 reported instead, voice shaky. "No, stay with me... STAY WITH ME!"
Sharing a look with G3 the two Germans immediately ran at their top speeds to their allies' position in a half-destroyed house and gunned down a pair of Sangvis attacking them on the way, as a tear-stricken Howa 64 was trying to prevent her senior from dying, her hands clasped firmly atop a tight grouping of numerous burn holes dotting the dying Rifle's chest as she weakly tried to calm the Japanese girl down by whispering sweet nothings to her, gunfire sounding off only twenty-or-so feet away.
"Do you have a repair kit on you, G36-san?" she asked desperately, causing the maid to grab the aforementioned pouch and hand it to the rookie, who made to open the kit— just as her ally harshly coughed up her own coolants, staining her clothes red in the process, and hey body went slack a mere moment later.
"Damedamedame...!" Howa 64 muttered panickedly, shaking her ally in an effort to try and rouse her, to no avail. "Watashi ni kore o shinaide kudasai!"
As she tried to awaken Springfield once more, G36 looked above her head to see a blue skull-and-crossbones mark in place, and a pang of regret stung at her Core for being too late to save the motherly Doll, said regret increasing threefold upon seeing an immobile M1911 and MP5, their wounds instantly destroying their Cores and ensuring that they'd lack whatever memories weren't backed up when they were rebooted, unlike Springfield's.
"Gottverdammt." she whispered, tears prickling at her eyes as the rookie Doll in front of her realized there was nothing she could do for her senior, her head falling down onto her chest as she let the tears flow freely.
"NOOOOOOO!" she howled in sorrow, clutching Station 794's beloved Rifle in her arms as she mourned her death. "N-Nande?! Naze shinanakereba naranakatta no ka?!"
It was as if she'd stopped paying attention to the outside world, to the shouts and cries of those still alive as they fought against the machine horde, and the two Germans knew she wouldn't last if she went out like this.
While watching out for additional hostiles G3 began to softly rub the Doll's back in a soothing manner as long as she needed to, feeling her shake erratically with each sob that escaped her until she eventually had no more tears to cry, after which she hesitantly let go of the dead Doll as softly as possible and then grabbed her battle rifle before standing up with a hollow expression, almost robotically performing a weapons check on it before she tried to leave.
"Hey, where're you going?" G36 asked, grabbing her skirt to stop her movement.
"I've got to find AK-san." she replied hollowly, grabbing the maid's hand and pulling it off.
"Not alone, you aren't." G3 calmly replied. "You'll fall victim to sniper fire nigh-instantly if you just go out there like this."
"But I can't just leave her to their mercy, and it's not like anyone else is counting on me..."
The defeated Doll pointed towards her dead teammates, her eyes hollow as she indicated them, then went to leave again.
"Stop." G36 commanded firmly, causing Howa 64 to turn to her. "We'll come with you, but don't get your head shot off trying to find her. Are 601's snipers still active?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Hand me your radio." the maid said, holding her hand out. After recieving the radio she selected WA2000's frequency and called her.
"We've just gotten back into position, 64, and our spotters are just now coming back from blowing up a Command Post, so—"
"This isn't Fraü 64." G36 cut in. "We need you to take out whatever snipers are left so we can proceed towards AK-47's last known position."
"Ugh... Understood, G36."
"Splendid. Alright everyone, follow me and keep your heads down!"
Returning the radio to its owner the German carefully left the building, utilizing her far-sightedness (which was done to pair better with her rifle's optics) to scour the area for Jaegers in the area before moving along, crouched low as the sounds of combat reached their ears and the rest of her squad fought the enemy.
"We've made contact with M4A1!" M500 reported on the comms. "Turns out the bitch chasing her is both faster than IDW when she's pissed and completely deadset on cleaving us in half!"
"Stay alive, M500, we're about to rendevous with AK!" she replied, stopping short to allow Howa 64 to perform a scan, the golden wave revealing a Jaeger perched on the rooftops ahead of their current building. A moment later said Jaeger's head caught a .300 Winchester round to the head and fell off the roof, dead.
"You're clear, and SASS saw your Doll in the church planting the C4 we gave them." WA2000 reported. "She lost her radio according to the VIP."
"Executioner?"
"Likely. Hurry up, you don't have the luxury to fuck around!"
Nodding in understanding G36 rallied her little group and continued towards the church, striking down anyone who got in the way.
Tactical Doll M4A1, Four Minutes Later...
Turns out, Shotguns were just built differently.
That's what M4A1 learned when Executioner tried to cleave an M500 Doll sent as backup in half with her sword, only for her to deflect the blade then punch Executioner square in the face before shooting her in the chest with her shotgun and jumping back before she took any hits.
