Girl's Frontline: Field Agent

by Johnny Wycliffe

Sometimes, life comes at you like an explosion through the storefront. A young man, Hadwin Galanis, finds this out the hard way as his life is turned upside-down by a PMC and Paradeus, forced to pick up a gun and fight in a war fought by machines.

4. Chapter 4: Fuel-to-Air mixture

I made a mistake. Hadwin was abducted on day 1, signed up at the end of that day, and then day 2 has been since he woke up to the first Paradeus assault from chapter 1 to where we are currently with him buried. A rough timeline looks like this (Military time, 1430 read as fourteen hundred thirty hours, or 2:30 PM):

Day 1:

- 1300: Restaurant is blown to smithereens

- 1430: Sop finishes her tour in the command center

- 1545: AK-47's shooting challenge.

- 1600: Springfield's Cafe

- ~1800 - 2000: Hadwin takes his aptitude test. Fails miserably at being only suited for chef work.

Day 2:

- 0400: Paradeus attacks from a nearby building

- 0430: Paradeus attack ceases, G&K victory (End of chapter 1)

- 0800: Breakfast

- 0845: G&K meeting

- 0930: Firing range with HK 416

- 1000: New orders from Gentiane

- 1045: Stealth training begins

- 1130: Stealth training ends, hostage is hauled back to base

- 1300: Interrogation time

- 1330: Late lunch

- 1430: Phone call (End of chapter 2)

- 1500: Debrief

- 1530: Learning to open doors, poorly.

- 1600 - 1800: Nap time

- 1830: Dinner

- 1845: Paradeus attacks again

- 1930: Ambush set up

- 1945: Building collapse (End of chapter 3)

Hadwin's had a busy day.

---

I poke at the scrap of metal poking out of my calf. I can't remove it and I'm told that I could cause myself to bleed out.

It's been... I check my phone, which is dangerously close to running out of power. It's been 4 hours since the building fell on top of us. S.A.T.8, P90 and I are still trapped under here.

Radio doesn't work with all of the debris overhead. Cell network doesn't reach.

There's not much space in our little pocket inside the collapsed building. P90 is propped against the rubble on one side, me on the other, and S.A.T.8 sitting to my left and P90's right.

If we had one more person in here, it'd be too crowded.

Light comes from the flashlight I had on me, pointed upwards and pointed at the 'ceiling' to soften the glare. I can still see the lights behind S.A.T.'s and P90's eyes though.

I've been more or less awake since 4 am, I've been in combat three times...

"I'm so tired."

S.A.T. looks at me with a bit of worry. "Are you okay, Commander?"

"Yeah. Just... really tired."

"You got any caffeine pills?" P90 asks, pointing to my backpack.

"Nope." I shake my head.

I had pulled out the MRE's once it was clear we were going to be down here a while. I ate most of it, P90 and S.A.T. insisting they didn't want anything, but I pressed them into at least eating something. P90 took the candy bar, S.A.T. took the crackers.

I offered them their own MRE each since I had four in my pack but they are stubborn. I've seen the T-dolls eat much more than this, so I'm starting to wonder about some things. Like, why do they need to eat? They're robots. They should eat electricity.

I rub my eyes and reiterate half to myself. "No, no caffeine. Instant coffee, but without clean water..."

"Shame."

"Does caffeine even work on T-dolls?" I ask.

S.A.T. and P90 look at each other.

P90 shrugs. "I don't know. I haven't heard of a T-doll needing it."

S.A.T. sticks her finger up. "We do have a lot of T-dolls who drink coffee, it is Springfield's specialty after all. I'm not sure if it's more of a habit or if it actually has an effect though."

"I guess if we had the pills we could find out." I frown. "Wait, why do you want them if they don't work on you?"

"It's for you, Commander." S.A.T. elaborates.

"Need you to stay aware of your surroundings." P90 affirms. "After all, we're still technically in enemy territory."

"Didn't think of that." I yawn. "Alright, if I need to stay awake, I'll ask a few questions."

"Sure! Just don't ask me to dance." P90's torso moves, her arms flailing uselessly.

"How come you can do that hologram stuff? I've not seen any other T-dolls do it."

"Oh, that's simple. Every T-doll gets a few modules installed. I got a fairly expensive holographic display module. Thankfully, the fire control module still fits inside, or else I'd be useless with my gun."

"So, do other dolls have the same module?"

"Erm, I don't think any other T-dolls have this kit. There's two other P90's at G&K with the same module, but no non-P90s at least."

S.A.T. chimes in. "I have a force shield module and a high specification one at that. It's not the strongest, but I can spread it to close allies."

"Is that what that blue glow was earlier? Nice." I think back to when she was using it during the building collapsing.

"It's very handy. Unfortunately it too is expensive and hard to use." S.A.T. continues. "Only I have this version."

"Damn. I want a shield module." I look at P90. "So, how do you use it?"

P90 sighs. "Right, I forget you're new to this. So, do you know what an A-doll is?"

I nod. "Civilian robots, sometimes converted to T-dolls."

"Exactly. Now, let's say you're a shop owner and you want an A-doll. Most A-dolls are priced by looks and features, and given a rating based on that. For example, an extremely beautiful A-doll barely able to work a cash register might get a similar rating to a doll that can do super complex calculations but looks less... desirable, I guess." P90 looks uncomfortable.

S.A.T. picks up the conversation. "For us, we have limited space for modules. Both physical space, as some T-dolls actually have extended hardware suites for different purposes, but mostly software space. Some personalities take up too much space and allow fewer modules to be accepted, and some modules are large enough that they are practically impossible to incorporate without compromising the doll in question."

"So... yours and P90's modules are really big?" Wait, that sounded wrong-

"Yep." P90 grins. "I have a holographic suite and voice modulators. Incidentally, the holographic display module is one of those hardware upgrades S.A.T. was talking about. Because of those, I barely have room for my combat programming and my personality."

"I have some spare overhead, but not enough for anything useful in combat. Instead, I filled it with cooking routines." S.A.T. concludes.

"Huh." I guess that makes sense. "So, what makes you special? How come you can use this and not anyone else?"

"Efficient personality, and SMG's don't need a lot of processing power to use." P90 shrugs her limp arms. "Also, I"m on the higher end of the spectrum as far as hardware's concerned."

"T-dolls are sorted into a few categories based on processing power, equipment, combat effectiveness..." S.A.T. starts ticking off on her fingers.

"Looks." P90 grumbles. "Both of us are considered five star dolls since our personalities are efficient, we are compatible with high level modules, and... well, look decent. What's funny is actual combat effectiveness isn't factored into that."

"Really?" I blink. "That seems counter-intuitive."

"It's because some of them were optimized for one task, that then becomes less important. Take my shields for example." S.A.T.8 grabs my attention again. "Both SMGs and Shotguns are in the front, where other types of guns are better in the back, like Assault rifles, Snipers and Machine Guns. However, I'm heavily armored and slow. I sit in place and block damage from getting past, where SMGs are a lot better at dodging shots rather than absorbing them. My force shield module works on me because I'm going to get hit anyway."

"We've got a few SMG Dolls back at base that have force shields, but only personal ones." P90 continues. "It's not really that useful compared with being able to distract the enemy in other ways like holograms or laying a thick cover of smoke. SMGs are trying not to get hit, not mitigate damage once hit."

"They're still useful in certain circumstances, but the majority of the time it's better to field a four or three star that can dodge."

"Huh." I ponder this for a few seconds. "Is your rating one of those things I'm not supposed to ask about like old names or histories?"

"Not really." S.A.T. shakes her head. "Everything related to combat abilities is considered of critical importance, and can be looked up in the database. It's only personal things that you need to be careful with."

"Okay. Well, that's all nice to know."

"Okay, my turn!" P90 grins and leans forwards slightly. "So, I wanna know some stuff about you!"

I blink. "O-Okay?"

"First: What do you do in your spare time?"

"I sew." I say. "It's nice to be able to fix things, and I can sew patterns into items to make them look nice."

"Huh. Not what I was expecting." P90 grins. "I'll have to introduce you to Type 100."

S.A.T. joins in. "What kind of things do you sew?"

"If I'm not doing clothing repairs, then cross stitches." I pull out my phone and start scrolling through pictures until I find one of my projects. "See? You have a blank piece of fabric and you sew little 'x's into it in different colors, then you sew in straight lines like that to make a picture, or text."

"Oh! Can you do the G&K logo?" P90 asks.

I grab the shoulder of my uniform and twist it around so I can see the black and white emblem. "Probably. I'd have to design it out though."

"I think that would be really cool." P90 nods. "And after that, we could get unit patches!"

"Unit patches?"

"Yeah! We could have a patch for today. 'Operation Scrambush', the day you crashed a building on top of yourself."

"...Scrambush?"

"Scramble and ambush." P90 clarifies.

"That sounds interesting." S.A.T. nods. "Although, I suppose it would require a lot of effort on your part."

"Well, you guys keep helping me." I scratch my head. "Both of you, especially. If I can get the time, it would be a fun project."

"Awesome!" P90 flails one of her arms, before scowling down at herself. "Man, now I really need to get back in one piece."

"Yeah? Why?"

"You know how I told you I can just transfer myself to a new body?" She sighs. "It's not exactly that easy. We have to back ourselves up to a server and then when we can get a new frame we can be restored. We only have memories until our previous backup."

"Normally, we can do a backup in the field assuming there's a good enough connection on the Zener network, but right now with this building restricting the connection, we're kind of cut off."

