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.

30. Chapter 30: The Fool's Errand-boy

0728, Sunday, April 11th.

I wake up from what feels like the most restful sleep I've had in years to the commotion of a PMC preparing for war. The dolls are cleaning weapons, counting bullets, and generally gearing up. They're doing it really quietly too, probably why I hadn't woken up earlier.

Once I sit up, several sets of eyes flick my way.

"Good morning, Hadwin." 416 walks over, still cleaning her gun. "Commander Gentiane requests your presence."

I grimace, but climb off the bed and stretch. My head pounds with every sound arriving at my eardrums. I make a detour to the bathroom. Probably shouldn't drink the tap water, but I'm dehydrated.

After taking a few mouthfuls I feel marginally better. I don't look too well though, face gaunt and dark bags under my eyes. In addition, my beard is starting to grow to irritating levels again. All in all, I look like a mess.

Oh well. I'm not here to win a beauty contest.

I step outside the bathroom and Eva leaning in the doorway from the hall. She looks up as I walk her way. "Hey. Good morning."

"'Morning." I point past her. "I need to talk to my commander."

"She can wait a few minutes, right?" Eva waves for me to follow her. "Sophia- or, um… SOPMOD? She's been teaching me some things about dolls. It's been an entertaining night."

"...Shouldn't you have been sleeping?"

She laughs and scratches her head. "Yeah, but I was kinda excited. I've never been in combat before."

I can feel my face twisting into something unpleasant, but she's not paying attention.

"In any case, I learned a lot, so I'll be able to help with field repairs." She directs us to 408. "SOPMOD also helped me assemble that exo suit for you."

I blink. "Oh, right. Never got around to building that."

She gestures. "It's in there."

"Thanks." I manage to smile weakly. "I really appreciate it."

"...Are you doing okay? You look kinda pale."

"I'll be fine." I step into 408, and find Sop and 15 talking to each other. They both turn to me as I enter.

"Haddy!"

"Hadwin." 15 smiles. "Good morning."

Sop points over to the exo suit. "Look! We got the exo thingy assembled! Now you'll be ready for later!"

"That's… a worrying way to put that." I ruffle her hair a bit. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"Sure!" She grabs my arm and drags me over to it.

"Sop, I need the Linker to be able to use the suit." I try to dig my heels in but only succeed in leaving two drag marks in the plush carpet.

"Oh yeah." She lets go. "I'll go get it! You stay here." She bolts out the door before I can get a word in.

"Hey bro." AEK walks past and slaps my shoulders. "Ready for the day?"

"No." I smirk back at her. "You look ready."

She shrugs. "I keep myself ready. You never know when combat'll happen."

Eva snorts. "Like in the middle of a ballroom?"

AEK either misses the sarcasm or chooses to ignore it. "Exactly. Anyway, I'm headed out to do a quick scout. I'll be back in-" Her eyes glaze over for a fraction of a second. "-about fifteen minutes, assuming nobody tries to arrest me."

"Drive safe." I nod, and she departs as well.

15 steps over to my side, and I awkwardly grab her opposite shoulder with my hand and pull her close for a second.

"Sleep well?"

"Well enough."

She hums quietly, before stepping out from under my arm. "I'm going to finish getting ready."

"Right."

She too walks out the door.

Eva crosses her arms. "You sure are friendly with a lot of them."

"Most of the dolls here are ones that specifically wanted to spend time around me." I glance back at the room to see the eyes of 11-1 looking at me curiously. "If you talk to Echelon 10, you'll see what more normal reactions are."

"Oh, yes. I met Five-seveN and FAL earlier. And Fel. He's so adorable!"

"He is, isn't he."

Sop skids to a halt outside the room, my Linker dangling in her claw. "Found it!"

I accept the object and pull it down past my head and around my neck. Okay, time to get ready.

I said, get ready. Dammit, you don't really have a choice in this. I reprimand myself two more times before I'm drawn out of my internal thoughts by Sop's face right in front of mine.

"Do you think he crashed?" She wonders aloud.