"QUIT RUNNING, YOU STUPID BITCH! JUST FIGHT ME ALREADY!"
Now though, the brunette was essentially leading the Ringleader on a wild goose chase with the aforementioned M500 and a Sten Mark II Doll, the Sangvis shock trooper shouting angry insults at them as they ducked and weaved around the now-destroyed village, a product of Executioner's attempts to catch them and their own counterattacks. Thankfully the infantry numbers had died down, causing M4A1 to wonder if Executioner didn't have a higher supply of reinforcements as she dragged on their chase.
"AK, are you done yet?!" she called to her Soviet counterpart.
"Yup, just get Executioner over here and we're done here!" the other AR yelled, likely using a dropped radio from a dead ally to communicate.
"That's good, I'll be right there!"
Storing her radio the elite turned to see that their target was still chasing them as doggedly (and now angrily) as before, then turned to see the church in plain view, a squad of hostiles assaulting it while AK-47 fended them off with Molotovs and her rifle, a couple hits marring her frame but not stalling her in the slightest.
"Ahh, there you are, Prima Donna!" she greeted as she tossed another Molotov at the enemy, "and there you are, bitch!"
Quickly reaching the church the three turned around and unloaded their weapons into Executioner, who shrugged their rounds off as she tried to impale M500 or Sten with her oversized sword, only for the latter two to dodge it, causing her to dart past them and land right next to AK-47, who wasted no time in attacking her with her detached bayonet and irritating her enough to punch her into the wall behind her. As she moved in for the kill, the Ringleader had made the fatal error of letting her anger get ahold of her, and as she struck at her the blonde jerked her head sideways, the blade sinking into the wall instead of her head.
"Goddamn it!" she yelled furiously as her enemy mag-dumped a Makarov into her, then kicked her back enough to roll away— and reveal the detonator in hand.
And that was when she saw the C4 planted across the wall.
"Fuck me—"
With M500 shielding the elite AR the charges all went off at once, nearly defeaning her and sending debris flying everywhere as the hostile Ringleader was thrown back by the powerful blast, disarmed and heavily damaged by the powerful blast as she slammed into the opposite wall and stayed there, her right arm mangled and her legs blown off by the blast as she tried to recover— only for a vengeful Russian to ram her discarded blade through her midsection with every bit of strength she had.
Weirdly enough the infantry attacking outside had stopped doing so when that happened, instead moving to fight some other threat for whatever reason (although the enemy leader's Command Module may have been damaged by AK-47). However, that didn't bother M4A1 one bit, as she was focused on Executioner as she tried to pull the blade out of herself weakly.
"I-Impossible... how...?"
"Here's some advice, svoloch: don't let your anger get the better of you and don't piss off a Russian." AK-47 said condenscendingly, leaning down and spitting in the defeated Ringleader's face before standing back up.
"Is something wrong, Executioner? An unexpected situation has arisen, hasn't it?" M4A1 added, oddly smug as she held the dumbass that fell for her simple trap at gunpoint.
"How... how'd you manage th-this...?" she muttered weakly.
"Because unlike you, Dolls led by human Commanders or officers are more adaptable than you, who requires express authorization from a superior before you do anything."
"And you were too stupid to look up and see a fuckton of C4 on the wall." AK-47 added snidely.
"Oh... of fucking course..."
"Now, let's discuss your ending, shall we?" M4A1 asked faux-sweetly.
"...ending...?"
"You have a sword embedded in your midsection, your legs are completely gone, and my allies' Commander has yet to report any more reinforcements. Nobody's coming to save you."
"That fucking bitch... no matter, there's still... ways to g-get you..." Executioner breathed out.
"What?"
The Ringleader looked up at her in such a manevolent way it sent shivers up her spine.
"You might be safe, hiding behind Griffin's troops, but last I checked... you still have three companions stranded out here..."
Then a weary grin spread at her lips.
"And we both know... that they'd make great bargaining chips..."
A chuckle or two escaped the Ringleader's lips until it escalated into full-blown manic laughter, the Doll seemingly unhindered by the blade in her gut as her mad cackling filled the church— just as anger M4A1 had never felt before swelled throughout her body and her rifle shot up straight to her enemy's head and dumped the entire magazine into it, quickly mutilating her head and upper shoulders even after her weapon clicked empty— it only then occuring to her that AK-47 joined her in executing the Ringleader as her slower-firing rifle clicked empty as well, the more thunderous report of her unsuppressed rifle leaving a slight echo in the empty space.
"Stop laughing... svoloch..." she muttered angrily, kicking the now-dead Ringleader's sword deeper into her gut to confirm the kill before stepping back and grabbing a radio off the floor. "Boss, Executioner has been eliminated and M4A1's ready for extraction."