"So, if you two died before we got back to base, you wouldn't remember any of this?" I ask, appalled.

"Nope." P90 says nonchalantly. "It's better than dying, but it'd be a shame to forget our time together."

"What happens if you get buried, and they never find you? Do they just activate a backup and cross their fingers you'll make it back to base someday?"

"Eh." P90 looks away. "Well..."

S.A.T. answers in a quiet, measured voice. "Actually, most commanders will just activate the backup and move on. It's usually not worth the price to go out and retrieve T-doll remains, so there's rarely a search effort."

"Don't get me wrong," P90 continues. "Commanders Gentiane, Ricardo, Mikhail and Kylie all are the types of commander to rescue T-dolls whenever possible, especially Commander Gentiane. It's just, if you weren't here we'd have little chance of actually getting pulled out of here."

"...That's fucked up." I pull my uninjured leg closer. "I think you're worth more than that."

P90 looks away. What? What did I say this time?

I look to S.A.T. for answers, but she's sitting there with a faint flush on her cheeks.

"Uh, S.A.T.? Are you okay? You look a little hot."

She blinks. "No. My thermal management is fine at the moment." She blinks again. "I'll be fine in a minute."

"Okay then."

P90 suddenly perks up. "Hey! They're back!"

I make sure the long range is properly plugged into the earpiece and mic at my throat and sure enough, it crackles to life a few seconds later.

"Field Agent, are you there?" Comes the voice of Commander Gentiane.

I press the talk button on my throat. "Yes I am."

"I sent out two echelons' worth of T-dolls to dig you out. We don't have too much in the way of heavy construction vehicles, so it's going to be a manual effort."

"Well, as long as I get out." I respond. "Everyone else make it back to base?"

"No significant casualties. Ah, that reminds me, status of S.A.T. and P90?"

"P90's lost the use of three of her limbs, but S.A.T. is okay." I report.

"Alright. Hopefully we'll have you out of there in an hour or so."

"Got it."

"I have to oversee our movements out of the base, so if you need to talk to the team digging you out, switch the frequency of your radio to 455.025."

"Thank you, Commander." I switch my radio over and take a breath. "Hello?"

"...Commander?" M4A1's voice comes through. "Are you okay?"

"I am. Are you in charge out there?"

"I am." She confirms. "Don't worry, we'll get you out."

"Nobody left behind!" Sop cheers over the radio.

"Appreciated."

"So we have an hour to kill?" P90 grumbles. "It's going to be 0200 by the time we get back."

"Today has been a loooong day." I groan.

---

"...At least, theoretically."

I look at the assembled cadre of people. Commander Gentiane, Sop, two doctors I'm not familiar with, and one of the T-doll mechanics.

I think his name is Vance.

Whatever painkillers I'm on are probably heavy duty and really hurting my sense of perception. I'm having a hard time focusing on their talking but I know they're discussing my condition.

"'Theoretically' doesn't cut it." Commander Gentiane shakes her head. "We need this to work. I'm not risking his life on a gamble."

"We don't know how he'll respond to the process. Usually, melding flesh to metal is done after some tests for rejection, and carefully monitored. You're asking us to attempt-"

"I already made the necessary charges!" Sop interrupts. "We got this guy to check it over too!"

Vance nods. "It's true, SOPMOD is actually pretty competent when it comes to designing technical things."

"See?"

One of the doctors pinches his nose. "Yes, but this isn't going to be as simple as removing the old and inserting the new things. We're going to need to hook it up to the implant here and also need to remove this area to make room."

The other doctor shakes his head. "If I hadn't heard him say he wants this, I would never have agreed to this. This is way too risky."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree. I just don't feel like we have a choice..." Gentiane says.

---

Fresh air.

Carefully, since a collapsed building is likely to collapse more when shifting things around, we were dug out. The final piece of debris removed off of our small hidey-hole was a mass of concrete and rebar. Before any of us could get out, one of the figures that had been busy digging us out drops down into the pit and examines me.

With the harsh lighting behind her to illuminate the dig site, I can barely make out her form, but with that pair of acid green eyes...

"HK 416?" I guess out loud.

"Commander, you're injured." She speaks, her soft voice confirming its owner. "Let me get you out of here."

"Thanks, but P90 needs it more." I say, carefully trying to get up.

"I'm here for you." She squats down, wraps an arm around my waist and stands back up.

As she pulls me out of the hole, I look around at what had used to be a street.

Now, it looks like... well, a building collapsed. Concrete chunks, twisted metal, and dust covering everything.

A bunch of T-dolls are standing around an old bus. I can see the rest of team 404 and Anti-rain too.

HK 416 helps guide me down off the rubble, catching me after my leg seizes up as I try to take a step on the uncertain ground.

Once I get to the bottom, Sop notices I'm out and her eyes light up. Probably literally, but I barely have time to realize she's crouching down to wind up for a leap when HK 416 yanks me to the side, letting Sop fly past me.

"Owwwww." The excitable girl groans from where she collided with a chunk of concrete.

The rest of the T-dolls walk up to me with much less explosive haste.

M4A1 is the first to reach me, dipping her head before saying "Thank you for helping us."

"Not a problem." I cough. "Is everyone okay?"

"MP Panagos is back with Commander Gentiane and Commander Ricardo." M4A1 responds.

"No, I mean, are all of you okay?" I look around. M4A1 still has chunks cut out of her 'skin' and AR-15 has a hole in her leg. RO and the members of team 404 seem unscathed, but dirty.

"We're fine." HK 416 snaps. "You're the only one here that can't be easily replaced."

UMP 9 whistles, but HK 416 ignores her as she continues to help me hobble over to the bus.

Sop recovers from her dive into the concrete and comes up on my other side. "I was soooo worried, Commander!" She almost whines. "I wanted to get you out faster, but Paradeus made a really big push!"

"Yeah?" I take a deep breath. "What's the situation?"

RO grimaces. "Well, let's save that for once we have everyone patched up."

HK 416 and Sop help me into the old bus and sit me down in a seat that still looks mostly intact. UMP 45 sits in the driver's seat, and the rest of the T-dolls start to file in. SV-98 and Tokarev show up covered in dust from digging, each of them holding half of the broken P90. S.A.T.8 cradles her bent and twisted shields, setting them off to the side before sitting down.

So, final roll call: Myself, S.A.T.8, SV-98, Tokarev, P90, M4A1 AR-15, SOPMOD, RO635, UMP twins, G11, and HK 416.

UMP 45 starts up the bus after three attempts, the old bus clearly not used to moving. M4A1 passes me, S.A.T.8, SV-98 and Tokarev some water, and Tokarev helps P90 have some as well.

RO635 sits in the seat opposite me and sighs. "Alright, here's the situation. We had to abandon our hotel base, since Paradeus sent another attack wave after you buried yourself."

M4A1 also sits down across from me, next to RO. "Currently, G&K's on the move to a new location."

"Okay, makes sense. Where?" I ask.

All of the dolls around me fall silent.

Sop scratches her face. "We're not allowed..."

"Uh... Okay then." I grumble. "Where are we going then? If I'm allowed to know."

UMP 9's arm snakes around from behind me, reminding me distressingly of a choke hold. "We're going to sector 3."

I stiffen up. That's where I live. Where my family lives. "What's going on in sector 3?"

M4A1 pushes her hands in a placating manner. "Not what you're thinking. You have to meet with your parents, right?"

I blink. I forgot. "Oh."

"It has been a long day." S.A.T.8 comments. "I'd recommend getting some sleep. It's going to be a few hours until we get there."

"Are we really that far away?"

"No." UMP 45 snarks from the driver's seat. "But someone blew up a building so we have to take the long way around."

"...Whoops."

"In any case, S.A.T.'s right." HK 416 says firmly. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you in anything comes up."

"Gonna watch him sleep again?" 9 Smirks. HK 416's eye twitches as she rounds on her teammate.

The two 404 dolls start arguing with each other and RO turns to me. "Eh... well, we have another mission in sector 3 in addition to bringing you back. We'll be meeting up with Commander Gentiane around 0500." She informs me. "You're not part of this mission, so go ahead and meet with your family. 404 is tasked with guarding you... I think. Commander Gentiane wasn't that clear earlier. In any case, your rag-tag squad and anti-rain are both going on a separate mission."

"I wanted to be there to make sure you come back with us." Sop grumbles loudly. "But noooo, I have to guard some random-"

"Well, Commander, I trust that you can handle yourself." M4A1 asserts. "I reviewed the combat data AR-15 recorded. For your first battle, you did remarkably well."

I glance at the pink haired doll. She looks away stubbornly.

"So I just go and meet with my family? You're all going on a separate mission." I sigh. "Well, be safe I guess."

"I'm going with you." HK 416 says quietly.

"Yep!" 9 echoes the sentiment. "After all, with your luck, Paradeus is going to invade the city as we arrive!"

"Please don't joke about that." I mumble.

"Well, I'm done with this conversation. You get to screw around while us real fighters do the hard stuff." AR-15 says from across the aisle. "M4, tell me when you can give me actual details."

I glance at her, about to say something, but a wave of tiredness hits and I realize it's just not worth it. "Okay, I'll try going to sleep then." I give a wan smile. "Never been good at sleeping in moving vehicles."

"I'm surprised you're still on your feet, to be honest." SV-98 says. "Leave security to us and sleep well! You don't have to worry about ambushes with us around." She makes a fist and grins.

