"Commander Zeldri?"
"...?" Zeldri opened his eyes to find himself in front of the holographic display map aboard the train's command car. The map was currently displaying the abandoned city of Daugavpils with the real-time locations of his echelons as they moved toward the farm. He...wasn't sure how he got there.
"Commander Zeldri?" Standing next to him was Scarecrow who he had also brought on this mission. "Your dolls are nearing the farm."
"Ah... Right." Zeldri shook the grogginess from his mind. Of course, he knew how he got there. It was obvious. After receiving the go-ahead from Minx they set out for Daugapils with Horris, M7, Storozh, Dream Eater, and Revenant along with Scarecrow and a few of her forces. While he trusted Train Team, Daugapils was filled with ELIDs so having extra firepower to protect the train while his t-doll echelons secured the farm was necessary. He turned to a monitor displaying the camera feed of one of the command car's exterior cameras and watched a group of Rippers dispatch some ELIDs that had wandered too close.
"Commander," Tsaritsa's voice came over the command car's speakers. "I'm picking up strange signals."
"From where?" Zeldri's eyes returned to the map.
"Unknown. They keep appearing and disappearing so I can't get a trace. It's also running off Zion Protocols, so I thought you should be aware."
"...Understood." Tsaritsa had told Zeldri about 'Zion' and that it was something her Father had created. The same Father who seemed to be related to the white faction, Paradeus, as they discovered thanks to the commander from Sector 09's efforts in Belgrade. "Keep an eye on it, but keep your main focus on the mission."
"Understood."
"Alright," Zeldri refocused on the mission and relayed his orders, "Storozh will escort Horris and M7 to the hydroponics farm to begin extracting any usable equipment back to the trucks. Dream Eater, clear a route to the server room for when Minx's people arrive. Revenant, form a perimeter around the entrance with the Ural trucks so no additional ELIDs can creep in through the front."
"Roger that, Commander," StG44 replied as she stepped out of the Ural transport truck. Since they were going to be transporting lots of heavy equipment, and the rail line didn't go into the farm, they loaded three Ural trucks onto the flatbed cars of the train for transport once onsite. "Please wait here a moment, Horris. We'll clear the way and radio when it's safe."
"While I appreciate the offer," Horris said through his gas mask as he got out of the truck, "My safety is more than guaranteed." Following Horris out of the truck, M7 finished putting on all her firefighter gear and gave a test fire of her flamethrower on a group of ELIDs that was stumbling towards them. The infected screamed as they collapsed into nothing more than charred corpses. She turned and gave a nod to Horris. "As you can see."
"...Then let's get moving." StG44 was in no position to argue, so she allowed Horris to accompany them. She activated her radio and declared their movement, "Storozh, entering the farm."
"Dream Eater, entering the farm." A-545 also declared her team's movement as Dream Eater followed the provided map of the building and began clearing out the ELIDs on their way to the server room.
"Revenant...watching the trucks," NZ75 sarcastically remarked to herself.
"Please report properly, Leader," G36 chastised as she took her position to watch one of the streets.
"I felt left out, though," NZ75 complained. "I prefer action to guard duty."
"Ensuring the safety of the other teams is important," Springfield remarked in her usual motherly tone. "Let's do our best so this mission goes off smoothly."
"Yeah yeah," NZ75 causally remarked as she oversaw the perimeter. Half an hour passed with only the occasional ELID wandering towards them.
"I see them." Only for NTW to call out and break the monotonous silence. Two heavily armored cars approached Revenant's perimeter and NZ75 walked out to greet the Zeratul engineers. They all wore gas masks due to the latent Collapse that still hung in the air along with pure white hooded ponchos that went all the way down to their feet. They were completely covered.
"They've arrived, Commander," NZ75 reported back before addressing the new people. "The way to the servers is clear. You'll find one of our teams waiting for you to keep guard."
"Very good," one of the engineers said. The group of people silently entered the farm giving little notice to Revenant.
