"Нож (Knife) 3-1, what's your status?"
"This is Нож 3-1! Pinned down still inside the bunker!" The soldier yelled into his radio as he ducked behind a wooden crate for cover from a hail of bullets. He and another soldier were pinned in a hallway within the bunker they'd been using as a staging ground.
"You're facing Griffin t-dolls, 3-1. What's going on?"
"They have kill authorizations!" 3-1 reloaded his AN-94 as his squad mate peeked to lay down return fire. As he did, a 7.5mm round tore through the man's head as Mondragon was waiting for him to peek. "I-!" The man stopped as a buzzing sound above him drew his attention. A drone was hovering over the crate he was using and a small camera looked down at him.
"Smile~," MDR cooed from down the hall as she used her drone to help line up her shot and fire through the crate and into the back of the soldier's head. "I won again~," MDR typed away at her phone, "Kyahaha~! ~Winning too much can get you in trouble~... Send!"
"Are you using our echelon link to save your posts?" Mondragon bitterly asked as she stood up and reloaded her rifle.
"Gotta have something ready to go when this is all over and we get home," MDR said and pocketed her phone.
"Let's go," UMP40 led the charge with AR-57 and MDR's drone as Dream Eater wove through the bunker.
"A dro-AGH!" They allowed the drone to lead to catch any remaining soldiers off guard.
"Clear," AR-57 stated as she quickly scanned the rest of the side room for more hostiles before rejoining UMP40. "It should be just up the hall." Dream Eater approached the door leading to the bunker's command room. The door hung ajar.
"Commander!?" A-545 rushed past her teammates and into the room with her rifle raised followed by her team. But, to her dismay, the room was silent.
"Look!" Mondragon quickly crossed the room and knelt next to Anto and PPK who were lying on the floor near a window. "...Damn it." Their corpses were cold.
"..." A-545's left hand clenched in anger and anxiety. Anto and PPK's bodies were the only two things in the room along with discarded communication equipment.
"Blood." AR-57 got everyone's attention as she knelt down next to some blood stains on the floor away from Anto and PPK. "Someone else was shot, and isn't here." She walked over, knelt down, and grabbed Anto's dog tags to confirm his death after this was over. If they made it out.
"Two people, most likely," Mondragon corrected as she noted the blood on the window that was at a different angle and couldn't have come from Anto. "Possibly the Commanders?"
"Then he's alive!" A-545 spun on her feet and exited the room. "We're moving."
"There was a radio tower nearby," Mondragon quickly followed after A-545 and tried to steer her. Her leader was allowing her emotional chip to direct her actions which would cloud her judgment. She continued in an attempt to guide A-545, "We're on top of a hill, and with the added elevation of the tower I might be able to spot him. The Commander has a bad leg so he couldn't have gotten too far."
"He could have taken a vehicle, we can't waste time," A-545 retorted and exited the bunker. The outside was a mess of corpses from Dream Eater's assault.
"The military was still here, though!" Mondragon tried again, "They would have gone after him if he'd taken something, so it's more likely that he slipped out after taking care of whoever killed Commander Anto!" MDR, AR-57, and UMP40 all trailed behind the two t-dolls as counseling A-545 was out of their capabilities.
"..." A-545 stopped in her tracks. Her hands were shaking, and her voice shook with a slurry of emotions, "...You have ten minutes before we move on."
"Thank you, A-545." Mondragon wasted no time and hurried over to the radio tower and started climbing the ladder to the top.
"What do you see?" MDR called up to Mondragon through their echelon link when she saw Mondragon reach the top.
"...Chaos," Mondragon somberly replied. From her vantage point, she could overlook most of the battlefield. Through her scope, she witnessed Griffin t-dolls being torn apart by the KCCO. Black Hawks desperately tried to escape, only to get shot down by AA emplacements. Their once easy victory turned into a bitter defeat.
"Any signs of the Commander?" A-545 called through the link.
"None yet..." Mondragon continued to scan the world around her. "There's so much... Huh?" Mondragon trailed off as something caught her eye.
"What is it?"
"UMP40," Mondragon asked causing the SMG t-doll to perk up, "Did you have a sister t-doll with a UMP45?"
"Eh?" UMP40's body tensed up, and she quickly responded with a panicked voice, "Why? Do you see her?"