...Well, I wasn't worried about ambushes before, but now that she mentions it...

"Okay, I'll find a place to curl up. I'll be counting on you all."

On my words, most of the T-dolls (Aside from P90 with her amused smile and UMP 45 since she's driving) stiffen up. Immediately, my adrenaline spikes and I fumble for the pistol in my vest.

AR-15 snorts and places a hand over mine. "Calm down. There's no threat."

"O-Oh? Okay." I take a deep breath. "Okay then. Uh, good night."

I get up, move to a seat about midway down the bus, and lie down on it. It's not the most comfortable, but I couldn't really care less at this point. It's soft and I can feel myself drifting away...

"Hey, sit up for a second."

I open my bleary eyes to see HK 416 and UMP 9 standing at the edge of the seat.

"Huh?"

9 grins. "I won rock-paper-scissors, so I get sleeping privileges."

"M'kay, I'm going back to sleep." I grumble.

9 sits down where my head had been before I can lie back down and pats her lap. "Okay."

I glare at the girl with the twintails, then shift to 416.

HK 416 sighs. "She's hopelessly annoying. Just let her do what she wants."

Fine. I'm too tired for this. 9 guides my head back down to her lap and sets my head on her legs.

...It's a better pillow than my arms, I'll give her that.

Before long, I'm back in the hands of the sandman.

---

"Hi, Mom."

Tears in her eyes.

I'm in bad shape. She knows it. She can see through the video link, after all.

"Hadwin, are you sure about this?" She asks, once again.

This isn't the first time we've had this conversation in the past two hours. I told them what I was about to do, since they're my family and deserve to know. Since then, Mom's been calling me every fifteen minutes with new concerns.

"Yes, Mom. I don't want to live off of this iron lung." I grin weakly. "After all, I'd rather not be bound to this train forever."

"I'll be praying for you." She says. "And I want you to call me as soon as you wake up."

"Of course."

"I love you. I will always love you." She says.

"I love you too, Mom."

She nods, and cuts the connection.

There's a knock on the door and I look up to see a bunch of people, led by Gentiane. "Preparations are ready. Last chance."

I shrug. "Let's get this done then. Got a submarine base to raid."

I carefully set the phone down, contemplating that one way or the other, that was the last time I'm going to have that conversation with Mom...

---

When I wake, it takes me a few minutes to figure out I'm not dreaming. My muscles are so sore from being tossed about from explosions that at first I feel like I'm strapped down.

"Um. Good morning, 9." I say, still too asleep to move away from where I had fallen asleep on her lap. Also, G11 is lying down on top of me, fast asleep.

"Good morning." She echoes. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, actually." I look back down at the sleeping G11. "Didn't notice I gained a living blanket in the night." ...Living may not be the right term.

"Mmm. Well, you're probably the most comfortable spot in this bus at the moment."

"Gee, thanks."

HK 416 twists around and peeks over the seat in front of ours. "Awake?"

"Yep." I yawn. "Mostly."

416 gets up to sit on her knees facing us as I carefully sit upright, being careful not to disturb G11. She stirs in her sleep, but doesn't stop clinging to my shirt. Like a koala, at least as far as I can recall from books. I notice that someone had bandaged my leg in my sleep, and there's some red staining on it. That's gonna leave a mark.

As I sit up, the other T-dolls notice that I'm awake. UMP 45 and M4A1 switched at some point and now UMP 45 sits next to HK 416. SOPMOD is with P90 and S.A.T., SV-98 and Tokarev are sleeping leaning on each other, and the other two members of anti-rain perk up when they see movement from our section of the bus.

HK 416 clears her throat. "So, we're going to meet up with Gentiane in about ten minutes. From there, we're driving into sector 3 and splitting off once at the central hub."

"Oh, my house is close to there." I say. "Maybe if we have time I could show you the sights."

"No offense." UMP 45 sneers. "But I don't give a shit about your dumb little town."

9 rolls her eyes, and I drop the subject.

I notice that I had absentmindedly started petting G11 like a cat as she rests against my chest. She looks up at me, awake, but remains attached like a limpet.

"Are you planning on staying with G&K?" HK 416 asks quietly. "Or are you going home to your family?"

"Well..." I scratch my chin with my free hand. "I'm still not sure. It's been... an experience."

9 smirks and holds up her finger. "I think it should be obvious! Why go back to a boring life when you can have explosions, collapsing buildings, and fights with monsters ten times your size! Sneak through buildings and recover hidden data! Everyday is like a thriller!"

As she speaks, her gestures get more and more grandiose culminating in her standing in a "venture forth" pose pointing off to nowhere.

G11 lets go of her death grip on my shirt to clap languidly. She doesn't vacate my lap though.

"I'm not sure I can handle too much more excitement at the moment." I give her an apologetic smile. "Especially if most days are like today."

"9's antics aside," HK 416 starts. "Most days are boring to a fault. Instead, consider that Gentiane must have seen something important in you. She's very much a micromanager, and to let you work with both us and..." Her eye twitches, and she pokes a thumb over her shoulder at AR-15 and RO635. "them. I know I'd appreciate it if you joined up with us."

G11 tugs on my shirt and smiles when I give her a curious glance. "Me too!"

"Hate to break it to you idiots, but either way, he's not one of ours." UMP 45 says. "Keep in mind, we're not hanging around G&K forever."

HK 416 scowls at her boss.

RO635 sits down across the aisle. "Hey, you guys have to consider that, despite his apparent aptitude for not dying immediately, he's a civilian. You can't expect him to want to join in." She gives me a wan smile. "Most people don't want to deal with the realities of military- or, at least, pseudo-military life."

AR-15 slides in the row behind me and leans over the backrest. "But he's a natural! In less than two day's time, he's managed to get two buildings brought down on his head and survive, learned to shoot a gun, and used that knowledge to kill a Nyto, several Paradeus units including a Doppelsöldner and even one of their scientists." Her eyes narrow as her mouth spreads into a small smirk that could rival 45's default expression. "You're good at this. Good at killing."

My brain locks up as I remember the ghastly sight of blood and brains. I can feel my stomach doing cartwheels as my meager dinner threatens to come back up on me.

G11's arms snake around me and she gives me a small squeeze, and that brings me back to reality.

9 and 416 are looking at me with some worry, and RO is currently arguing with AR-15.

I don't have time to catch any of their words before UMP 45 finally turns all the way around to look me in the eyes, for once a neutral expression on her face. "Hadwin."

"Y-yes?"

"You aren't a T-doll. You're not being forced into a miserable life of fight or die." She lifts up her right arm, the one that's cobbled together, and points to her left eye, permanently closed with a scar across it. "We have no choice, one way or the other. We fight. We kill. If you can't handle it, for everyone's sake leave and don't look back." She leans forward so that her nose is only a few centimetres from mine. "If you're not serious, people die. Not just us robots, but civilians like you. Your family." She continues to look into my eyes for a few more seconds before snorting and turning back to face forward in her seat, her voice turning light and mocking again. "Or, you could just follow Griffon into a warzone and die miserably. No skin off of my teeth."

HK 416 glares at the T-doll beside her, but noticeably doesn't refute her.

Behind me, RO635's and AR-15's argument becomes a shouting match.

"HE'S NOT READY!" AR-15 snaps.

"He's only been at this for a day! Of course he's not ready, but still trying to traumatize him into leaving isn't a good option!"

"If he's not prepared to face Paradeus until they're gone for good, then there's no way-" AR-15 notices me looking at them. "...I'm taking this to level 2."

"Fine by me." RO635's lips curl slightly.

They both sit down and close their eyes, angry expressions not fading but silence descending on the bus.

"Hey..." SV-98 appears to have woken from her nap and is looking at the two Anti-rain dolls with curiosity. "What's going on?"

"Differing opinions." UMP 45 says over her shoulder.

"Eh..." I gently wiggle to loosen G11's grip on me and she looks up at me curiously. "Can you let go of me for a second, please?"

She gives me an evaluating look, before nodding sadly and scooting off of my lap.

...I was joking about her being a blanket earlier, but now that she's not there it's actually pretty cold out here tonight. I stand up and head to the front of the bus. Sop looks oddly conflicted as I pass by her with a nod.

M4A1 looks back at me briefly "Need something, Commander?"

"Can we stop for a second? I need to take a leak."

She nods. "Of course, let me pull over here-"

In a few seconds, the bus comes to a halt with much hissing of air brakes. I step out of the sliding doors and walk around the corner of the nearest building for some privacy.

Not that I really needed to go all that badly, but it affords me a few seconds of privacy.

"What is this?" I mutter out loud. Maybe it's the lack of sleep doing the talking, but it seems like the T-dolls don't know what to do with me. On one hand, several of them clearly want me to stay, like SOPMOD and HK 416. On the other hand, UMP 45 and AR-15 appear to be actively chasing me away. I feel like they're not chasing me away because they hate me either, despite the harsh words. more like tough love, making sure I think things through.

Well, I'm thinking now, aren't I?

I should go back home. I really should. Go home to nice meals, a warm bed, and a boring 9 to 5 job. Nobody trying to kill me. No more falling buildings. I can pretend I never killed anybody and this was all a bad dream.

A bad dream, full of chaos and explosions and gunfire, where I've almost been killed more times than I care to count. One where I don't get sleep because we're attacked in the middle of the night. A nightmare where even my allies are cold murder machines.

"Hey, Commander?"

I jerk, but the voice is coming from around the corner. "P90?"

"Yep."

