Cracks of gunfire, the sizzling of plasma, and the cacophonous roars of explosions filled the air of the battlefield as KCCO and Griffin forces pierced Sangvis Ferri's defensive line. Nemeums, Guards, Aegis' and Vespids were desperately trying to hold, but they couldn't match the firepower of the KCCO's Hydras and Typhons that sat safely behind a wall of Cyclops. They were losing too much ground too quickly; a fact Scarecrow was none too pleased with. "...What are we even doing?"

"We're following the plan," a gentle voice cooed from behind Scarecrow causing her to turn and see Intruder overlooking the battlefield with her. "It isn't like you to question our Mastermind's screenplay, Scarecrow. Are you actually doubting our victory?"

"No!" Scarecrow had heard much about Intruder from Hunter and wasn't looking to make an enemy out of her. "I just don't like that we have to give so much to the humans for a trap. There has to be a more effective method to lure in M4 than sacrificing so much of our forces to this farce."

"That inquisitive mind of yours never stops turning, does it?" Intruder's voice remained friendly, but Scarecrow could feel the sharp undertones of her words. "It would be far more prudent for you to maximize the efficiency of our Mastermind's plan rather than trying to come up with something new."

"..." Scarecrow held her tongue.

"Once the trap is sprung, all you need to think about is cleaning up." Intruder started to walk away and continued to speak with her back to Scarecrow, "Focus on what's in front of you rather than some hypothetical future."

"..." Scarecrow watched Intruder leave before turning her attention back to her crumbling battle lines. It was her purpose to analyze and predict. To tell her to leave such things be is telling her to forget who she is. Not to mention the fact that she knew Mastermind was smarter than just being able to come up with such a costly plan like this. This wasn't the first time Scarecrow had noticed this, either. Ever since they cornered the AR Team in sector 09 she had noticed their forces were losing more and more battles they had no reason to lose. She thought Mastermind was giving false hope to the humans to take away and crush later, but when M16 joined their ranks and after Mastermind encountered M4 things only continued to deteriorate. "...?" A ping drew her attention as one of the many simulations she was running finished and the result displayed itself on her HUD. In her spare time, Scarecrow had been running simulations and calculating causes for Mastermind's behavior. She knew such a thing would get her scrapped if discovered as to question Mastermind is sealing your own death sentence, so she made sure to only do it when she was alone and could close her ports allowing no potential intrusions or information leaks. She opened the report.

Simulation #157

Result: Mastermind's goal revolves around the t-doll M4A1 for an unknown end.

Humanity's extinction is irrelevant.

T-doll M16 will be used and discarded once her plan is complete.

Sangvis Ferri will be used and discarded once her plan is complete.

Margin of Error: 46%

"...Try again," she bitterly muttered as she dismissed the result window and started a new simulation. She hated that the margin of error was getting smaller with every result.

"Man, this bites," MDR complained as she leisurely followed after the KCCO's forces. "They aren't even pretending to wait for us. They're just killing Sangvis and leaving us in the dust."

"They never needed Griffin in the first place," UMP40 mused as she executed a Striker that was still partially functional. "But, that doesn't mean they have to rub it in!" She pouted and crossed her arms.

"..." Even Mondragon was disconcerted with how well the KCCO was pushing Sangvis back on their own. She caught up to A-545 who was leading their echelon, "Morale is dropping... and I can't say I blame them. What do we do?"

"Nothing, for now," A-545 didn't look back at Mondragon as she gave her answer. "It's clear they don't want to wait for us, and trying to catch up will only drain our energy faster. We continue cleaning up as usual."

"...Very well." Ever since this mission started, Mondragon noticed how uncomfortable A-545 had been. And, because of how unknown their situation was, she couldn't give any advice as A-545's senior to help her through it. All she could do was go with the flow and do her best to guide her. Mondragon's grip tightened around her rifle in frustration as she silently followed her leader.

"Tch, damn dolls." As Dream Eater continued their march, they passed a group of soldiers with a squad of Cyclops units setting up a staging post. The soldiers sneered at the dolls as they passed. "Can't even do their job without us cleaning up the mess. Бесполезные куклы (Useless dolls)."