"...Yes," Mondragon replied as she focused her scope on UMP45 who she could see across the battlefield. "She's traveling with a large group of t-dolls. Did you know your sister? Should we try and recruit them?"
"..." UMP40 fell silent for a few moments as her team waited for her response. In a quiet voice, she asked, "Does she look happy?"
"Happy?" The question caught Mondragon off guard, so she focused harder to read UMP45's face. "She's currently smiling and, I guess, making jokes at her teammate's expense." Mondragon watched as HK416 seemed to be berating UMP45 about something, but UMP45 was brushing it off with a cocky smile.
"...Good," a smile played across UMP40's face as she responded. "Me showing up...would only cause more confusion and waste more time. Just keep looking out for the Commander."
"Very well." Having one overly emotional t-doll was enough, so Mondragon was glad to see UMP40 could keep herself in check. "Then, we'll... Wait! I see it!"
"The Commander?!" A-545's face lit up with anticipation.
"No," Mondragon corrected, "But, I'd recognize that winterized commander's coat anywhere." Mondragon's scope was currently trained on Zeldri's discarded red commander's coat that was hung on a dead tree. "I see his coat, it's discarded but is most likely the direction he left in. Sending bearing."
"Then we have our course!" A-545 declared and turned to her team. "When Mondragon gets down we move out! Check the dead for keys; we'll take the Tigrs."
Slow, heavy footsteps trudged their way through the decrepit landscape that once promised victory. Now, however, it only offered bitter resentment. Thanks to Peter's order, the other KCCO soldiers were too preoccupied with getting ready to meet up with Yegor to notice Zeldri painfully slip out of the bunker and off in the direction of the train. Or, at least he thought it was the direction of the train. The blood loss was making it hard to concentrate.
"...Блядь (Fuck)!" Zeldri cursed to himself as he fell to the ground just barely catching himself with his hands so he didn't face plant the ground. His right leg was screaming in pain as it was forced to bend with the fall. His arms shook violently as they held him up. "..." Yet, he rose to his feet. Fresh pain from the left side of his stomach announced more blood loss as the bullet wound started leaking again. Zeldri had ripped up and abandoned his commander's coat to use as a bandage to hold the wound as well as to get rid of a potential target. Being bright red on a gray battlefield would be the opposite of staying low. That said, his gray shirt was now slowly turning red as more blood continued to leak out of the wound. Zeldri took a few seconds to catch his breath before he continued forward. "!" He managed to walk ten feet before collapsing to the ground, again. "...Блядь!" The air he breathed was harsh from all the fighting and Zeldri was finding it harder to breathe. He shakily brought himself up to his knees as he propped himself up with his arms.
"Again, this isn't the best look for you, Commander."
"..." Zeldri slightly lifted his head to see the black-cloaked woman crouching down in front of him. He spat some blood off to the side.
"Yes, yes, you're quite defiant and scary on your hands and knees with that bullet in your side," the black-cloaked woman teased. She gave a laugh, but it didn't sound jovial like before. "...Say, Commander?" Now, she just sounded tired. "Do you know what's going on?"
"...?" Zeldri continued to try and catch his breath. The distant sounds of fighting started to fade away.
"I don't mean what's going on here with the military. But...what's really going on?" Her voice became somber and she leaned in a bit closer.
"...!" Zeldri flinched as the black-cloaked woman gently brushed her hand through his short, brown hair.
"I'm an existence meant to hate humanity," she began and seemed to be rambling her thoughts out loud, "And, in all honesty, I do hate you all; just look at what you people keep doing. And, yet..." Her hand went to the back of Zeldri's head and lingered there. "Why can't I hate you?"
"..."
"I used to, back when we first started. Just another plaything to mess with in order to get what I wanted. Just another human. But, as time's gone on, why do those thoughts appear less and less within my mind? Teasing you is still fun...but hate?" Her fingers gently massaged the back of Zeldri's head. "...Hmph, maybe it's because I'm being forced to do this I've come to like you out of spite?"
"...?"
"I don't think so. It is a possibility, but I think something else is going on." Her voice softened and became almost motherly in tone. "How many 'plans' and 'contingencies' have you prepared, Commander? You created a team of dolls that would get you thrown in jail upon their discovery to combat something you don't know. You befriended an OGAS that would get you executed upon her lies being discovered to defend against something you don't know. You gave them both the knowledge and capabilities to ruin you in order to bind them with unbreakable loyalty to protect you against something you don't know."