"H-how are you doing?"

"Oh, Sop managed to get my arms working again, and I have two legs again." She laughs quietly. "I'm not going to be the most effective in combat until I get some real repairs done, but it'll do for now."

"Well, it's good you're feeling better." I grumble, hurrying to finish up.

"Mmm." She sighs. "I... I figure I'd toss my own thoughts into the ring, if you don't mind."

"Shoot."

"Bang!" She snickers. "But seriously. You're probably better off going home and forgetting all of this."

"Really?" I finish my business and walk back around the corner. "I thought you wanted a unit patch?"

P90's face is serious despite my attempt at a joke. "Haddy, G&K is currently on the run from a major military faction. Our previous boss got arrested and we've been in open fighting for a few weeks now. We're based out of what used to be Russia, which as you know is pretty far from here. From what I can tell, you have a nice, peaceful life here, and... I know a bunch of T-dolls that would jump at the chance for normal life."

I raise an eyebrow. "Like you?"

She shakes her head and laughs. "Nah, I like dodging lasers, playing pranks and sticking it to the bad guys." She shrugs, her smile slipping from her face. "I just don't want you to regret coming with us." A bit of the smile returns. "Even if it was only a day, it's been fun."

Before I can respond, she turns and heads back to the bus, calling over her shoulder, "You look like you need a minute to think, so I'll tell them you're still busy."

"Thanks."

She waves.

I sit down on a milk crate, long since abandoned in this deserted alley.

What am I even doing?

I should be in bed, preparing to wake up to another of dad's signature breakfasts. I should be thinking about my shift tomorrow, like how annoying Rakim's going to be as we man the counter. Maybe the manager would yell at us to stop chatting again or find more chores for us to do because "If we have time to move our lips we have time to move our hands." Then, I'd go home, eat whatever cooking mom made, and watch a few videos before going to bed and repeating.

But right now, my work is in smithereens, my coworkers are either dead or wounded, and I have a gun strapped to my chest.

I pull out the firearm and look at it. Just like HK 416's sidearm, a USP tactical. Apparently.

I could toss it away. Somehow, I feel like getting rid of it would be significant somehow.

The pistol is kind of like a symbol of everything wrong with my life at the moment. Shooting and death.

I can just… toss it away...

I'm still thinking when a dull thump reaches my ears.

Immediately, I tuck the weapon back into my vest and sprint for the bus, my brain already racing with possible scenarios.

M4A1 already has the bus on and rolling slightly before I get to the door, and HK 416 helps haul me into the vehicle as it rolls faster and faster.

"What's going on?" I demand. "What was that explosion?"

"Commander Gentiane's convoy got hit." M4A1 reports grimly. "Only three casualties so far, but they're on the run and need reinforcements."

I take a deep breath. "Okay, does anyone have fresh water? I want to mix up this coffee." I look around and see a lot of eyes glowing in the pre-dawn gloom. "What?"

"Here you go." AR-15 pulls a canteen off her belt. "Better hurry... Commander."

---

"I don't trust that dog not to kill him." 416 growls.

"I do. She's been perfectly capable in the past." Commander Gentiane rebukes the illegal T-doll. "And this wouldn't be possible without her."

"It's too dangerous. We can postpone this until after the mission." 416 argues, to no avail.

"You have no legal authority over him, and even if you did, it was his decision to make." Gentiane's voice grows softer. "You can watch, okay? I'll tell the doctors not to interfere."

"What about-"

"Not enough space for the rest of your squad. I don't even know if you'll really fit, but I'll order them to make an exception."

"Fine." 416 grumbles. "Can I talk to him before he goes under?"

"Sure."

416 steps up next to my bed and looks down at me. Her eyes are sharp, but not hostile. "Commander."

"Yeah, 416?"

"...I'll be waiting for you. You're not allowed to die on me." She hesitates. "We're all waiting for you. If you die, I'll kill you."

I smile. "Thanks, 416."

She nods and turns away, "See you on the other side."

"Yeah."

---

Sector 3. I was born and raised here.

Sector 3 isn't it's full name, of course. It's sector three of the eighth district of the country formerly known as Greece. That's a mouthful though. It's a port town, and most of our food and other goods come in through said port. It's not the richest place in the world, it's located in a green zone, but it's relatively safe and most importantly it's home.

And right now, it's a battlefield. Or rather, just outside its protective walls.

Commander Gentiane's convoy got to the wall separating the wasted buildings, collapse fluid and worse from the inner habitable area. However, the city had shut its doors, meaning they're currently pinned between an approaching Paradeus force and the several meters thick wall surrounding the city.

Meanwhile, I had drunk the most awful canteen of powdery coffee water and was still trying to keep my nerves down when we arrived on scene.

I barely have time to take in the scene of a massive firefight then M4A1's voice rises in panic as she lets go of the wheel. "INCOMING!"

Before I can react, HK 416 grabs my collar and hauls me out the shattered window of the bus. Seconds later, the bus detonates by rocket impact. HK 416 drags me behind the corner of a small bakery before I get toasted. I can still feel the blast of heat wash down the alley though.

I look all around. "Is everyone okay?"

"We all got out!" UMP 45 snaps. "But we're not in the clear yet! Get to cover!"

"Already behind cover!" HK 416 returns. "You three, come here."

Once I get my bearings back, I notice that all of 404 is behind this building, but not not Anti-Rain or the rest of Echelon 11. "Uh... S-status? Anti-Rain, Echelon 11?" I tap the mic at my throat.

"We're all good." M4A1 reports over her comms.

"Still kicking." P90 says. "Where'd you guys go?"

"We're going to do some flanking. Be borrowing your Field Agent." UMP 45 says. "M4A1, I assume you know what to do?"

"I'll head in for protection detail. Echelon 11, please follow me." M4A1's voice carries authority with it, despite her soft spoken words.

"Commander?" SV-98 asks.

UMP 9 gives me a look. "'Just promise to help when we need it.'" She quotes from yesterday evening.

"Go with them." I confirm after a moment more's hesitation. "Make sure nobody dies."

"Roger." Comes a lot more voices than I expected.

As I peek around the corner of our ruin, I see a bunch of T-dolls sprint from cover to cover, filtering rapidly towards the battle. Speaking of which, the battle...

I shake my head in amazement. There's so many T-dolls and Paradeus units, it's impossible to keep track of what's going on.

UMP 45 smacks my shoulder from behind. "Hey Hadwin. We're going around back."

"Okay." I close my eyes for a second to focus. "Are we shutting off another node?"

"If we knew where it was." UMP 45 shakes her head. "No, we're going to seize one of their base stations if we can. They keep finding us, and I'm going to figure out how."

"...Couldn't it have been a traitor, like Commander Gentiane said?" I ask.

"Maybe." She gestures something to HK 416 and G11, who's awake for the moment. "Either way, finding out is a top priority."

"Okay." I unsling the M16 still strapped to my shoulder. "Let's go."

UMP 9 grabs my shoulder, standing on the opposite side of me from UMP 45. "Well, nothing like adventure, right?"

I don't get to answer. G11's gun burst to life, followed an instant later by HK 416's as they targeted a bunch of Paradeus units that had dropped into the alley beside our hiding spot from the rooftops.

Wait, why are they on the rooftops?

"What's-" I get cut off before I can say anything else.

"Sentries. We're going to draw them in, destroy them, and create a blind spot." UMP 45 responds. "Blow them up and sneak to their camp in the confusion."

"Well, that's reasonable." I grumble. "Where's the explosives?"

9 points to a fuel station. "Let's hope there's still enough to make a big boom."

"You two get on that!" UMP 45 barks.

"You heard her! MOVE!" UMP 9 yells with glee.

I bolt after the eager twin and focus on keeping my head down and out of the line of fire. Harder than I thought it would be, given one of the Paradeus units is sitting on top of the fuel station.

I think it's a Rodelero? It's got the spiky legs and the giant laser cannon.

UMP 9's gun points upwards and she sprays bullets in the Rodelero's direction. As with every other time I've encountered them, the bullets ping off of a shield.

"You'd think everyone would have one of those by now." I grumble under my breath, but suddenly I have more important things to worry about since UMP 9's barrage has alerted the Rodelero to our presence. Its cannon swivels down, and I barely duck behind a building before the alley gets cooked by light so intense it burns the dust as it passes, showing where the beam has passed.

As soon as it dies away, I sprint out once again. 9 is almost under the Rodelero already and it's currently hopping forwards to get a better angle at her. She's too fast for it to get a good bead on her though, so I dash straight for the fueling station, hoping 9 keeps the enemy's attention.

9 pulls a grenade out of her jacket pocket and pulls the pin on it, then throws it up on the roof of the fuel station where the Paradeus unit is hopping around.

Then it disappears in a puff of smoke.

I make it under the shelter of the Fuel station's canopy before the Rodelero leaps down from the roof, head swiveling around to find targets. I raise my rifle to fire, but 9 tackles me from the side.

For a second, she pins me to the ground, looking under a nearby car as the Rodelero continues to search, only letting me up once it leaps back up to the roof.

I open my mouth to speak, but she claps her hand over my mouth and points to my radio.

I tap my throat mic and mumble. "Are we good?"

She continues to scan as her voice fills my ears without aid of her lips. "It's back on the roof. I can sense it's presence."

"It's not coming after us?"

"I guess we're not a high priority target for it at the moment. While it's distracted, let's see what we can scrounge up."

