"...D-...Dad?" The shockwave from the explosions hit M7 like a punch to the gut. She stumbled backward in a daze. Flames reflected in her eyes as the dilapidated carcass of the Ural truck burned. The sounds around her muffled as her mind only focused on the truck. "...Dad?" She stumbled forward. "Da-!" Only for bolts of plasma to pelt her from above as a Strelet took position in an abandoned building next to her.
"M7!" A-545 called out to her, but her words were drowned out by the ongoing battle. Paradeus continued to press their line and most of the t-dolls were down to one or two dummy links. The armless Doppelsoldner stared at the destroyed Ural for a few seconds as it processed that it had destroyed the truck and hydroponic basins. Once satisfied, its massive form turned towards Griffin's line and the remaining two trucks. "It's after the trucks! NTW!?"
"She's out!" NZ75 replied as she ducked down to avoid a volley of plasma. NTW had shut down shortly after the Rodelero's attack.
"Springfield, Mondragon, focus on the Doppelsoldner!" A-545 barked her orders as she finished reloading both her rifles and laid down suppressive fire for the snipers.
"..." The world continued as M7 sat on her knees staring at the burning Ural. A shadow loomed over her snapping her back to reality. A Strelet stood before her; her reflection stared back from its cold blue visor. Her pathetic reflection. Seeing herself kneeling down on the ground was pathetic. Infuriating. Worthless! "...!" In one swift motion, M7 grabbed her fireman's axe from off her back, sprang to her feet, and embedded the axe into the Strelet's neck. The Strelet, with its head half attached to its body, fell to the ground. The Paradeus forces around her, which had been ignoring her as a non-threat, turned to face the t-doll. The Doppelsoldner halted its advance and also turned to face M7 who was defiantly glaring at it. M7 threw her fireman's hat to the ground and ripped the gas mask off her face. Her short blue hair blew freely in the wind and her face was contorted in rage. Within her core, a switch flipped that activated her combat skill. "SET THE WORLD ON FIRE!" M7 lifted the wand of her flamethrower towards the Doppelsoldner. The special third tank on her flamethrower's rig kicked to life and flooded the system with Horris' own special concoction.
"!" The air itself burned and screamed as a wave of pure blue fire poured out of the flamethrower. Within two seconds, the entire front half of the Doppelsoldner's torso was nothing more than molten slag that plopped to the ground into a puddle of itself. The remaining rounds in its back-mounted cannon instantly cooked off throwing the still-burning remains of the mech across the battlefield.
"Holy shit!" MDR screamed as the heat wave from M7's blast could be felt even from across the battlefield. A haze descended and distorted the main street making it difficult to see.
"Stay down!" A-545 was getting overheated warnings on her HUD and she took off her winter coat. Paradeus' forces quickly forgot Griffin and turned their full attention to the unknown t-doll that just took out their mech.
"BURN IT TO THE GROUND!" M7 turned and sent another blast toward a group of Strelets that were hiding in a building. The flames poured over the wood and brick like a raging river. The wooden flooring and support beams instantly turned to ash and the bricks disintegrated under the immense heat. No one was sure if it was the flames or the Strelets that were screaming as their bodies hit the floor. The building collapsed sending burning debris into the street. The battlefield was turning into a hellscape as the blue flames started to spread. Fire foam poppers installed in M7's coat started to burst to keep her safe, but even the foam was sizzling away as M7 continued with another torrent of flames down the street. Her flamethrower's wand was glowing white and was barely holding its shape. "...?" M7 took a step towards another group of Strelets that almost seemed to cower from her when she noticed her arms felt weird. The fireman's coat's sleeves had disintegrated away and all the synthetic skin on her hands and arms up to her shoulders was burned off. Her metallic skeleton was starting to warp from the heat. "..." But, that didn't matter. There were more Paradeus to burn. Another tidal wave of flames poured over Paradeus' line melting the Strelets. The smell of burnt meat started to fill the air. M7 took another step towards Paradeus when her left arm fell off and melted into a pool of slag. Her right arm was barely any better, and the wand of her flamethrower was no longer usable. Warnings blared across her HUD as the heat started catching up with her. Using her arm's last moments, M7 unhooked the fuel tank's apparatus off her back and threw it as hard as she could. The tanks landed in front of a group of Strelets. And, as M7's skill ended a signal was sent to the apparatus causing all remaining fuel in the tanks to explode. The main street was a wall of fire and brimstone as a large portion of Paradeus' forces were engulfed in the blue flames. M7 felt her systems reaching their limits. She looked out into the flames. The intense heat was distorting her sensors. "...Dad..." She reached out to the flames only for her right arm to fall off into a puddle of slag. Her core started to shut down from the heat as her fireman's uniform couldn't protect her. "Da-"
"Not yet." A hand with all its synthetic skin burned away grabbed M7 by her coat and yanked her back. Surprised, M7 turned and saw A-545 standing behind her. She had braved the flames. All her clothes had burned away and her synthetic skin was quickly following. "Dolls don't go to Heaven. You're still needed here."