"Humans don't crash." Eva sighs.

"Ah, sorry." I brace myself and pull the linker back up and turn it on.

A short diagnostic informs me everything is fine, and then my vision is clear. I take a deep breath and look around the room.

Nothing out of the ordinary. 11-1, especially SV-98, is staring back, but that's kinda to be expected. No voices either.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Okay.

"Haddy?" Sop waves her hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?"

"...Yeah, sorry. Just looking for someone."

"Oh? Who?" She tilts her head.

"She's not here." I ruffle her hair again and she grins happily. "Alright, time to suit up."

I back into the exo and plug it into the Linker, the metal frame snapping into place around me. I roll my arms around a few times to make sure it feels alright. The diagnostic comes back clean so I take a few steps. It's in perfect order as far as I can tell.

"Okay." My rib twinges as I take a deep breath. "Enough delaying. Time to talk to Gentiane."

I walk up to and knock on door 411.

In short order, G41 wrenches the door open and leaps with wild abandon. This time I'm aware she's going to leap and have an exo suit on. I catch her and set her down on the food behind me, and she smiles brightly. "Hi!"

"Hello G41." I nod. "Is Commander Gentaine in?"

"Yes." I glance up to see Commander Gentaine is leaning in the doorframe, holding the door open. "I am."

I stand up straight. "Okay, I'm ready for the day."

She notes the exo suit and nods slightly. "I see. 41, why don't you go find Sop to play with?"

41's ears perk up and she nods with her whole body a few times before bolting… down the hall, away from the rest of our rooms.

Sop, hearing her name, pokes her head out and watches G41 disappear around a corner.

"Uh…"

"She'll figure it out eventually. Come in."

Reluctantly, I walk in and she closes the door behind me.

Inside is a group that I honestly expected to be here. Ange, though beat to hell, is sitting up against the headboard of one of the beds. Next to her is AK-12 who is fussing about with bandages that… really don't look like they're needed. M4A1 and RO sit off to the side, M4A1 eyeing me with suspicion and RO refusing to look in my direction. 45 is the only really friendly face in the crowd, and she pats the edge of the folding couch beside her as a place to sit.

I sit down and Gentiane sits on the unoccupied bed. Or rather, the bed G36 is currently sitting on, sleeping.

"Hadwin." Gentiane draws my attention squarely to her. "What are you planning on doing?"

I drum my fingers on my leg. I made up my mind earlier, so I don't have to think about it. "I'm going to quit."

Ange's face draws into a tight line and Gentaine's face falls into a resigned expression. "Shit."

"-After we get out of the city." I continue. "I'm not the brightest kid on the block, but I realize we're going to be doing something and I don't want any of the dolls to get hurt."

I can see RO's eyes flick my way out of the corner of my eye, but I try not to react.

"I can count on you to do what I tell you?" Gentiane asks cautiously.

"Unless you're gonna order us all to die, sure." I cross my arms. "I'm doing this for the dolls, not you."

AK-12's eyes open, focusing on me, then surveying the room. "Excuse me, but I don't understand why everyone is so tense."

"I'll tell you later." Ange says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Since you're on board, I guess that means we have everyone here to start the briefing." Commander Gentaine rolls her neck. "Alright. Starting from the top: We're in a really bad spot right now. Anisim's right, there's those KCCO splinter bastards outside the walls. Kylie and Mikhail have arrived at the outskirts of the city last night, and they sent some photos."

A bunch of pictures of KCCO units appear in my vision, courtesy of the Linker. One in particular catches my interest. A Hydra with the marking И1704 on the side.

The one that killed me.

I close my eyes and shake my head once to clear it. No, it's not real. It's just in your head. I'm just going crazy, nothing to worry about.

Gentaine continues without noticing my weirdness. "Kylie reported that they went into combat with a few Paradeus units in the early morning. Just a patrol, so it wasn't that long, but it looks like the KCCO are trying to probe their way into the city. Most likely, they're after the same information Paradeus and we are after; The location of the Pike Node. It's in Paldiski, Estonia right outside of Talinn."