We split up, and head into the garage area. There's a shelf full of chemicals that are all labeled "Flammable" and "Inflammable"... so those will all burn. Probably not going to create a large explosion though. Looking further reveals no more combustibles.

There is a motorbike though. It doesn't look too bad, for being abandoned all this time.

9 arrives at the garage as I continue to inspect the motorcycle. "Hadwin?"

I point at the shelf of chemicals. "Only that stuff."

"Damn." She curses under her breath. "Okay... there's a big fuel tank that probably has a bunch of old gas in it, but it's probably hard to ignite since it's been sitting there for a few years at least." She points at the back wall, presumably at the tank in question. "We need something to ignite it, preferably something we don't have to get back to base to get."

"Ha ha." I laugh dryly. "And I suppose you happened to slip some C4 into my backpack when I wasn't looking."

"If only." She sighs.

"Can we mix those chemicals to make some sort of reaction?" I ask, pointing to the shelf again.

"I don't know. I guess we could try mixing whatever, but I hear chemicals can be toxic to humans so maybe not the best idea." She looks at the motorbike I'm standing next to. "What's this?"

"A motorcycle." I state the obvious. "It's not in that bad a shape."

9 walks up to it, inspecting it from various angles. "Good repair, but same issue with the outdoor tank; fuel's dead."

"Shame. It would be nice to have a ride out of here."

"Especially if we're blowing it up behind us." 9 agrees.

"I can't drive a bike though."

"I can." 9 says. "At least, in theory."

I sit down on a chair in the corner and massage my aching temples. My tired brain doesn't want to cooperate, and the sound of not-so-distant gunfire and explosions is not helping.

Some of the explosions sound downright close, and that's worrying to me.

"I'm going to call 45-nee." UMP 9 says after a moment.

"I hope everyone's okay." I mutter, thinking back to last night's escapades outside the wall.

Wait.

"Hey 9, I have an idea."

"Okay, fiveish minutes it is." She looks at me, eyes glowing yellow in the dark. "Spill."

"We can kill that Rodelero outside, then rig it to explode next to the fuel tank."

"You can't just 'rig a Rodelero' to explode on a whim. They have anti-tamper self destruct mechanisms, and I'm not stupid enough to try tampering with them. I'd get myself killed."

"Oh." I blink. "But, SOPMOD-"

"-is crazy enough, and she's also a wizard with mechanics. She made a tiny doll version of herself just because. She might be able to rig them, but not me." UMP 9 shakes her head. "Is that how you brought down the building last night?"

"Mmm."

"It's not a bad idea, but I'm not a genius." She grumbles. "45-nee could probably hack it."

"Don't you hack things too?"

"I'm still new to it compared with her and she's a lot better at it because she's basically all cyber-warfare modules under her skin." 9 reports. You know, it's strange how fast I'm getting used to having a voice in my head, even if I know the source.

"So, could you do anything like, I don't know, disable its cameras or make it stumble or something?"

"Not with it actively resisting." She looks thoughtful. "Hmm."

"What?"

"I might be able to trigger the anti-tamper remotely. It'd probably set off the fuel tank too, if the Rodelero's close enough. I'd have to be in range of it though, and 'in-range' means 'in the blast zone'."

"How close?"

"Maybe ten- fifteen meters. Zener network ranges."

Okay. "Then, if we can get the motorcycle running, we could ride away on it?"

"We'd get toasty, but... maybe." UMP 9 chews on her thumb in concentration. "You'd have to be driving."

"...I can't drive a motorbike."

"Oh, this one's easy. It's automatic. Just twist this handle for gas and pull this lever for brakes." She demonstrates each action as she radios the words to my earpiece.

"But, we need fuel."

9 walks over to the shelf of chemicals. "Hey, come here and help me look."

"For what?"

"Something with a high ethanol content, hopefully sealed."

I get up and carefully shift all of the cans and bottles around, looking at labels until I find some cleaning solution with "94% ethanol solution" written on the label. "This?"

9 takes the bottle. "Perfect."

"What are you going to do?"

"The old gas isn't very combustible, but this stuff can be used as a fuel substitute. It's not exactly good for the engine, but it's not like we're going to be keeping it for very long." She pokes at the lid of the gas tank. "Um, have you found any keys? We don't have much time left."

"No..." I look around frantically. "Time until what?"

"45-nee expects reinforcements in the next minute or two. If our distraction isn't good enough..." She shrugs.

I spot a bunch of keys and grab them off the keyhook next to the door into the main building. "Found them." Right where everyone would expect them to be, too. I'm too tired for this.

"Alright." 9 grins. "Here's the plan-"

Only thirty seconds later I walk out the back door and I'm sincerely regretting agreeing to this plan. I heft the wrench in my hand. It's a big one, as long as my arm, and heavy.

UMP 9's voice comes over the radio. "I got most of the old stuff out and dumped in the cleaner."

"You sure it's going to work?"

"Nope! But hey, at least neither of us will die alone."

"Fantastic..."

"Whenever you're ready." She says.

I take a deep breath, and swing the wrench with all my strength, bashing it into the metal rain gutter, sending a resounding, echoing clang that feels like it can be heard for miles.

I drop the wrench and unsling my assault rifle. I'm going to have company-

Something heavy lands behind me, and I whirl around to find the Rodelero has dropped down right behind me.

"God, I hate being the distraction." I raise my weapon and fire, not even properly bothering to aim. After all, the bullets impact a solid wall of energy before they come close to the robot's shell.

When the magazine is emptied, I stare at the Rodelero for a second, still holding my weapon, but quickly realizing something's wrong.

Then two seconds.

"Uh, 9?" I whisper into my mic.

"It's not starting-"

I grab my pistol, letting my rifle drop on its strap to hang at my side. Before it can charge it's cannon, I hide behind the only object in sight. The fuel tank.

I unload the pistol as well, HK 416's drill allowing me to reload quickly once it runs out of bullets.

I'm about to use my third, and last, pistol magazine when 9 comes roaring around the building on the motorbike, pulling it into a wheelie and crashing the front wheel down on the robot's spindly legs.

The bike wobbles about, but 9 manages to keep it upright. She stops next to me. "Hurry!"

I quickly hop on, standing the bike up off its kickstand. Okay, I start it like thi-

9's hands grab my shoulders as she hoists herself over and plops down behind me. She then proceeds to wrap her arms around me and squeeze. "Drive!"

"Uh... R-Right." I twist the handle and the bike lurches forwards, almost bucking myself and 9 off. I let off the throttle in surprise and the bike slows down considerably. "FUCK!"

"Don't worry about it, just focus... on... driving." She sounds super distracted, which means...

I twist the handle slower and we start taking off again, at a more manageable pace. Still, I keep pushing it faster-

"Scheisse!" 9 yells out loud. "I lost the hack!"

"What-"

"Turn around! We need that blown up!"

I brake down to a low speed and lean, barely keeping from tipping over by 9 yanking my body into position a few times, and head back as fast as I can.

9's grip slackens as she mutters "Got it."

I swing the bike around more carefully this time and wait nervously.

"I-I got it!" She cheers after a second. "Go! GO!"

I twist the throttle and cross my finger as I aim for the long straight path back to UMP 45, HK 416 and G11. Unless they moved.

Behind me, there's a 'small' explosion, much like one of HK 416's grenades. Then a slightly larger secondary explosion that sounds like the detonation SOPMOD used to bring down the building yesterday.

Then, a roar that shakes the ground builds up, culminating in an explosion so big, the brightness beats out the early morning sun, and the blast whips the scattered litter around and into us. The side mirrors on the bike turn a blinding white-orange and I have to purposely not look at them for fear of spots in my vision.

9's hands unwrap from my waist and she straightens up, tapping my shoulder instead. I slow down to a stop and set my feet down to keep us upright. "What?"

Her lips move, but no sound comes out. Or rather, I realize a bit late, the ringing in my ears from the explosion has left me a little deaf at the moment. I hold up a hand to forestall whatever thing she's saying and say "I can't hear you right now."

She rolls her eyes and points back at the detonation.

I look past her to see the entire block appears to be leveled. In fact, that was really impressive for a simple fuel tank...

Oh.

Oh shit.

It wasn't just the fuel tank. a significant chunk of the asphalt from the fueling station was blown into the air and all around from an underground tank. It must have been half full too and connected to the upper tank by a pipe or something.

I turn back around and get ready to keep moving, but 9 grabs my hand. I look at her questioningly, but she just mouths 'stay'.

I nod and turn off the bike. "Well, that went... well."

---

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is the distinct lack of pain.

It's honestly a bit worrying. Pain has become my companion these last four weeks and lacking pain makes me think that something's missing.

Like, say, my legs.

I open my eyes, only to find the world looks just a little different than I am used to. It's still the interior of the train car, but I'm no longer hooked up to a ton of wires. Instead, I'm free to move the blanket aside... and I realize that I can see pretty well for it being dark in here. Also, I can wiggle my toes. That's a good sign.

My chest is still shiny metal. Probably going to be that way for the rest of my life. I touch my face with my real hand. Yup, thin scars around my eyes and jaw.

"I need a mirror."

"Hmm? Commander?"

I look over to see AR-15 giving me a stare. "Hey."

She nods, then turns to the door. "He's awake."

Sop bursts into the room, stopping short of attempting to knock me out of my hospital bed... barely. "Commander!" She settles for grabbing my hand and tearing up again. "You're okay!"

"Yep." I say.

A few more T-dolls enter the room crowding up the room.