"...!" M7 couldn't respond as she shut down from overheating. A-545 threw the offline doll over her shoulder and sprinted back to Griffin's defensive line. Thanks to M7's efforts, they no longer needed to worry about the main street and could consolidate their firepower to only two fronts. As A-545 reached the line, her legs gave out as her system overheated.
"Leader!" UMP40 grabbed and pulled the bodies of A-545 and M7 behind one of the remaining Urals. "Damn it, she's out!"
"Keep them safe, UMP40!" Mondragon quickly took command now that A-545 was out. "StG44, keep the south clear! NZ75, focus north! MDR, help Storozh while I help Revenant!"
"Understood!" The t-dolls got to work and redoubled their efforts to hold off Paradeus.
"You know," NZ75 piped up as she reloaded her last magazine into her guns, "Of all the ways I thought I'd die, fighting an army of cyber-zombies side-by-side with t-dolls wasn't up there."
"You make that sound like a bad thing!" MDR shouted back as she took out two Strelets. "Final stands are meant to be over the top and dramatic! So come, let us fight valiantly into thi-OW!" A bolt of plasma pelted MDR's shoulder. "Hey! I'm trying to have a moment here!" She and her last dummy link quickly dispatched the Strelet that interrupted her.
"MDR's right!" Nagant Revolver yelled as she loaded the last three bullets into her pistol. "This soldier of the Empire won't go down quietly!"
"Aww~, we're all getting fired u-OW!" NZ75 tried to make a joke, but Vector sent a swift kick to her shin.
"Ah, sorry, I tripped." Vector didn't even look at NZ75 as she apologized in a monotone voice.
"Да правильно (Yeah right)!"
"...To think, the last thing I'd hear would be your broken Russian." Vector gave a disappointed sigh as her gun clicked empty. "Wonderful."
"And, to think the last thing I'd hear from you would be snark." NZ75 gave a defiant smile as she gunned down a Strelet. "You wound me."
"Then my life was worth it." Their banter lifted the spirits of the other t-dolls, but their situation was crumbling. Despite how many M7 had taken out, Paradeus continued to assail them without end. Then, as hope was dwindling an angel appeared.
"A t-dolls life being worth it? Please." The southern front was engulfed in a beam of green plasma that wiped out two squads of Strelets.
"Scarecrow!?" Mondragon looked to a nearby rooftop to see Scarecrow looking down on them. Smoke wafted out of her drones as they cooled down from firing their laser.
"You all were taking too long, and communications were cut, so the Commander convinced me to rescue you. Now then, Paradeus scum..." Scarecrow lifted her conductor's baton into the air and flicked her wrist. From behind Paradeus' lines, Sangvis Vespids and Rippers rushed out onto the streets to pincer them with the t-dolls. "Nice to meet you. Please die."
"...Being saved by Sangvis Ferri also wasn't up there in how I'd die," NZ75 let out a bemused laugh as the tide of the battle instantly turned in their favor.
"Don't get distracted!" Mondragon seized the initiative. "Any dolls out of ammo get down! Everyone else, assist Scarecrow's forces!" With the added firepower of Scarecrow, Paradeus quickly lost the numbers advantage. Even though they fought until the end, their lines broke and every last Paradeus unit was destroyed.