My Linker helpfully pulls up maps, and I watch as it indicates a train route up through several countries to reach the city of Talinn.

"We should be able to reach there via train. This is our end goal: We get to the Pike Node first, we get to go home and retire. Paradeus or KCCO gets there first? We can kiss the world goodbye."

It says a lot that nobody is making light of the situation right now.

"However, to get to the train network, we first have to get out of the city. This will be complicated, as all of the exits are being guarded fairly heavily as we saw on the way in. I currently have AEK doing a lap on her bike to check for any weak links, but right now we're assuming that we're going to have to pry our way through."

Ange carefully speaks up, though her voice is still raw. "Unfortunately, I will not be very useful in the fight, clearly."

"Which is why we're going to get her out first." Gentiane cuts in. "We've got medical staff outside that can help her once she's out, but if she's discovered inside the walls we can expect her to encounter opposition. The rest of us are going to stay to try to cripple Paradeus' efforts. We should be able to slow them down."

"I'd leave by myself, but-" Ange coughs and her hand is dyed red with blood. AK-12 quickly swoops in with bandages looking more worried than I've ever seen her before.

I steel my expression. "Okay. What am I doing?"

"Right now? Relaxing." Gentiane's features soften a bit. "Until we have a full plan, we're not going to risk doing anything. Just don't stray too far from the hotel."

I glance at 45 who nods at me. "Fine." I stand up. "I'll stay close. Call me when you need me."

"Hadwin."

My hand stops on the door handle.

"I'm sorry for how harshly I talked to you yesterday. And, thank you for sticking with us for now." Gentiane's voice drifts in my direction.

"Like I said. I'm doing this for the dolls, not for you." I open the door and exit, letting it close behind me before letting myself relax slightly.

She's using me. Of course she is. She's manipulative, and I can't trust the words out of her mouth.

She seems genuine, but…

Whatever. I can't handle thinking about that too right now.

I guess I'll head to breakfast.

I make it halfway to the elevator before the door to 411 opens again, and RO steps out. "Had- Field Agent?"

I stop and turn back, keeping my face neutral. "RO635."

She winces as I say her full name, but continues walking towards me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

I cross my arms and say nothing.

"You… You're really leaving after we get out of the city?"

"Yes." I keep my answer short.

"Then, this will be the last day we work together." She nods to herself. "So, I would like to bury the hatchet. I know that you're angry and I know an apology won't fix it, but I hope we can at least work together for a common goal."

She offers her hand, and I stare at it. "I did say I was doing this for the dolls." I change my focus to her face. "But, I'm doing this for the dolls I care about. If you're protecting 15 and Sop, then we're on the same side." I turn back to the elevator. "Other than that, you do your thing and I'll do my own."

"...Understood." Her voice is bitter.

I press the elevator button and wait as the car arrives.

"Is there a way that I can make up for my mistakes?" She calls out. "We are friends, right?"

I refuse to turn back to her. "I thought we were. Seems like I was mistaken though." The doors of the elevator open and I walk in.

Before they can close, Aleah slips in.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"Breakfast."

She nods. "Sounds good. We can talk over food."

"...Do we have something to talk about?"

"What, am I not allowed to make small talk?" She mimes being offended.

"Heh. Alright."

The doors open and we grab a table before taking turns to grab food from the breakfast buffet.

Once we've both sat down, she folds her hands. "So, I haven't exactly been kept up to date on some things, only getting bits and pieces. If you could, I'd like you to explain some things. As your Adjutant, it's important that I'm clued in." She leans in slightly. "I'm not attached to Griffin, remember."

"Alright." I disengage the exo suit and unplug the Linker, not really wanting to use it while I'm eating. "Question away."

"First. What happened that suddenly put you and Gentiane at odds? I understand that she lied to you, but I don't know how exactly."