I make eye contact with M4A1 and she opens a channel to me. I instinctively reach for the Linker, but it's not there.

Well, that's new.

"Commander, I'm going to get a doctor to check you over." She smiles. "Mission starts in an hour. I hope you're ready."

"As ever." I respond.

M4A1 turns to walk away, closing the channel.

"-next time, I'll add missile launchers!"

"Sop, no!"

---

We had to ditch the motorcycle. It wasn't running that well in the first place and it was loud. Not very well suited for stealth operations.

So, we have to cover a kilometer and a half on foot, while staying out of sight of Paradeus.

And moving at a sprint, my injured leg now officially hates me, and I swear it started bleeding again. Hard to tell through the previous stains though.

By the time we arrive at the place Paradeus appears to be working out of, in addition to having several Strelets and a Rodelero stationed outside, there's a bunch of humans running this way and that. They look important.

I lean on the wall of the alley we're currently standing in to catch my breath while the T-dolls peek out to observe the situation. HK 416's chest rises and falls as she catches her own breath...

"Hey..." I ask G11, the only one not currently discussing troop locations. "Why are you-" Wait, she was carried here by HK 416. She's not winded at all."-Er, the others, out of breath? I get that I'm out of shape..."

She frowns for a second before thinking. "It helps us cool down faster."

"Oh." Makes sense. Like dogs, and... I guess that's part of why I'm doing it too. Man, these robots seem less robotic by the day.

"Hadwin." UMP 45 turns back to me.

"Yes?"

"You're going with 416 and G11. We're going to go interface with the Paradeus server and you three are going to blow up the inactive reinforcements."

She points to a warehouse-like building. As I watch, the large garage door opens and a Doppelsöldner strides out. Behind the massive robot, I can see a lot of activity.

"I got it."

UMP 45 hands me a brick wrapped in black duct tape. "This is C4. Put it somewhere that will bring the building down."

"...Okay."

"We're heading this way, Commander." HK 416 says, pointing further into the alley, away from the Paradeus camp.

"We're going around?" I ask.

"Unless you have active camo like P90, it's suicide to charge right through there."

G11 tugs at HK 416's coat. "Do I have to? I'm tired."

HK 416's voice turns cold. "If you don't, I'm selling you for scrap. Maybe Dier is looking for a new doll to screw."

"Please don't." G11 whimpers, before turning to me. "You won't let them sell me, would you?"

"Uh-"

"We're on the clock, you clowns." UMP 45 shakes her head. "Get a move on."

HK 416 racks her weapon and I do the same, G11 rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and once again looking sharp. HK 416 leads the way back down the alley and around several buildings, being careful to stay out of sight of the Paradeus camp while still bringing us closer to the warehouse. We get to about a block away before HK 416 calls us to a halt.

"Okay. Now, we need to figure out a way to get in." She says.

"The front entrance seems like a bad idea." I comment. "There's a side door over there." I point to the exposed side of the warehouse.

"I think we should look for a non-standard entrance if possible. They're likely guarding that door."

I frown. "What if we cause a distraction to lure them out?"

"We'd alert the whole camp, and that's not something I want to deal with." She points at an emergency access ladder. "We could climb up there and into the window."

"It looks old."

"Yes, but it's better than walking right in and getting shot, I'd expect."

I'll give her that. "Okay then, up the escape ladder."

I watch as a group of three Strelets walk past, casually looking around.

HK 416 pulls me back into hiding. "We'll go as soon as that patrol passes, and then we'll have a minute until the next patrol comes through."

"When did you time it?"

"While you were asking G11 why we breathe." She says in a monotone. "On my signal."

I sling the rifle over my shoulder. I'm going to need two hands to climb.

HK 416 does the same, but G11's rifle has no strap. "Uh, how are we going to get G11-"

"Now!" HK 416 hisses and I sprint after the purple T-doll, G11 on my heels.

We made it to the ladder, but something I hadn't realized until I had gotten closer is just how high off the ground it is, a good three meters. I might be able to grab it if I jump-

HK 416 grabs me before I jump upwards. "Hold on. I'll lift you up." She lets go and squats down, forming a cup with her hands.

I step into her hands and she easily boosts me up to a level I can grab onto the ladder and hike my leg up. I look back down.

Over the radio, she says "Go. I'll follow in a second."

I climb the rest of the way up, my guess is to about ten meters high. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. Looking down, I can see HK 416 grab G11 in a piggyback, and then leap straight up to grab the ladder. Her legs are strong enough to propel her the meter or so she needs to grab the bottom rung and then she hauls herself up bodily. The ladder creaks and groans, but it's thankfully a lot more sturdy than it looks.

I keep forgetting how crazy strong these T-dolls are.

She arrives at the landing shortly and drops G11 off her back unceremoniously. "Okay, try the window."

I tug at the window sill, but it only moves slightly. After a brief inspection, I notice it has a lock on it, one of those simple hook-and-eye latches, on the bottom of the frame. I can only see the metal poking out from behind the frame, but the side screwed into the sill allows the metal to be moved around easily.

"Locked."

"Scheisse. If we had 9 or 45 with us, they could pick the lock." HK 416 says. "Did she give you a set of lockpicks?"

"No... I don't think so. I'm not totally sure what's in here yet. In any case, not that kind of lock." I pull my pack off and rummage through it for a few seconds until I pull out my multi-tool. "Can we use this?"

She peers at the window. "How is it locked?"

I point to the small metal latch.

"Can you, I don't know, push it aside-" She suddenly clams up and freezes in place.

I follow suit. G11 is slumped against the rail and isn't moving much anyway... is she asleep again?

HK 416 points downwards and I look down to see the guards walking around the corner of the warehouse.

It's mid morning by now, the sun is up and we're clearly visible up here. All they have to do is look upwards.

HK 416 and I hold our breaths as the guards continue to scan all around themselves.

However, they never look upwards.

Once they're past and around the next corner, I look back at the window. "Alright..." I fiddle with the multi-tool, pulling out the longest implement, a file. It fits through the gap in the window and I start to pry at the metal latch.

"Commander?"

I curse under my breath. "It doesn't want to move."

"Let me try."

We carefully switch positions on the narrow platform and HK 416 puts away her rifle.

I'm not really comfortable with both hands occupied, so I ready my pistol.

After a few seconds, HK 416 growls and the window suddenly jerks open. The frame has dents from her fingers.

"Did you force it open?" I whisper.

"Shut up. You sound like 45." She hands me back the multi-tool and I tuck it into my pack. HK 416 taps on G11 and then opens the window for the shorter doll to crawl inside.

Once G11 disappears through the window, HK 416 gestures for me to follow.

I climb into the window, landing on an interior catwalk. Below us, hundreds of Rodeleros and a few Doppelsöldner's are sitting motionless as humans run back and forth activating one here or there. Off on the other side of the spacious building is what looks like an armory, and people walk in to suit up into Strelet armor.

HK 416 lands next to me with nary a sound. "See anything critical and easy to destroy?"

I tap my throat mic and mumble as quietly as I can. "Well... they're using those computers to activate more units. We destroy those and maybe they can't wake anything else up?"

"Not good enough." She shakes her head. "They probably have a backup."

"Central pillar?" I point to a thick pillar in the center of the warehouse. It looks load bearing.

"Roof isn't heavy enough to bring down everything." She scans the warehouse. "There."

I follow her pointing finger. She's pointing at a bunch of crates stacked off to one side. Visible even from this height is the symbol for 'explosive'. "Explosive crates?"

"Probably hold missiles, judging from their size. We get down there, arm a few, and leave a block of C4 to trigger them."

"Hopefully we're getting out before blowing them up?"

"Hmm? Probably." Her eyes start darting all around. "I found us a route down."

"Okay. After you."

A small smile, almost invisible in the gloom, appears on her face. "Let's go, commander. G11, keep watch."

The warehouse is only well lit around the ground level, allowing us to walk along the catwalk without being seen. HK 416 leads me halfway around the building until we're over one of the deactivated Doppelsöldners. She slips through the metal railing and carefully drops on the deactivated unit's top, looking back up at me. I guess I'm following.

I carefully lower myself, but my backpack gets stuck. Should have taken it off. I end up having to haul myself back onto the catwalk and toss the pack down to HK 416 before once again attempting to lower myself. I manage to get myself all the way down to about half a meter from the surface of the robot, but from here I have to drop.

HK 416 takes a step closer and grabs my waist. "Let go."

I take a deep breath and mentally pry my fingers loose.

HK 416 yanks me backwards as I start to fall, catching me and moving me to a more stable position on top of the Doppelsöldner. I take a second to regain my composure before noticing HK 416 is handing my backpack to me. I shrug it on and she points down and to the side.

Stacks of crates, labeled "Shield projectors". Man, I want one of those. For a second, I consider if she's asking me to pry open the crate, but then she swings off the arm of the Doppelsöldner and lowers herself on top of the crate.

Right. We're climbing down.

We continue in this manner, carefully descending until we get to about three meters off the floor, about as low as we can go without leaving the darkness.

"416, Status." UMP 45's voice comes in through the earpiece.

"We're arming the spare Doppelsöldner missiles and detonating them with C4. ETA 6 minutes."

"We've located the communications server and I'm monitoring traffic inbound and outbound with 9. Tell me once everything's done on your end and we'll start frying things."

"Roger." HK 416 looks at me. "Ready?"

"Yep."