"..." NZ75 watched them disappear into the building before making sure her pistols were topped up with ammo. Something didn't sit right with her.
"Something wrong?" Vector asked as she noticed her leader's apprehension. "That's a normal response to dolls from humans."
"...Their footsteps sounded awfully metallic." While she couldn't see their feet due to the poncho, she recognized the sound of metal on concrete.
"...?" Vector tilted her head to the side at NZ75's odd remark.
"Tighten the perimeter," NZ75 mumbled her orders and turned away from the armored cars to return to the trucks. "I don't like this."
"...Very well." Vector wasn't sure what was going on, but NZ75 seemed serious so she relayed their words to the rest of the team.
"How're we looking, Horris?" Zeldri's voice came over the earpiece Horris was wearing.
"Well, lucky for us, quite a few of the basins are intact." He knelt down to peer under one of the nearby hydroponic basins to check for damage. "I've got Storozh to start carrying them out. We can probably fill two of the trucks and have the dolls squeeze into the third."
"Will that be enough for the Mountain?"
"It will," Horris reassured Zeldri, "Plus, we've got plenty of spare parts to sell to the town which will allow more of their basins to come back online. Our food problem will be solved by the end of the month."
"While that's good, fill up and send one truck back at a time. We'll unload it before sending it back to you to repeat. Even if only two are needed I want extra."
"Got it." Horris ended the link and stood up. His back cracked a few times as he gave a stretch. "Gah! I'm getting too old for this."
"...?" M7 tilted her head to the side as she looked over to Horris.
"...I can't tell what you want 'cause your mask covers your face," Horris joked as he walked over and readjusted M7's firefighter helmet which was slightly sliding to the left. "Don't worry. I'm just an old man looking to complain. Come on," he patted her on the shoulder and walked over to one of the basins, "Let's get this back to the truck."
"..." M7 gave a nod and helped Horris and Storozh haul basins back to the trucks outside.
"Commander, those signals appeared, again." The operation had been going on for an hour when Tsaritsa spoke up. They had filled one of the flatbeds with basins and the other would hold two trucks filled with more basins. Zeldri decided to leave one of the trucks behind since the Mountain had plenty of spare vehicles.
"Still no source?" Zeldri continued watching the holographic map as his dolls loaded the last of the basins into the trucks.
"I'm sorry to say," Tsaritsa sounded annoyed that she couldn't nail down the signals.
"What about the Zeratul personnel?"
"I've confirmed they've left the combat zone; their vehicles safely exited the city a few moments ago."
"Good. Have our girls load up the last basins and immediately come back." This mission had gone off perfectly. But, Zeldri knew that perfect missions didn't exist. "Scarecrow, have your dolls do one last sweep of the area around the train. We're leaving as soon as we get the trucks onboard."
"Very well," Scarecrow said before giving a quick wave with her conductor's wand. All the Sangvis dolls outside of the train began redoubling their efforts in patrolling the area.
"Now, let's-"
"Commander!" Tsaritsa sounded panicked as alarms started to blare. "I traced the signals! We need to evacuate, now!"
"What's going on, Tsaritsa!?" Red dots suddenly started appearing all over the map and they were converging on the farm.
"I wasn't able to before, but I was just able to piece enough of the signals together that I could cross reference them with others in Griffin's database. Those signals were Paradeus scrambling signals, the same ones that allowed their units to sneak into Belgrade without notice!"
"All echelons, prepare for combat!" Zeldri frantically sent the order as he watched the red dots continue to converge.
"Hostiles sighted!" NTW cried out as she saw a group of Strelets sprint out from behind a building. They seemed to know their cover was blown and threw all pretense of stealth aside.
"Take'em down!" NZ75 shouted. The air cracked as NTW-20's anti-material rifles fired off a volley at the rushing enemy. "NTW, save your ammo for any armored targets! Springfield, start picking them off!"
"They're on this side too, Leader!" Springfield was looking down a different street as she took out a different group of Strelets.
"Ебать (Fuck)! Storozh, can you take the south!?" NZ75 gunned down a Strelet as she called to StG44.