I had been expecting that after last night's conversation. "Gentiane set me up as a commander of the others so that they'll bond with me and be less suicidal. I wasn't told about this. Ricardo-" My body shivers just remembering that night. "-actually gave me an audio file of the conversation. I confronted her about it, and… well, it's obviously sent this entire month's worth of events into a weird place." I glance around to make sure nobody's within listening range. "Look, it's not really a secret that I'm probably in love with a few of the dolls." I finally admit to myself as much as I am talking to Aleah. "But there's a shadow over it, one of manipulation."

She taps her fingers on her tray. "So I was correct in my inferences last night."

"Yeah… it wasn't as convincing as you seem to think it was, but yeah."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Humans… we hold love as this… this holy grail of emotions. Something everyone wants, even needs just to feel fulfilled. Over the years, we've turned it into something that shouldn't be tampered with, something sacred. Our stories speak of it being twisted and used against people, a weapon most vile only used by the worst villains."

"Isn't love a chemical reaction, like anger or lust?"

I nod my head. "Yeah. That's the problem. We have no control over it, and when it hits, it's overwhelming." I glance upwards, like I can see through the four intervening floors to see those I care about. "So when you said that it's fine if it's a bit wrong, you lost us humans. We want it to be perfect, even if that's impossible. Gentiane made the whole situation feel bad."

"I see." She stabs her eggs with a fork. "She played matchmaker and you didn't want her to."

"Kind of. If she had straight up told everyone involved that this was some sort of dating thing, then I don't think I would have played along. But, since she didn't and I did, I now have feelings for 15 and… a few others, and thinking about that through the lens that someone is pulling my strings just feels wrong."

"Interesting."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. After all, to us dolls, we only know what it's like to have someone pulling the strings. We all have owners. Well, aside from exceptions like 404. It's highly illegal, but I suppose it does happen. I don't claim to speak for all dolls, but generally I think we wouldn't consider what she did too egregious."

I grimace. "Really?"

"Mmm." She stabs more of her food. "You know, I think that she could have done a lot worse. She just put you in a bunch of doll's orbit. Sure, it wouldn't happen 'naturally' or whatever, but it doesn't sound or look like she ordered anyone to actually try to seduce you. She just stuck you in the same room and figured something would happen."

"If you want to hear about her doing that, ask RO or UMP 9." My voice is completely flat. "They were told to encourage relationships between me and their teammates."

"...That explains your hostility towards RO."

"Yeah."

"Still, the fact that you have several doll friends and not everyone is knocking on your door asking to jump you means that it wasn't a direct order. That's about as much freedom as a doll ever gets to have."

"To fall in love or not?"

She smiles. "Yes."

"That's bullshit. You can think; you should get the choice to pick from whoever you like." I look down at my own rapidly cooling food and aggressively stick my fork into it.

"From your perspective, we don't have enough of a choice. From ours, it's more than we're usually offered." She finishes her plate and dabs at her mouth with a napkin. "I suppose I see where you're coming from. Do you see where we come from?"

"...Sure." I look away. "It still feels weird."

"Weirder than falling in love with several dolls?"

I find that I don't have a rebuttal.

"So, onto the next thing I would like to discuss."

I look up from my now-cold food. "Hmm?"

"What are you going to do once you get home?"

I stop with my bite halfway to my mouth. "I… I don't know." The bite enters my mouth and I chew it for a few seconds. "Maybe go back to fast food. I'm not really qualified for anything else."

"Not qualified." She looks off to the windows overlooking the street. "I think you're qualified to do a lot."

"Maybe." I finish off my own plate of food. "Hopefully I'll get a chance to think about it once I'm back."

"We'll think about it together." She smiles at me.

"...Huh?"

"Did you forget? Gentaine gave my core to you. You bought my frame. I don't belong to Griffin, I belong to you."

I stare at the tall, red eyed doll. "Right."

"I'll be following you wherever you go until you discard me." She ducks her head in a way that feels like a bow. "Please treat me well."

"...Likewise."

---

After breakfast, I arrive back on the fourth floor only to be practically pushed back into the elevator car.

Ithaca steps into the elevator, presses the lobby button and blocks me in as Aleah steps out of the elevator.

"...Hi, Ithaca."

"Hello, Hadwin. It's a wonderful morning, isn't it?"