We drop down to the warehouse floor and I'm suddenly very self conscious about how much we stick out. HK 416's wearing a blue-purple coat, her hair isn't exactly a natural color, and I'm in a dark red Griffon uniform. No way we're passing as one of the other workers if we're caught.

"So we just don't get caught." I mumble.

"That's the plan."

HK 416 wastes no time in walking over to the crate and unlatching the metal latches holding the lid down on the topmost crate. Inside is a missile of some sort, it has writing on it but nothing I'm familiar with. HK 416 quickly opens a panel on the side of the missile.

"Commander, see that bundle of wires?"

I step closer and nod.

"Use that multi-tool to scrape away the coating on the red and the purple and white wires. Then, press the bare part of the wires together for at least three seconds."

"What does that do?"

"Requests arming. It's a known flaw in this system that it arms after the request is made and only deactivates when it receives a 'no go' signal."

"...How?"

"Designed by humans, obviously." The sound of a snort accompanies this sentence, but her face remains almost perfectly still, only her eyes tracking around.

"Okay." I whip out my multi-tool once again, this time pulling out a knife.

HK 416 readies her weapon as I go to work scraping the plastic coating of the wires she had indicated and exposing the wire underneath. Okay, now I just have to hold these two together-

The wires spark and I muffle my yelp. HK 416's eyes move rapidly around. We sit perfectly still for a few more seconds before she gestures for me to continue.

I grab the two wires, this time prepared for the spark, pinch them together, and count to three.

Two small LEDs inside the missile turn green.

I look to HK 416 and nod.

She points to another box and gestures for me to do the same. Meanwhile, she pulls out the C4 and starts tucking it around the missile.

I manage to get another two missiles armed before G11 suddenly speaks up. "HK 416, there's a guard coming your way."

HK 416 quickly lowers the lid of the missile crate and latches it, even though I'm pretty sure she's not done wiring it. I do the same.

"Where do we hide?" I ask a second later.

HK 416 looks around frantically. "There!"

She drags me to yet another crate, this one already open and emptied. She almost tosses me into the box before tumbling in herself and closing the lid.

I hold my breath and strain my ears to hear the guard as he walks leisurely to where we had been working.

"Er, Commander." HK 416's voice sounds weird.

"Y-yes?" I ask with my voice the barest whisper I've ever made.

"Can you move your hand?"

I look at my right hand, still gripping my multi-tool. My left-

I jerk my left hand away from her chest. "Oh shi-"

"What's going on?" G11 asks.

"Nothing. Tell the twins we'll be ready in three minutes." HK 416 lifts the crate lid up a few centimeters to look out, then higher to climb out herself.

"S-sorry." I stutter, embarrassed.

"Just hurry up with the next two missiles." She turns away with a faint blush on her cheeks.

I hurriedly comply as she returns to wiring up the C4. I get two more done before realizing that there's no more that I can easily get to without moving other things off of the crates.

"HK 416, I can't do any more."

"That's fine. Let me wire these last ones up and we'll get out of here."

I tuck the multi-tool into the tactical vest in case I need to use it again and ready my pistol. HK 416 works fast, setting the blocks of C4 into position and plunging a small device into each. Probably the detonator?

She closes the last missile case lid and latches it. "Okay, let's go."

"Ready?" UMP 45's voice comes through the radio.

"Not yet, we just finished wiring everything-" HK 416 starts.

"Too bad." 9 interrupts. "We've got to trigger this now."

"Wha-"

The lights in the building suddenly turn red, and an alarm starts ringing.

HK 416 curses and tosses me a small walkie-talkie thing. "That's the detonator! Follow me and get ready to trigger the explosion!"

I take off hot on her heels, left hand on the detonator and right aiming a pistol wildly. It's hard to keep any semblance of aim when sprinting, as it turns out.

We bump into a surprised Paradeus member as we round a corner. His eyes go wide and he scrambles to bring a radio to his lips.

HK 416 lashes out with an impressive kick and smashes the radio out of his hands before throwing a leopard blow to his throat.

His voice strangles as he clutches at his ruined throat.

We run past him and towards the front entrance. I only realize our destination once we get near the massive rolling door.

HK 416 stops me from running out into the midst of a bunch more of the Paradeus men.

"We need to get around them." She says.

"Yeah." I mumble into the throat mic. "I don't suppose you have a grenade?"

"I don't like killing humans if I don't have to." She grumbles. "If 45 or 9 were here, they'd have flashbangs and smoke grenades."

"Well, they're not here, so..." I point at the liquid tank, painted red. "Can we shoot that?"

She looks. "This isn't a movie. You can't detonate fuel just by shooting it."

"Okay, but it's sure to scatter them, right?"

Before she can answer, several of the men on the floor look at their radios.

"cough... In-gahk-intruders!"

Several of the humans ready weapons and start scanning around.

"Tsk. Should have slit his throat." HK 416's eye twitches.

"Okay, so about my plan-"

"HEY! YOU THERE!" A man in half Strelet armor roars at us.

HK 416 sighs and steps forward. All guns train at her... and none of them at me. They must not have seen me yet.

"What?" She says casually. "Not going to shoot?"

"Lieutenant, we caught an intruder." Another man reports over his radio. "Orders?"

He listens for a few seconds before turning to the half-dressed Strelet. "Shoot her."

Before I can do anything, a burst of gunfire comes from the rafters.

Oh right, G11.

The bullets rain down upon the fuel tank and it starts spraying fuel all over. It must have been pressurized. HK 416 whips her rifle out from around her shoulder and starts firing away. "Commander, get to the entrance!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" I yell, dashing for the entrance.

The large door had been opening as the alarm went off and it's fully open at this point. I aim for the sunlit street outside and run pell-mell for escape.

Then a group of Strelets notices me.

For a second, my brain locks up, but then survival instincts kick in.

I raise my pistol and fire at them without even properly aiming. I don't care if I hit them (and if I did at this rate it would be pure chance) since I just want them to not be firing at me for a few seconds.

It appears to have worked since I made it out of the building, but I don't stop running there. I don't know how big the explosion is going to be, but I don't want to be anywhere near it.

"Commander, we're clear!" HK 416 is hauling G11 behind her and G11 is firing at anyone trying to pursue. "Detonate!"

I raise up the small detonator and squeeze the button.

For one, single, horrifying second, nothing happens.

Then an explosion that shakes the heavens blows outwards, sending debris in all directions.

A lot of said debris rushes past me at lethal speeds. It's sheer luck that nothing takes my head off. Smaller items batter my face and limbs, but nothing large enough to cause lasting harm.

HK 416 grabs my hand and starts dragging me away. G11 and, now that I'm looking forwards, the twins are running away as well.

We make it to the alley we had originally peeked from and I collapse. We all sit there and pant for a minute or so as the tinnitus fades.

"Holy... holy crap. We survived." I say, once I can hear myself think again.

"Yep!" 9 slumps to the ground next to me with a grin. "We did it!"

HK 416 sets herself down on my other side. rifle still held at the ready and glancing back at the Paradeus base. Former Paradeus base.

"I never want to do that again."

"What are you saying?" UMP 45 crouches down in front of me.

"Huh?"

She picks up a larger shard of glass from the nearby storefront and hands it to me. I look at it for a second before I notice my reflection in it. A wide grin greets me and I have to reach up and feel to realize that it's actually mine.

"You look like you enjoyed yourself." She comments with an evil grin spreading across her face. "Well, I'll make sure to give you decoy duty from now on."

---

By the time we get back to the wall, the battle is over.

Commander Gentiane had routed the Paradeus forces that had fought her and we arrived as cleanup was starting.

The twins lead the way as we pass through the gate into the makeshift camp.

G11 had grabbed my sleeve as we walked. She sure seems to like doing that. Like she's keeping an eye on me, but in a really childish manner.

HK 416 took up a spot on my other side, scanning around for potential threats as always.

Fortunately, as I'm a human, I don't have to do the work. 404 is exempt by virtue of not being part of G&K. Instead, we're told to meet up with the commanders near the wall.

SOPMOD spots us as we move up to the wall and practically flies in our direction.

"Commander!" She calls happily. "I knew you'd survive!"

"That makes one of us." I say. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Yep! M4 and 15 and RO are safe too!" She thinks for a second. "And SV and Tokarev. Not sure about P90 or S.A.T. They were back in charge of covering the VIP."

"The VIP?" I blink. "Wait, MP Panagos is here?"

"That would be a yes."

I turn to the voice and find the burned woman, Angelia, leaning against a decrepit convenience store. She stands up as we approach. "Good work out there, Field Agent."

"T-thanks." I point at the members of 404. "They did most of the work, though."

"I'm sure." She turns and waves for us to follow her. "45, did you get what you were looking for?"

"Yes I did." She says. "And we may have an imminent problem."

"Yes?"

"Not here." UMP 9 looks around. "We're not really in a secure spot."

"See? She can learn." HK 416 says sarcastically. "Whatever, we fulfilled the mission requirements. Can we get paid yet?"

"Soon." Angelia says. "First let's report back to the commanders."

"Ugh." HK 416 rolls her eyes and returns to my side.

UMP 9 turns around and starts walking backwards. "So what do you want to do after we're done debriefing? We're gonna be getting a bunch of cash, and for once we're in a city, we can spend it."

"Not going to save it for the next time you get shot to pieces?" HK 416 says. "I'm not chipping in if you do."

"Oh, come on." 9 wheedles. "Let's go see what's going on in the fashion world!"

Even Angie and Sop turn to look at the T-doll who looks around at all of us guilelessly. "What?"