"We're on it! Feuer (Fire)! Feuer!" StG44, Galil, and Nagant Revolver all started laying down suppressive fire to stop Paradeus' advance.
"Time to start mulching!" M2HB took up a position in one of the Urals to gain some height advantage.
"Tch, these guys, again," AA-12 bitterly remarked as she deployed herself between two of the trucks to provide more cover for her comrades. The sound of a jet thruster brought AA-12's attention to the sky. "Rodelero! NTW!?"
"Taking aim...fire!" The Rodelero's entire mid-section exploded and they were split in half by the anti-material round. "Chain Reaction!" NTW racked a new round with lightning speed and sent additional volleys into the Strelet lines. Her bullets easily pierced the infantry dolls and even hit the ones that were behind them.
"Storozh!" Zeldri called over the radio. "Get Horri-... Yo-... Don-" But, their communication link was quickly filled with nothing but static.
"Commander!? Commander, do you read!?" StG44 waited for a response but was only answered by static. "Comms are down! Dream Eater!" StG44 ducked down as bolts of plasma whizzed past her. "Get Horris to the trucks and get out of here, first!"
"We're trying!" MDR called back as she picked off a group of Strelets. "Just how many of them are there!?
"It doesn't matter," A-545 said as she loaded a fresh magazine into her rifle. "We do our job. We're going for the closest truck; it has the fewest basins in it so it won't be as weighed down!"
"Roger!" the rest of Dream Eater declared as they all moved into positions to push for the truck.
"This is why I stick to tech!" Horris cursed to himself as he hid inside the building. M7 was by his side with her hands tightly gripping her flamethrower. This was the first time Horris had ever been in so much danger and the anxiety was eating at her system. "...M7?" Horris shook her shoulder to snap her out of her daze.
"..." M7 gave Horris a pleading look from beneath her mask.
"...Even with that mask, I guess I can tell what you want." He gently squeezed her shoulder. "Now's not the time for panic. Don't worry."
"..." Despite his reassuring words, M7 could feel Horris' hand trembling as it squeezed her shoulder.
"Horris! M7!" Mondragon shouted to get their attention. "Move on my mark!"
"...Alright." Horris slapped his cheeks through his gas mask as he prepared himself.
"..." M7 gave a nod.
"Now! M2HB!"
"Commencing clean up!" M2HB focused her fire on the units closest to the escape truck to pin them down.
"Don't waver!" G36 activated her skill and power rushed to her targeting systems. She started picking off the Strelets in their weak points for increased lethality.
"I hear your heart's cry!" Vector and her dummy links tossed out five incendiary grenades to halt Paradeus' advance and provide cover with the flames and smoke.
"Horris, move!"
"Тут ничего не происходит (Here goes nothing)!" Horris ran out from the pillar he was using as cover and exited the building. M7 was quick to follow and blasted a jet of flame into the air towards Paradeus' line. The falling fire and rising smoke provided additional cover that allowed Horris to reach the truck.
"Glad you could make it!" UMP40 was taking cover next to Horris. "AR-57's already in the driver's seat. Get going!"
"I don't need you to tell me twice!" Even though he was at the truck, Horris still had to keep his head down as stray plasma bolts threatened to take his head off. "Give me a boost!"
"On it!" UMP40 and two of her dummy links practically threw Horris into the back of the Ural truck. A plasma bolt blew the head off one of her dummy links. "Woah! AR-57, get driving!" She slammed her fist against the truck as she called over her echelon link to her teammate.
"I'll let you off for now..." AR-57 cursed at the Strelets that continued to pelt the truck with their attacks. Luckily, the Ural seemed to be holding so she slammed her foot on the gas.
"Clear a path for them!" A-545 ordered as she and the t-dolls focused their efforts on the main street to allow AR-57 and Horris to escape.
"..." M7 stayed behind because there wasn't enough time, so she got to work laying down walls of fire to help with the t-doll's own retreat.