"It could be better." I grimace.

"Oh? What's on your mind?"

"Nothing too important, I guess." I shake my head to try to clear it. "What are you doing? Running recon?"

"No. I am escorting you to the nearby park."

Her eyes lock on mine until the elevator doors open and I have to vacate to let other people use the elevator.

Eventually I found the words to respond to the prim doll. "What if I don't want to go to a park?"

She smiles pleasantly. "I haven't had a chance to go out with you yet this weekend, and given that we only have a few hours at most before we're on the move, I find that we only have the present. If you truly wish not to go, I can't force you, but I would appreciate your company."

Looking down at myself, I'm not really fit to go on a date. "Well, let me get-"

"It will be fine." She interrupts, hooking her arm around mine. "After all, time is short."

As we walk, I feel like everyone is staring at us. After all, there's this beauty walking confidently arm in arm with a scrawny, unshaven dude missing a hand and wearing an exo suit. I kinda wish I had time to throw on my coat to hide the exo and hide some of the weirdness, but alas.

"I hear you're leaving."

I glance at the doll walking arm in arm with me in surprise. "How-"

"A little birdie told me." She smiles serenely. "Do not worry, I am fairly certain none of the other dolls know this. I will keep it a secret until you choose to reveal it."

"Thanks. I don't know how most of them are going to react, but it's not gonna be pretty."

"I don't see why it wouldn't." Ithaca gently tugs me to turn down a street. "Most of us are reasonable."

"I'm more worried about the unreasonable ones." I accidentally lock eyes with a random pedestrian as I scan the area and he quickly looks away. "I… I don't want to hurt anyone, you know? But I've been doing worse and worse recently."

Ithaca nods. "We've noticed. Poor S.A.T. has been making plan after plan to try and fix that."

I smile slightly at the mental image of a slightly panicked S.A.T. "So, I think I might need to leave. It hurts, it hurts so much, but if I don't, I might be dead."

She glances my way, her eyes scrutinizing my face until I have to look away. "If you tell us that, I think many of us will accept that."

"..."

"I myself see it like this. You're not a particularly strong human, so it makes sense to keep you away from the battlefield. Sector 3 is a white zone, and that would be the perfect place to keep you."

I restrain my annoyance at the phrasing.

"It's not like we couldn't talk. There's still enough of an interconnected network all throughout Europe to communicate. If you keep your Linker with you, we can keep in communication even once you leave. It wouldn't be the end of everything if you don't want it to be."

I contemplate her words as we turn down another street, which has an opening in the buildings a few blocks down which I have to assume is the park she wanted to go to. "Won't you all forget?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, Gentiane will undo the, uh…" I wave my hand. "Well, the commander level access. You'll forget, and it'll feel like seeing P90 all over again."

"Have you talked to any of Ricardo's former dolls?"

I shake my head.

"Talk to M14 sometime. She's a lovely girl and was devastated when her commander went rogue. She was asked if she wanted to have her memory formatted and refused, saying that she cherished those memories despite how tainted they might be. Many of his other dolls had the same sentiment." She cocks her head. "Do you think that we would willingly forget you when most of us wouldn't want to if you were a traitor?"

"...I guess not."

We arrived at the park shortly. It's not that big, just two blocks wide, but it's half-covered in trees and has a path winding through it. There's a clearing in the middle where several dozen people are able to spread out blankets. Some of them are eating, some are reading books, or just sleeping with a face towards the sky.

Ithaca pulls me towards an unoccupied wooden bench and we both sit down.

"Why don't you get out of your Exo suit?" Ithaca suggests. "It would be more comfortable."

I hesitate, but figure that I can put it back on in a second if I need to. I disengage the Linker and step out of the suit before sitting down on the bench beside the beautiful doll.

She grabs my shoulders and pulls me towards her, forcing my head into her lap, facing outwards toward the clearing.

"Uh… Ithaca?"

"Shh." Her fingers run through my hair. "Just watch the people out there."