"..."
"You're a very dangerous man, Commander. So, it would only make sense that, somehow, you know what's going on, right?... How? I have no clue." Her fingers continued to massage the back of Zeldri's head as the black-cloaked woman chuckled to herself. "...I noticed it during Broken Butterfly. When you almost fell from the train I reached out to you...and you reached out to me... Why?" Her fingers stopped and her voice grew distant. "I knew it wouldn't change anything. That it couldn't change anything. So, why did I do that? Why would I try to save you?... Why did I want to save you? Why do I, instead of hating you, hate seeing you get hurt?" There was a soft plea in her voice as if looking for a response from Zeldri.
"..."
"...Is this also part of your 'plan', Commander?" she bitterly chuckled. "Do you refuse to speak to me in an attempt to drive me up a wall and make me on edge about everything? To make me unstable enough that, whatever you're doing, takes root? Have you ever thought of such a thing as this happening to you, or are you just a dangerous, ignorant man too paranoid for his own good? To-!?" She stopped as the sound of footsteps behind her caused her to pause. The footsteps halted a few feet away. Zeldri was still feeling weak so he could only partially lift his head.
"...!?" But, as he did, he saw the person behind the black-cloaked woman was wearing black combat boots, had on baggy black camouflage patterned pants with ice axes strapped to her thighs, and carried an A-545 rifle at her side.
"74, Alfa, left side! S.A.T.8 keep those Aegis' occupied!" AEK-999 yelled over the gunfire as her team was hunkered down in a large crater fending off a wave of KCCO dolls. "Listen to the rhythm of my bullets! байстрюк (Bastards)!" She and her remaining two dummy links unloaded into the KCCO line completely mulching a group of Cyclops'.
"How's our leade-WOAH!" S.A.T.8 asked before barely dodging an Aegis' baton. "There's still more~!" The Aegis tried to shield-check her, but she matched the doll and dug her feet into the dirt to take the hit. "How about you fall now?" She reached past the shield and jammed her shotgun's barrel onto the Aegis' facemask and unloaded point blank into its head. Sparks flew into the air and oil splattered S.A.T.8's hair.
"She's..." AEK looked over her shoulder to PSM who was offline behind her. She'd taken too much damage and was knocked out; though thankfully not dead. "Still here. Focus!"
"Concentrate," AK-74M stated as she was shoulder to shoulder with AK-Alfa and her dummies, "Now, Alfa!" she cried as she activated her skill sending Alfa additional processing power to increase her shot's lethality.
"Shatter!" Alfa activated her own skill and quickly started to dispatch a group of Cerynitis'.
"Good work! Let's keep it up!" While AEK did her best to sound heroic, in truth the situation was grating upon her nerves. 74 and Alfa were down to a single dummy each, and with S.A.T.8 fighting alone their front line would soon completely collapse. PSM was out. "Just what the hell am I supposed to-БЛЯДЬ (FUCK)!" One of her dummy links exploded as an Archer rained explosive arrows on her position.
"AEK-GAH!" S.A.T.8 was racked with explosions as an Aegis kept her pinned so two Archers could pepper her with explosive arrows. "Oh my, I'm tattered~..." S.A.T.8 fell to her knees and noticed she was missing her left arm and the synthetic skin on the left side of her torso was blown off exposing her internals and metal skeleton. "I've...been defeated...?"
"S.A.T.8!" AEK cried out and tried to give her some covering fire. "74, Alfa, can one of you reach her?"
"We can't!" AK-74M yelled back as she ducked down just in time to see her last dummy link fall to the dirt. Its head was completely blown off.
"Хватит разорять мои яйца, любимый. (Quit busting my balls, love)!" AEK cursed to herself as she grit her teeth. And, just as all hope seemed lost and AEK was about to give in to despair, a voice from on high brought hope.
"Greetings, fellow t-dolls!"