"At least they're nice eye candy," another joked as he stared at UMP40's butt. A different soldier smacked him on the shoulder and shook his head in disgust.

"...Really wish I still had my kill authorization," UMP40 quietly muttered to herself as she did her best not to think about that soldier's gaze.

"UMP-!" A-545 was about to tell UMP40 not to reveal such intel so lightly, but she stopped as she felt Tsaritsa forcefully close her ports and leave an encrypted message for her. All comm chatter went silent.

"Eh?" MDR stopped in her tracks as she tested her systems. "Wait, why did our comms die?"

"Parapluie?" AR-57 broke her silence as she did a system diagnostics for any signs of the virus.

"We knew this was a possibility," Mondragon stated and also did a quick diagnostics. "Should we contin...ue?" She turned to her leader for orders only to find A-545 staring off into space as she read what Tsaritsa had left her. The look on her face sent a shiver down Mondragon's spine. "A-545?"

"..." A-545 turned to her squad. They were looking at her with concerned faces. But, that didn't matter to her as she looked behind her squad to see the KCCO soldiers all get up, and the Cyclops units turn towards them.

"...Should I have asked for more if he was just going to use me as a comm relay?" Tsaritsa was floating in her personal cyberspace as she observed the world around her from the Mountain's train. Her white dress and long hair were being gently pulled by invisible waves, and flashes of data lit up the otherwise dark ocean she was in. Orders came and went as the KCCO continued to push into Sangvis territory. "Our dolls are getting stretched too thin," she idly spoke to herself as a 3D map of the AO floated in front of her displaying the positions of Griffin, KCCO, and all revealed Sangvis forces. "At least they're starting to slow down to let our dolls catch up, but still..." She was getting annoyed. To distract herself, she put her focus back on the communication line she was still unable to breach. It wasn't responding to any of her attempts with OGAS Protocol-based requests. She even tried using Zener Protocol commands to see what would happen but to no avail. "Just what is the military hiding? Them and their third party...!" A thought struck Tsaritsa as she muttered to herself. The line was being used by the FSB, the KCCO, and a third party she didn't know. But, "...What if I did know?" With a shaky hand, Tsaritsa relayed her request back to the Mountain and used its processing power to send a probe signal to the encrypted line using Zion; the communication network used by her Father and his followers. Before, any of her attempts to connect to Zion were met with nothing but cold silence. Now, however...

"It's begun! It's finally begun!" a distorted male voice echoed through the comms. Tsaritsa managed to breach the security through Zion. But, the connection was unstable so she was only able to grasp pieces of the interaction. Otherwise, all she heard was static.

"Are you sure the Mastermind has the ability to obtain what we hope it will obtain?" General Carter's voice broke through the static. Why was it sounding like he and this mysterious other person were using Mastermind? Tsaritsa tried to dig deeper into the line's security for a better connection.

"It's interesting because you can't predict it." The distorted male's voice came through. "I was quite surprised that even a small company played a part in all this."

"Although," Carter continued in a bemused voice, "They've probably finished their turn on the stage." To Tsaritsa's horror, he sounded pleased with himself as he finished with, "Kryuger, I'll apologize the next time I see you... although the next time I see you, you'll probably be in jail."

"...!" A signal was sent to the KCCO's line and all their comms started being encrypted with Zion pattern security. Tsaritsa was at a loss as she tried to process what she had learned. But, she wouldn't be given much time.

"You." A voice caused Tsaritsa to turn around and see a strange doll clad in white holding a large white scythe floating in the darkness. "A failure like you has no right being here."

"Fai... Where's Father!?" While Tsaritsa was overcome with all this information, she latched onto the fact that this was Zion, a place created by Father. She took a step towards the white doll. "I have to see hi-"

"An abandoned being like you has no right to speak of him!" Anger overcame the white doll's face.