My eyes dart around, but I don't understand what she's getting at. It looks like a bunch of normal people. Laughing, chatting, reading, sleeping. There's a family out on a picnic with two toddlers. There's an elderly couple leaning on each other with smiles on their faces. There's a group of guys throwing a small ball around to each other.

Nothing out of the ordinary. At least, for the normal people.

They don't know that Paradeus is kidnapping people to turn into soldiers. They don't know that the KCCO are outside the walls, trying to get into the city. They don't know that Sangvis ringleaders are in the city, doing god-knows-what and causing blackouts.

I can't help but be just a little envious of them.

"Do you see?"

"I can see them, yep."

"This is what I wanted to see." She hums slightly. "Happy people."

"They don't know what's going on in the city, or right outside."

"No, they don't. They don't need to either. We're going to take care of the enemy so that they can live their lives in peace. That's why I work for Griffin, to see the beauty in life."

I continue to look out into the park, eyes drawn to a couple that had taken off running, both of them laughing as they charge around the other visitors to the park who glance up briefly before returning to their own little worlds.

"I want all of these people to remain ignorant of the wars outside the walls. They should not need to worry about ELIDs or Paradeus or the KCCO. They should worry about what to eat for dinner, or what clothes to wear tomorrow. They should worry about trivial things."

"...I see."

"Maybe someday you and I can worry about trivial things, but right now we're these people's line of defense against the dark. I'll be a defender until there's no more dark to cause worries."

We sit in silence, my head on her lap, looking out over the park.

A young girl about my sister's age is chatting with her friends, describing something with wild hand gestures. Thinking of Lexi puts the entirety of Sector 3 to the forefront of my mind. I recall the time I've spent running around aimlessly or just lying on the beach looking up at the clouds in the warmer months. I remember school and the parts that didn't suck, my friends and family. I remember eating around a dinner table and stargazing at night.

I never thought about the ELIDs outside the walls. Never thought about foreign russian forces coming along to kill us, or rogue AI-

…Well, maybe that one, but now it's a laughable little side note compared with the good AI I know.

If I could go back to that… I can go back to that. Kind of. I'll never be a full human again. I'll never be able to be that young boy that was working fast food because he didn't know what to do with life. When I go back, I'll be able to look up at the sky and not worry about guns and bombs.

Once I'm out of this city…

My view of the park starts to blur, and Ithaca starts running her finger through my hair again.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Hadwin. Humans and their thoughts don't make much sense to me. I will say this though." She leans over and I turn my head to look up at her. "I, nor any of my fellow dolls, will begrudge you leaving to be happy. None of us will forget you. You've helped us back into the light when we were desperate, it sounds like, and now it's our turn to stick up for you."

"...Thanks."

She nods and I once more look out over the park, though I can't see anything through the tears in my eyes.

"Just relax for now. We don't know when this peace will end." Ithaca starts to hum a tune I don't recognize. It's a nice, peaceful tune, if slightly mournful.

I close my eyes and just let out the tears, doing my best to regulate my breathing as it starts to hitch.

So quietly I miss it at first, Ithaca's voice sings out a few lines.

"And I don't want the world to see me,
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am."

She returns to humming, and I continue to weep quietly.

It'll be some time before we go back to the Hotel.

---

"Oh good, you're back." I turn to see Commander Gentiane walking out of her door, G36 behind her. "We're about to start the operation."

I glance at M200, whose expression falls slightly. I told her we'd try to make it to a open air concert today, but-

"I need you and Echelon 11-1 and 11-2 to cause a distraction for Paradeus." Commander Gentiane continues. "Ange and DEFY are going to try to head out of the South gate. If you can, try to make a distraction in the north west side of the city."

I take a breath. "Alright. How do you want me to do that?"

"GeneLab HQ is in that sector. I'd suggest either infiltrating it and breaking things or just walking in guns blazing."

RPK exits the room, the rest of DEFY supporting Ange behind her. "Oh… sounds like fun."

"That sounds a lot like you're telling us to go die." I narrow my eyes and I can feel my hackles raise. Or, maybe it's just the Linker.