"Hmph, I told you," Scarecrow came down from the building and looked at one of the dead Strelets, "This is your only possible fate." Her eyes wandered to the blue flames that still engulfed the main street. "You all, get in your trucks and get back to the train. I wish to leave this filthy place."
"...Let's go." While Mondragon didn't like taking orders from Scarecrow, they were in no position to argue. "Load up A-545 and M7 in the back of that Ural. Don't bother with the dummy links...we need to leave before any more show up."
"..." Zeldri was waiting apprehensively on the train when everyone came back. When he saw the Urals approaching, he rushed out to meet them and get an update from everyone. Well, almost everyone.
"We're sorry...Commander." Mondragon's head hung low as she bowed in front of Zeldri. She was unsteady on her feet as there was a large portion of her left leg missing. The rest of her appearance wasn't much better as her clothes were in tatters and she was covered in injuries. The rest of Dream Eater, Storozh, and Revenant wasn't fairing any better as some of them were missing entire limbs. Zeldri watched G36 and Springfield haul NTW's offline body into the train. The lump in his throat grew as he saw MDR and UMP40 carrying the almost unrecognizable bodies of A-545 and M7 out of the Urals. "AR-57 didn't make it."
"...Where's Horris?" Zeldri's eyes never left M7 and A-545's bodies.
"..." Mondragon's body tensed up. She dared not raise her head. "We're sorry, Commander."
"..." Zeldri's fist clenched so hard his knuckles turned white and blood trickled down his fingers. This mission that was meant to save the Mountain just cost him more than he was willing to spend for some hydroponic basins. His teeth ground together as he tried to control his anger. Mondragon started to tremble as she didn't dare move. "...Load up what's left. We leave immediately." Zeldri tried to control his voice. He wasn't angry at Mondragon or the rest of his dolls so he didn't want them to misunderstand him. They had done all they could and their condition showed that. He was furious at the world.
"..." AA-12 silently watched Zeldri with knowing, tired eyes. She took a step towards him and reached out a hand.
"Don't ruin the mood." Only for the black-cloaked woman to grab her arm and stop her.
"..." AA-12 glared at her but reluctantly relented. "Even if it's not now, things are starting to fall apart so it's only a matter of time."
"Annoying prick, aren't you?" the black-cloaked woman spat as she turned her attention back to Zeldri.
"..." Zeldri reached up and rubbed his face with his hand. He needed to release his tension. Turning to the metal wall of the command car, Zeldri threw a punch at it. "GOD-"
"-DAMNIT!" Zeldri's fist hit concrete. "...Wha-"
"Commander!?" Annika was beside him and jumped at his outburst. "P-Please, calm down!"
"...What?" Zeldri stared at Annika in confusion. He was standing in a hallway on one of the Mountain's sub-levels. "But...I was just on the trai-" The back of his head started pounding.
"Commander!" Suddenly, Tsaritsa's voice came from his tablet that he was now carrying in his hand. "Breathe!"
"Bu-"
"Breathe!"
"..." Zeldri still wasn't sure what was going on, or how he got to the Mountain when he was just standing on the train with Mondragon, but Tsaritsa seemed...trustworthy. As he slowly took a few deep breaths, the pounding in the back of his head subsided and he could think straight.
"You returned two days ago, Commander." Tsaritsa started talking as Zeldri continued to breathe. Her voice soothed Zeldri as she made sense of what was happening. "Storozh finished getting repairs this morning, but Revenant and Dream Eater are still in the repair bay. I backed up everyone's digiminds into the train before the mission so AR-57 is back, too. She doesn't have any memory of the mission, but her team is filling her in on what happened."
"...I see." Zeldri finished calming down. He still wasn't sure how he'd seemingly lost so many days, but that didn't matter as he needed his mind in the present. "Thanks, Tsarit-...?" Zeldri looked down at his hand to find it empty. "...Annika, where's my tablet?"
"Hm? I think you left it back in the command room," Annika spoke as if nothing had happened, earlier.
"..." Zeldri slowly closed his hand. The back of his head started to throb. He...needed to distract himself. "Annika, what's the status on Revenant and Dream Eater?"