"VIP is away!" A-545 wasn't sure if Zeldri could still hear them, but she attempted to radio it back, anyway. "I repeat, VIP is-!?" However, their successful retreat was short-lived. Up the main road, not far from them, the sound of shattering concrete and splintering wood overtook the battlefield as a Doppelsoldner charged through the abandoned husk of a three-story apartment building. Debris pelted and clogged the street as the building came down and forced AR-57 to stop the Ural. The massive mech loomed over them with its ocular sensors staring down at the truck.
"FUCK!" The Ural screeched to a halt just before it collided with a large chunk of the building that now blocked their path. Desperately, AR-57 threw the truck into reverse to try and make it back to the defensive line. But, a snapshot from the Doppelsoldner's arm cannons blasted the road and flipped the Ural onto its side.
"!" M7 panicked and rushed towards the truck, but was stopped when UMP40 threw her arms around her.
"Are you crazy!? Stay down!" More Strelets joined the fray to fill the gaps in their line and poured plasma onto Griffin's position.
"!" M7 continued to fight UMP40 to free herself despite the situation.
"Shit, take out that Doppelsoldner!" A-545 tried to regain control of the situation. "NTW!?"
"That's the target, are you ready?" NTW fired a volley at the mech. Her shots managed to pierce and take out the two arm cannons, but the shots to the body didn't fully penetrate the armor. "Reloa-AAH!" While everyone was distracted, a Rodelero rushed forward and blasted NTW's position taking out three of her four dummy links and heavily damaging her main body.
"NTW!" NZ75 and G36 quickly targeted and took out the Rodelero while Vector rushed to NTW's side.
"I'm...still up..." The synthetic skin on NTW's back was completely gone, there was some damage to her metal skeleton, and her clothes were in tatters from the Rodelero's laser. She gripped her rifle and continued to reload.
"Damn it!" A-545 cursed to herself. NTW was their best bet at taking out the Doppelsoldner, but now she was barely functional. "UMP40, get her under control!" M7 panicking wasn't helping.
"I'm trying!" UMP40 was now using two of her dummy links to keep M7 from rushing out into the open. "I-OW!"
"!" M7 managed to wriggle free enough to kick UMP40 in the face and escape her grasp.
"M7!?" Mondragon tried to stop her but couldn't make it in time before M7 rushed forward.
"...!" The main street was filled with ruined cars which gave M7 plenty of cover to weave between as she desperately attempted to reach Horris who was still inside the truck. Some plasma bolts pelted M7's left shoulder, but thanks to her firefighter's coat the damage was mitigated. The other dolls tried their best to fend off Paradeus while also covering M7 from where they were. Slowly, but surely, M7 grew closer and closer to the truck.
"...Ugh..." Horris, for his part, was barely conscious as the truck overturning had caused the hydroponic basins that were in the bed with him to fall on top of him. He was pinned under the basins facing the rear of the bed allowing him to look out of the truck. Cracks of gunfire from the cab indicated AR-57 was still operational. But, her gun fell silent as a hail of plasma poured into the now broken cab. "...Uuugh." Judging from the pain, Horris guessed his right arm was broken and his ribs were probably crushed. "...?" Movement outside the truck caught his eye and he looked out to see M7 weaving between cars as she tried to get to the truck. "...M7..."
"...!" M7 caught movement from the truck's bed and finally saw Horris who was struggling beneath the basins. She blasted jets of flame at the surrounding buildings some Strelets were using as cover. The sight of Horris reinvigorated her and she blasted more and more flames across the battlefield.
"...M7!" Horris tried to call out to her. But, his savior would not come. The Doppelsoldner was temporarily stunned by NTW's volley, but now it was back online. Even if it didn't have its arm cannons, it still had plenty of other armaments to deal with its objective. Flaps across its armor opened revealing missiles that screamed into the air. M7 wasn't close enough to make it.
"DAD!" M7's desperate cry was snuffed out as the rain of missiles came down wracking the Ural in explosions and engulfing what was left in flames.