"If you can find a safer alternative, be my guest."

"Maybe talk to Anisim?" Eva pipes up. I glance behind myself to see she had crept up behind us. "He seems like a reasonable enough person. He might let us out if we ask."

Commander Gentaine looks at me.

"When I scouted GeneLab with the UMP twins yesterday, we encountered these two." I gesture to Eva and Lucas. "They were there for a tour and we decided to tag along. Anisim saw us on the security cameras and decided to have a little chat with us… wasn't this on UMP 45's report?"

"...I didn't have time to read most of it." Gentiane sighs. "I was too busy trying to interpret the data on the Key. Alright, if you think you can convince him or even just make a big enough show, go ahead."

I nod.

"In the meantime, I'm going to take Echelon 1 and 10 to assist me in getting DEFY out. Keep your Linker on and be geared up. We'll tell you when we're in position to go." Her face softens a little bit as she glances at M200's downtrodden face. "If you want to go to the concert in the meantime, we'll let you go, but when I tell you we're ready, you have to start a distraction."

M200's face brightens, and I reluctantly nod.

"Alright then. Good luck out there." Her hand claps down on my shoulder. Before I can shake it off, she continues. "Don't die."

"Uh-huh." I growl.

As she continues past me, I notice AK-12 once more opens her eyes and looks around to try to gauge why I'm suddenly so hostile, but the elevator arrives before she has a chance to ask.

I turn myself around and head back to 409.

M200 follows, tugging on the sleeve of my jacket. "Hadwin, what are we going to do?"

"Follow orders, for now." I smile down at her. "But I need to get my M16 first."

"Right." She nods. "I need to get my rifle too."

She turns to her room and I continue into the room I had slept in the past few nights. First, I unplug from the Exo suit and pull on the tac vest that I had been forgoing the past few days. It's completely black, but for some reason I feel like I can see blood on it. Afterwards, I stuff every spare magazine into it and put the Exo back on. Then I load up everything else that I think I might need into the backpack, including my M16 so as to not appear suspicious.

That AT4 has to stay behind though, it's too suspicious.

Lastly, I throw on my Griffin crimson jacket and put the backpack on overtop. Checking myself in the mirror, I don't look normal, but I don't look like someone a cop will search because I look like I'm going to shoot up an office.

Hopefully.

"Hadwin."

I almost ignore RO, but pause before I leave the room. "Yes?"

"Anti-Rain and 404 are going to be on standby until DEFY gets out of the city. We've been ordered to be ready to assist Gentiane if she needs it, but…" She trails off. "If… if you need either of us, send me a message. I'll make sure you get help."

I nod once and tug on the handle.

"And!" She raises her voice slightly before the door can open. "Um… When it's time for you to go, I have something I want to tell you. I know you don't want to, but will you at least hear me out?"

I turn back to her. "If we make it out."

"...Thank you." Her voice is almost impossible to hear as she casts her gaze downwards.

I exit the room only to find a few more obstacles in my way.

G11 grabs my jacket as the rest of 404 steps up to me.

"Well, looks like you're off to war, meine kleine Maus." 45 grins. "Ready to go back to hell?"

"Did I ever leave?" I give her a wan smile. "But yeah. Vacation's over."

"It was nice while it lasted." UMP 9 agrees. "Well, aside from learning that-"

416 steps up before 9 can continue, plants a hand on either shoulder and pushes her face into mine.

I accept the kiss, though I'm acutely aware that there's several sets of eyes looking my way. She also holds the kiss for a lot longer than I was expecting, and I start feeling the need to come up for air.

When she finally lets go, she steps back, examines my face and nods. "Good luck, meine Schatz."

"You too."

G11 looks over at 9, still not letting go of my jacket. "What were you saying, 9?"

"...It's not important." 9 mutters.

45 walks up to me, puts her hand on my cheek, and smiles up at me. "If you die, I'll reanimate-"

"Already heard it." I place my hand on her head and ruffle her hair a bit. "Don't worry, I'll call if I need you to save me again."

"Ja, see that you do."