"Abando-GAAH!" With a flick of the white doll's wrist, Tsaritsa felt immense pain pulse through her body as she was forced out of Zion. She crashed back into her personal cyberspace in the OGAS system to find everything in disarray and her link to Zion was forcefully closed. Sangvis Ferri had released Parapluie, but something else was also sprung and was causing a backlash across all systems except the military's. "...Tch!" Things were happening too fast and the world wasn't going to give her the time she needed to fully process it. But, she knew one thing she had to do before whatever hell was about to break loose truly unfolded. She quickly started shutting down comms and sent a message to each echelon's leader as well as Zeldri and Annika. "Attention all echelons! Parapluie infections are confirmed! Forgo all objectives! Retreat to the train ASAP! Do not trust the KCCO! I repeat, do not trust the KCCO!" She sent the messages but held onto Dream Eaters as she added one last line. "Nightmare Protocol is in full effect!"

"...We'll need to move up at this rate," Zeldri idly mused as he watched the military and his dolls advance from his tablet.

"I don't think we do," Anto replied as he checked his connection quality, "Since you captured that signal booster, we should be fine to remain here as we continue to command our dolls."

"I guess I'm just antsy, then." Zeldri gave a sigh as he cracked his neck. They were getting close to the final stages of the operation. All it would take is one or two more pushes and Sangvis' line would completely crumble leaving their Mastermind exposed. "We-...Hm?" A warning flashed on his tablet causing Zeldri to hesitate. "...So, they've finally used it."

"Parapluie," Anto finished as he got the warning too. There was a confirmed Parapluie release on the battlefield and all dolls were being instructed to avoid the contaminated area at all costs.

"Peter," Zeldri called out to his friend as he stared at his tablet, "Get your dolls out of the infection radius." Despite the confirmed reports of Parapluie, Zeldri's tablet was still showing military dolls advancing through the area without faltering. "...Peter?"

"..." His friend remained silent.

"Oi, didn't you hea-!" As Zeldri was about to complain, gunshots rang out inside the room. Zeldri's adrenaline spiked at being so close to the gunshots causing time to seem too slow. He was having trouble catching his breath as his heart pounded in his chest. A red mist now stained the concrete and window next to him. Despite his ears ringing, he was still able to make out the unmistakable sound of two bodies hitting the floor. Without turning his head, Zeldri moved only his eyes to see Anto's body slumped on the floor at his feet.

"..." No one behind him spoke a word as the echo of the gunshots died down.

"...Peter?" Despite it all, Zeldri wasn't shot.

"Yuri, take the men and meet up with Captain Yegor," Peter's voice was completely controlled and didn't hold a hint of remorse. The other soldiers started leaving the room leaving Peter and Zeldri alone.

"Peter?" Zeldri still didn't dare turn around. "What is this?"

"The plan," Peter stated matter-of-factly. "Now, stop shaking like that and-"

"PETER!" Zeldri didn't turn as he yelled his friend's name, cutting him off. "What-..." Zeldri felt his left sleeve was damp and looked down to see his red commander's coat was now a shade darker.

"Griffin's done." Peter found his voice and tried to explain what was happening. "It was a bandage used to cover a festering wound. But, bandages should be discarded when they're no longer needed." Peter took a step forward but stopped when he saw Zeldri flinch. "Zeldri, it's just a PMC. When we leave you can-"

"Was this Tsroski's orders?" Zeldri's voice was low. His throat had dried out and he tried to swallow some spit only to find even his mouth was dry.

"...This was ordered by General Carter."

"...!" Zeldri leaned heavily on his forearm crutch. His whole body started to shake at the absurdity of what was happening.

"I had a talk with the General," Peter continued after he gave Zeldri some time to comprehend his words, "If you come peacefully, he'll give you an officer position. He still remembers all the hard work you put in when you served! It'll be just like old times! Don't squander this!"

"...Squander?" Zeldri wasn't sure whether he should laugh or spit in Peter's face for that one. His hands clenched into fists. A ping from his tablet caught his attention and he glanced at it to read Tsaritsa's message. "...We were so close to finishing this."