"Understood, there's an evac chopper flying around the site waiting for the greenlight to pick you up." the Commander replied on the other end. "Also, where's 1911?"
"KIA, sir. I'm sorry..."
"Damn it... goddamn it!"
She could hear a thumping sound on the other end as the Commander presumably hit his desk or holotable in anger, and he was about to say something else before a familiar voice cut them off.
"AK-san!"
Turning around in sync both Dolls saw as Howa Type 64 and two others approached them, the Japsnese girl wasting no time in running up and embracing her fellow AR in a tearful grip, glad to see her alive.
"I take it that you're the reinforcements he sent?" the AR Team leader asked the maid, who nodded in response to her.
"Extraction will be here in a minute." she said, turning her attention to the other two extraction Dolls— a certain Rifle's absence making itself known.
"Wait, where's Miss Springfield?" she asked.
"Dead."
The single word hit her like a truck, solidifying what her presence caused these Dolls to go through and causing her to hang her head in regret.
Three Dolls dead, and it's all my fault...
"I see..."
Sparing a momemt of silence for the graceful markswoman the elite AR turned back to the backup team leader.
"Allow me to introduce myself: I am Tactical Doll M4A1, leader of the special operations AR Team. For confidential reasons I am under pursuit by Sangvis forces, as well as my team, and I hope that you can aid me in finding them."
"Tactical Doll Gewher 36, and I can confidently say that Kommadant Becker will do whatever he can to aid you." the now-identified G36 said as the rapid thumping of helicopter blades became audible. Looking up out of a massive hole in the building M4A1 could see a pair of Blackhawks flying into the AO, their dark, metallic chassis shimmering slightly from the setting sun.
"Where'd you put them?" AK-47 asked her fellow AR softly, softly comforting a sobbing, worn-looking Howa 64 in her arms.
"Near the village outskirts, in a half-destroyed yellow house." she replied in a calm, collected manner— although her eyes held a hint of regret.
"Have your team get them, I'm not gonna leave them behind. Come on Howa, let's go home."
The Russian carefully lead Howa 64 out of the devastated church as G36 ordered her allies to recover the bodies of M1911, MP5, and Springfield, her expression hardened as she gave the order.
M4A1 didn't care though, instead opting to follow the sole survivors of Echelon One out of the church, past the destroyed buildings, and across the bloodstained grounds as they approached their chopper, which had landed outside the village and had its doors opened while waiting for the group to enter it. First up was the 794 Dolls, AK-47 and Howa 64 taking a pair of seats so they could huddle together, then M4A1 entered the Blackhawk's interior and sat down on the opposite side of them, looking at her feet absentmindedly as an MG/HG pair loaded their dead into the cabin before walking to their own Blackhawk with somber expresions.
"This doesn't even feel like a victory..." the Kalashnikov Doll muttered as the doors were closed, shrouding the group in darkness. Despite the problems with visibility thanks to the lack of light the elite Doll could see her counterpart reach into her bag and pull out a bottle of vodka, then a canteen to pour some into it as the helo lifted off the ground. After it was decently filled she offered it to Howa 64 with a remorseful half-smile.
"Want some? It'll help take away the pain..." she said sadly, and a moment later, after discarding whatever misgivings she had about liquor the Japanese Doll took the canteen with shaking hands and sipped it.
M4A1 ignored the two, looking out the window towards the hellscape that had become the village she was to be extracted from with unshed tears in her eyes, silently apologizing to those who had died to keep her safe as the sun disappeared under the horizon.
Turns out, it's only been five days since my last upload, so fuck yeah, I didn't spend a fucking month to do a chapter!
Anyways, as Executioner kicked my ass when I first fought her, Echelon One was nearly wiped out by her in a rather brutal fashion, and I was heavily influenced by Battlefield 4/1 when writing this one's atmosphere, so in the end (just like a Battlefield match) the place was basically totalled.
With M4A1 now safe and sound in-game Chapter 02 has been passed (and altered,) so Persica will be introduced afterwards, and everyone gets to deal with the fallout of Executioner killing two characters and one of her grunts killing a third (bah, wound up making a reviewer right about the chapter's events, but oh well...) Also, if you think a Battlefield game set in the GFL universe would've been better than 2042, raise your hand.
As for AK joining the Cinnamon Roll in executing Executioner she did kill her oldest living friend, so she had ample reason to do so, plus I figured the latter would've had a perfect opportunity to get the last laugh in, so that's what happened, although should AK take her anger out on M4A1 for them being swamped by Executioner's forces or should she have some level of reasonability to her?
I feel like the former's more realistic, but I digress.
Anyways, I'll see you next chapter!