"...Huh?" There was a pause in the battle as all combatants looked up to see a drone hovering above the crater PSM's echelon was using. AEK cocked an eyebrow as she recognized it. "Isn't that an MDR-?" The roar of engines cut off AEK's thoughts as, from over a hill, three Tigr trucks sped toward the battle. The Archers tried to move, but the lead Tigr plowed right into their line. The second and third rammed the remaining Aegis' and formed a wall in front of S.A.T.8 to protect her from any more fire. MDR jumped out of the Tigr next to the downed shotgun t-doll. "Task Force Dream Eater greets you, new companions!"
"Dream Eat-... Commander Zeldri's forces!?" AEK recognized the name from the list of friendly echelons Anto had shown them.
"Glad you've heard of us," UMP40 said as she exited the Tigr and started to drag S.A.T.8 back into the crater. With Dream Eater's help, the t-dolls made short work of the remaining KCCO forces. PSM's echelon felt a wave of relief wash over their systems.
"Мы ценим вашу помощь (We appreciate your help)," AEK said with an exhausted laugh. Her gun barrel was steaming from the amount of sustained fire she'd been doing these past hellish minutes.
"It's our duty to assist," Mondragon stated as she scanned the horizon for additional threats.
"Either way, thanks." AEK knelt down next to PSM and checked on her. Luckily, she was still just offline from the damage.
"I think..." S.A.T.8 said in a shaky voice. "I'm gonna join our leader...and take a nap." She couldn't feel her legs and the damage was catching up to her.
"That's fine, get some rest. After all, we're gonna get out of here now that we have wheels." AEK turned expectantly towards Dream Eater. "Right?"
"Well-" Mondragon began but stopped when the first Tigr drove up to them.
"We leave after finishing our objective." A-545 stopped the Tigr and got out.
"Objective?" AEK asked dumbfounded by A-545's words. "What could you possibly have left to do in this FUBAR situation?"
"We're looking for our Commander, Zeldri," Mondragon clarified. "We found his coat a ways back and figured he might have headed in this direction. We saw you fighting in the distance and came to help and, hopefully, recruit you to increase our fighting power." Even though PSM's echelon was almost destroyed, every gun counted in this situation.
"Zeldri... He was with our Commander, right?" AEK asked. A twinge of panic went through her system when Dream Eater's faces went somber. "Anto's-" AEK's words caught in her throat as AR-57 walked up to her and handed her Anto's bloodied dog tags.
"The...The Commander's..." AK-Alfa's voice trembled as she stared at the tags.
"..." AK-74M's fists clenched in anger, but she stayed quiet.
"Mondragon, UMP40, help load the wounded into the trucks," A-545 gave her orders before turning to AEK, AK-74M, and AK-Alfa. "This day's already taken too many lives. Please help us save at least one!"
"..." AEK slowly twirled the bloody dog tag between her fingers. She looked to the two remaining operational members of her team. Both t-dolls gave confident nods. "...Alright," AEK grabbed the dog tags in her fist and gave them a soft squeeze. "We're in."
"Thank you," A-545 said and motioned towards the Tigr's, "Now, let's get back on tra-!" Suddenly, the ground violently shook as a massive explosion descended the battlefield into a new layer of hell.
"Tch," the black-cloaked woman clicked her tongue in annoyance as she looked over her shoulder at A-545.
"!?" Zeldri tried to lift his head further to confirm who it was but found himself being pulled into the black-cloaked woman's embrace. She forced his head down so he couldn't see who was behind her.
"I'm not even doing anything bad and you're still here?" She asked with a half-hearted bitterness. "I'm even offering comfort. You should be happy. Unless...?" The black-cloaked woman forced Zeldri's head lower so his face would be on her chest.
"...!" Zeldri heard the A-545 rifle rack a round.
"HAH!" The black-cloaked woman laughed at A-545's response. "You're just mad you can't do this! You really are a yand-"
"!" Zeldri's head snapped up as a gunshot rang out, but there was no one there. No black-cloaked woman crouching in front of him. No A-545 standing behind her. He was alone. And, now that he'd given himself a chance to breathe and recollect himself he looked around to find he wasn't going in the direction he thought he'd been. "...Where...?" But, as Zeldri tried to get his bearings, the ground beneath him violently shook. Not a second later, the sound of a massive explosion echoed around him. Turning to the source of the noise, Zeldri felt what little strength he had left start to leave him. "Oh...right...I'm in hell." Zeldri's words trailed off as he stared at the green cloud of Collapse rise into the sky and envelope the battlefield.