"Revenant is almost done, it's just NTW-20 that still needs more work," Annika responded. "Dream Eater, though..." She glanced down at her tablet a moment before giving a sorrowful look to Zeldri. "The damage A-545 sustained will need at least another week, probably more."
"...I see." Zeldri licked his lips in apprehension and fidgeted with his forearm crutch. "And, M7?"
"...She locked herself in Horris' old room in the dorms after receiving repairs. She hasn't come out since yester-?" Annika's voice caught in her throat as something up the hall caught her eye. Zeldri looked up the hall and saw M7 slowly approaching them. Her fireman's coat was still missing its sleeves and she didn't have on her helmet or mask, but her body was fully repaired.
"...M7?" Zeldri fully turned towards the doll as they walked up to him. Then, after a brief moment, she gave a salute.
"So...he's really gone?" Pentagon's voice came over the speakers of Horris' computer. M7 sat in the office chair facing the computer with the webcam turned on to prove her identity. "...Fuckin bastard."
"Pentagon!?" the Japanese man, Mr. Calculator, spoke up in a worried tone.
"It's true, though!" Pentagon's voice was angry, but sorrow was clearly evident. "Fucker goes off and dies like that!? He still owed me money!" It sounded like she was choking up on her words. "I was gonna punch him in the nose next time I saw him when I visit Russia next month! But, he goes off like that!? Leaving me-"
"Pentagon, ple-"
"It's fine," M7 spoke up to get the two human's attention.
"...Okay, then." While neither of them had their webcams turned on, M7 did and she could feel them looking her over. "You were Horris' pet project and then some, it seems. Are you acting under the orders of Commander Zeldri Vanya by reaching out to us like this?"
"No." M7 kept her voice as neutral as she could. "This is my own decision."
"So, you're a rogue A.I.?"
"No."
"..." Both humans remained silent and waited for M7 to continue.
"I am not rogue, I have a purpose. As stated in my messages to you both, I wish to pick up where Horris left off. I have every project he's ever worked on in my digimind and within this computer, and I was personally trained by him."
"...He did always treat you like a daughter more than a doll," Mr. Calculator mumbled. Pentagon remained silent.
"Which is why I wish to follow in my father's footsteps as a member of 90WISH," M7 declared her intent verbally to show her determination.
"...Why?" Pentagon finally spoke. Her tone was controlled and deliberate. "You have that Griffin & Kryuger Commander who would probably take you in. Becoming a member of 90WISH is more than just a name you can throw around the dark web to get things. Horris was a brilliant man who proved his skills time and time again in both technical and theoretical ways."
"Can a doll become a researcher by following prewritten code?" Mr. Calculator spoke up. "We are spearheading research in almost every field across the globe. Aside from just picking up what Horris left off, what can you provide?"
"..." M7 thought back to what A-545 had said when she saved her. "As a doll, I can run calculations faster than humans. While the same could be done by you with a computer, as a doll with thoughts I can run them on the fly and change variables instantaneously. Even if I'm used as nothing more than a statistics calculator, I want to follow in his footsteps with you all. I want to help Commander Zeldri strike back at those who killed Horris. I am not done, yet."
"..." Both humans remained silent as they thought over M7's words. Mr. Calculator spoke first, "Dolls with your levels of freedom are highly regulated, and in some cases illegal. Knowing Horris, you're probably in the latter category. But, that gives an opportunity for research in its own way."
"We will foster the A.I. Horris left behind and see how far you can go without any restraints." Pentagon sounded more upbeat than before. "Both as a researcher and a research project. We'll talk more in person when I visit Russia next month; I'll have a way to meet you so don't worry about that part." M7 could feel Pentagon smiling on the other end of the call and could tell by their tone of voice they were going to accept her, regardless of what reason she gave. A smile played across her face knowing they were more than just Horris' colleagues. "You may call me Pentagon, and my fellow here Mr. Calculator. We will be your direct contacts and overseers. Welcome to 90WISH, Inheritor."
"Though my rigging as M9A1-7 is currently gone I have the means to procure a new one. I am Cordelia, the Inheritor of Horris' 90 Wishes. Please allow my hatred to burn those who've sinned against us, Commander."