"We are close!" Peter raised his voice as he was frustrated with Zeldri's behavior. "It's a fucking PMC, man! We clean up Sangvis, we clean up Griffin, and you get your rightful place in the KCCO back! Don't tell me yo-!" Peter stopped as he watched Zeldri's left arm reach up into his coat. "Zeldri... don't." Hesitantly, he raised his AN-94 and aimed it at the center of Zeldri's back.

"..." Zeldri's hand clenched around the Makarov pistol he kept in his coat. "I'm not the one pointing a gun at his best friend's back."

"Zeldri..." The air between the two men was thick with tension. The sounds of the distant battlefield, a battlefield that was descending into chaos, became background noise as the dripping of blood off the windowsill into a puddle overtook the room. Beads of sweat ran down both their foreheads. Neither of them wanted to make the first move. "Don't make me do this."

"...I'm not forcing you to do anything." Zeldri shifted his weight to his good left leg.

"Zel-" Peter's words caught in his throat as Zeldri quickly spun to the right on his left leg. Using his forearm crutch, Zeldri batted Peter's assault rifle to the side ruining his aim. He drew his Makarov. Peter swung his rifle back up to take aim. "ZELDRI!" Two gunshots rang out. They echoed throughout the bunker before fading away to be lost in the unending noise of this unfolding tragedy.

"...Ah...Aaah...Fuck!" The KCCO soldier crawled through the dirt. Fresh bullet wounds in his gut left a red trail behind him. His rifle was a few feet away. If he could just crawl a little more...

"Where do you think you're going?" A haunting voice came from above him as a boot pressed firmly against his back to stop him.

"Fucking monst-!" The soldier's words died with him as A-545 impaled her ice-axe through his helmet and into his head.

"I don't want to hear that from you," A-545 coldly stated as she removed her ice-axe from his head and shook off the brain matter that stuck to it.

"Disgusting trash," UMP40 couldn't help herself as she double-tapped the soldier that was staring at her butt earlier.

"..." Everything had happened so fast that Mondragon, MDR, and AR-57 were still trying to process it. One moment they were discussing what to do for the Parapluie attack, and the next the KCCO was firing upon them. Mondragon looked down at the dead soldiers before turning her attention to A-545 and UMP40. "...We have kill authorizations?"

"The Nightmare Protocol was issued," A-545 answered as she reloaded her rifle and shared Tsaritsa's message with her echelon.

"!" Anger swept over Dream Eater's members. The Nightmare Protocol was another of Zeldri's failsafes he had given them. Since they were to be a trump card, Zeldri had created a few protocols that he, Annika, and Tsaritsa held the authority to execute that gave predetermined orders and privileges to Dream Eater. These orders and privileges would normally need to be manually given to each t-doll, but Zeldri wanted a blanket protocol in case of emergencies.

"...The fuck is this shit!?" MDR cursed as she spat off to the side in disgust. "We almost won! Why the team change at the last second!?"

"That's how humans are," UMP40 bitterly remarked as she reloaded her SMG. "They treated us as disposable nuisances from the start." This only reminded her of the Butterfly Incident which put a sour taste in her mouth.

"...This sucks." While AR-57 didn't show it with her expressions, sadness bled into her voice as she came to terms with what was happening.

Mondragon's gaze towards the KCCO's corpses went from confusion to cold hatred as she spoke, "Our first order is to ensure Commander Zeldri's safety, but we can't use our comms. We know his last known location, but that most likely isn't accurate anymore as it was a place of heavy KCCO occupation. I suggest we try and find other Griffin forces to consolidate our numbers and increase our searching capabilities." She turned to A-545. "What are your orders, leader?"

"..." A-545 looked at the corpses of the KCCO and the Cyclops'. Her pink eyes softly glowed but held no warmth. She lowered her helmet's visor and motioned for her squad to follow her. "We move towards the Commander's last known location and rescue any t-dolls we find to recruit to our cause." Her team all nodded in agreement and they began heading toward the bunker Zeldri had been using. "...I'm coming, Commander."