"Since when have you cared about fashion?" 45 asks.

"Yeah." Sop squints her eyes. "Maybe she was replaced by a sp-OW!"

Angelia whacks Sop's head lightly, certainly not hard enough to hurt the excitable Sop, but the T-doll rubs her head all the same. "Not funny. You can discuss your plans after we get a handle on what's happening."

"Fiiiiiine." 9 pouts.

"But seriously." 45 says as we return to walking. "What's up?"

"I figured it'd be nice to have cute clothes to wear when we meet Haddy's parents."

Huh. I forgot I was doing that... It's been a long day. A really long day. I pull out my phone to see it's only 0514. I still have time, don't want to be late.

"Are the shops going to be open this early?" HK 416 asks.

"Probably not." I respond. "Most everything opens at seven."

"But..." Sop whines. "By then it'll be too late!"

"Don't worry about it." I say. Frankly I want to limit the amount the two groups are able to interact with each other. "You're probably not going to spend any length of time talking with them."

"Really?" HK 416 frowns. "I wanted to talk with this other family of yours."

"Right, his, uh, third or fourth family." Sop says. "Since he belongs to us, and you and Griffon and his parents."

"I don't actually belong to them." I roll my eyes.

"So, we can just take you?" Sop asks, eyes shining.

"SOPMOD-" UMP 45 sighs, but before she can continue.

"Ah, Field agent." Commander Gentiane greets me as we walk around a parked truck.

G11 lets go of my sleeve as I salute while 404 regroups into the tight bundle they tend to favor, with 416 in the lead, closely followed by the twins. G11 brings up the rear, not currently being dragged.

"Morning, Commander." I greet her.

"You doing alright?" She asks. " You did have a building collapse on top of you."

"S.A.T. shielded me." I say. "And... that's hardly the craziest thing that's happened to me recently. Or the most lethal." I sigh.

"Mmm. Well, it comes with the territory I'm afraid. This is why we don't do Field Agents much." She shakes her head. "Anyway, we don't have much room in our tent, so I'm going to need you to come with us. UMP 45, I'd like you to come as well, but the rest of you should go clean up."

"Aww, but-"

"No buts, Sop." Angelia says. "We'll come get you when we're done."

Angie points to a tent with two policemen from Sector 3 posted on either side of the flap. They both look at me curiously as I pass. One of them seems particularly wary for some reason...

I follow the two human women and the T-doll into the indicated tent, to find Commanders Ricardo, Mikhail and Kylie. Also in attendance is M4A1, RO635, and Member of Parliament Panagos.

It's standing room only and, despite the colder temperatures, it's already uncomfortably warm in this tent.

"I hear you defeated the stuff chasing me." MP Panagos turns to me and offers her hand.

I shake it and throw on my best customer service smile. "It was no problem."

"Nonsense. Unless there's been a really elaborate prank being played on me and you're secretly a super-soldier, you've gone much further than you're obligated to."

"I..." I blink. "Well, thank you."

"No, thank you." She turns to M4A1 as well. "As well as you, young lady."

"Just doing my job, ma'am." M4 says cooly, but I can see a small smile on her face.

"Alright, with congratulations out of the way." Commander Gentiane claps her hands. "We've got some interesting findings we need to discuss."

UMP 45 stands up straighter. "While you were out here playing with Paradeus, My squad and the Field Agent were attempting to access the server in charge of Paradeus's communications. We managed to get to it and sift a bunch of data from it before we got caught and had to level the place."

"Is that what that explosion was?" Commander Mikhail scratches his bearded chin.

"The second one." UMP 45 confirms. "The first was a distraction."

"Hell of a distraction." Commander Kylie mutters. "We thought there were more enemies incoming."

"In any case, we managed to get some stuff from their network. It seems you were correct, Commander Gentiane, there is a spy in our midst. Or rather, was." UMP 45 grabs a laptop from the table and stares it for a second before a face appears on the screen.

Nobody I recognize.

"Yema Thorogold. He was one of your server techs until that first Paradeus attack yesterday morning. He escaped under the confusion and I'm fairly certain we marked him as KIA."

I gently elbow M4. "KIA?"

"Killed In Action." She whispers back.

"He's returned to Paradeus successfully, at least according to what we pried out of the network."

"Can we trust this data?" Commander Ricardo asks skeptically.

"Presumably, they had no reason to be sending false traffic." UMP 45 states. "Many of the other messages line up with the combat reports and times from your battle."

Angelia shakes her head. "You even checked that?"

"Of course." She plasters on her own customer smile, the remarkably fake one she used on Ricardo and Kylie yesterday. "It wouldn't do for you to doubt the validity of our information. Why, we may not get paid!" She laughs lightly. Somehow, I feel like it's the scariest thing I've heard in awhile, right up here with the whistle of a missile launching.

"In any case, that means there's no traitor, right?" Mikhail looks around. "At least not anymore."

"Not that we should be slacking on security, but it looks like it's that way for now." Commander Gentiane affirms. "So, onto the next order of business. Now that we're finally back here, we have to escort MP Panagos for the last two days of her contract."

I see nods around the table, but I'm a little confused. I'm about to ask when M4 leans in and clicks on my radio so she can talk to me non-verbally. "We were escorting her because we were hired as bodyguards for a week. She's had several threats on her life from a group we suspected was backed by Paradeus. The contract ends in two days."

That does explain why they were guarding her when she was eating. I nod in understanding.

"M4," Angelia draws the T-doll's attention. "I'm putting AN-94 and AK-12 on her protection duty for the rest of today. You've done more than your share and you need to get repaired."

"Yes, commander." M4 says out loud. "Do I have an assignment until then?"

"Escort the Field Agent for now. We don't need to be losing resources right now." She continues in a mutter. "Not that we may have much choice."

I hang my head sheepishly.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," UMP 45 places her hands on the table. "What's happening in two days?"

MP Panagos speaks up. "I have a speech to make. Once that speech is made, I do not believe they are going to waste resources attempting to silence me."

"Awfully calm for a hunted woman." Commander Ricardo grins. "Good for you."

"I appreciate the compliment." She responds. "In any case, I am very grateful I hired you. You have proven to be a very capable group."

"We do our best." Commander Gentiane smiles tiredly, but there's satisfaction in that smile. I find that I have a similar expression on my face as well.

The conversation turns to the new temporary base. Most of the supplies have been packed up and sent to this new location, called only "Point Degurechaff". It sounds like most of the T-dolls are currently setting everything up around there. Commanders Kylie and Mikhail are going back to oversee that while Ricardo and Gentiane finish out this contract. Once the contract is over, we're all to report back to this new base to regroup and deal with our next contract.

"We'll discuss that when we get closer-" Commander Gentiane is speaking when AR-15's voice comes in through the comms.

"M4, we have a situation."

M4 immediately readies her weapon and taps her ear. "Go ahead."

I grab my own pistol and draw it, ears straining waiting for the next words.

"You might want to find the Field Agent and bring him here, 45 if you can find her, and maybe Gentiane?"

"Enemies?" 45 says on the radio channel.

"No... not exactly."

I hear some yelling in the background and a chill runs down my spine. "Ah, fuck." I tuck the pistol back into my vest.

"Yeah..."

RO 635 sighs. "I'll go."

Commander Gentiane looks at the exasperated T-dolls and my expressions. "What's going on?"

"Looks like we have guests." UMP 45 smiles. "You may want to follow."

I'm already leaving the tent with M4 on my heels, her face weary.

"Did you hear what I heard?" I ask.

"Probably." M4 sighs.

We round a corner to find AR-15 looking mildly pissed. "I tried to stop them-"

"Not your job." RO635 sighs again. Poor Wo- er, T-doll. "Where are they?"

"Right around the corner."

I buttoned up the jacket properly for the first time since I put it on... I was going to say, this morning, but it was the first time I ever put on the jacket, and it was a morning and a half ago. It already looks like it's seen several combat zones... because it has.

So, pistol concealed. I set my rifle down and brush as much dust off as I can. Nothing I can do about the bandage on my leg. My face and hands are scraped up from the multiple explosions I've been way too close too.

Blegh.

I round the corner with the four T-dolls close on my heels to find something I had feared.

A tall man with black hair and piercing grey eyes is currently pointing his finger at SOPMOD, who is growling at him like a dog, crouched down to leap.

UMP 9 and G11 are harassing a younger girl with brown hair and green eyes. The girl is currently mocking UMP 9's hairstyle by grabbing her hair in bundles and making mock twintails, letting me know just how mature the insults are at the moment.

HK 416 is staring down an older woman with similar features to the youngest of them is talking, but if looks could kill...

The man notices me first. "Ah, Hadwin!"

"Commander!" Sop's head whips around. "Stay back! They're here to kidnap you!"

M4 puts her face in her hands, AR-15 scowls, and RO635 looks like she wants to cry.

"You're not taking away our commander." G11 says.

"He's not yours." The younger girl says.

"More ours than yours. Who do you work for, Paradeus?" UMP 9 accuses.

"416, 9, G11." UMP calls in a way too cheery voice that gets all of their attention. "Back off."

They all comply like they 45 poured hot water on them.

RO635 walks up and grabs Sop by her collar and drags the rabid dog away. "I'm so sorry, sir."

I push past the T-dolls as they start arguing among themselves and shake my head, turning to face the three humans standing in front of me.

"Hi Dad, Mom, Lexi."

"I assume you have a good explanation for this?" Dad asks pointedly.

"Well..."