Then, she stands on her toes and plants a quick kiss on my lips before turning back. "Alright, 404, follow me."

416 turns to follow and G11 reluctantly lets go of me. I pat her head on the way by and she smiles at me before following her two other teammates.

Once they've gone into their room, I glance at 9.

"..What?"

"Aren't you going to follow them?"

She rolls her eyes. "Eventually."

I can't help but feel a smirk cross my face. "I see. You're waiting for your kiss, aren't you?"

"Wha- NO! You're such a fucking creep!" She takes a few steps away, but her face is clearly mischievous. "Are you still trying to win that bet?!"

I sigh. "No, 9. We're going to war now. The day will be over before you know it and you'll be free from my really bad choice of a bet. Don't worry about it."

"...Right." She frowns. "Y'know… I did some thinking."

"Uh-oh."

She rolls her eyes again. "Shut up for a second. Look, I told you I don't like you."

"Many times."

"Well, I think that it'll be fine if we're friends, alright? 416 likes you a lot, and despite… everything, so does my sister. I figured if you're going to be a part of our lives from now on, we should at least be on good terms."

"Which is why I bought you the jacket."

"I figured. Though I think my sister helped you find it, right?"

I nod. "No sneaking that past you. It's the only thing she wanted from the mall, to make you happy."

"...Danke." 9's voice is a bit smaller than expected. "So! We can be friends right up until you screw any of us over."

"Just don't shoot me or purposely leave me to Paradeus and I've got no objections."

She offers her hand and I shake it.

"Good luck, Haddy."

"Same, Reina."

She smirks and heads back to her room.

Alright, now-

"HADDY!" I'm almost bowled off my feet, the exo suit compensating as Sop swings around my torso to recover from her pounce. "You're going?"

I freeze up for a second before realizing that she means out of the hotel, not- "Yep. I'll be back later."

"Good." 15 steps out from behind me as well, followed by M4. "I'll be waiting."

Sop lets go, straightening up. "We'll be ready when you need us, Haddy!"

"If I need something torn to shreds, you're my first option." I turn to 15. "Be safe."

"I'm not a squishy human." She snorts, before her face relaxes. "You be safe."

"I will, since I am a squishy human."

She steps up close to me, her face flushing. "Um…"

M4 grabs Sop's shoulder. "We should head back to our room to prepare."

"M4? But, I wanna watch 15 and Haddy kiss-"

M4 drags Sop away forcibly, Sop's heels digging into the carpet as she protests weakly.

Once the door closes, 15's blush ramps up a bit. "S-so…"

"I'll be right back, my Star."

Her blush finally surpasses the shade of her hair and I lean in.

A few seconds later and there's a cough behind me. I straighten up as 15 reluctantly lets go of my jacket, my face flushed. It's Lucas and Eva.

"Uh… alright." Eva watches 15 slink past her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her face. "So, you're heading out."

"...Yep." I glance at Lucas. "What are you two going to be doing?"

"I'm going to head out with DEFY." He hikes his bag. "They're waiting for me in the garage."

"I'm going to stay here in case we need to repair some dolls in between this task and the next." Eva shrugs. "I'll be here to welcome you back with the others."

I pause for a second before looking at her in exasperation. "...Okay?"

Lucas sighs. "Hadwin…"

"No, I… I get it." I scratch my head. "Just…"

Eva looks between us. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing." Lucas sighs again. "Hadwin, you stay safe. I don't wanna be patching you up outside these walls."

I raise my fist and bump Lucas'.

"See you on the other side."

I watch Lucas enter the elevator and disappear behind the steel doors.

Eva turns to me. "So-"

The door to 406 opens and Echelon 11-2 walks out, S.A.T. with her hip shields in place, Ithaca with her own gear, Negev and AEK talking about something quietly.

"Hadwin." S.A.T. walks up to me. "We'll be waiting down in the lobby. Don't wait too long."

"I'm just waiting on 11-1." I nod. "I'll be down shortly."

She nods and the four dolls carefully load themselves into the elevator.

Actually, how are we getting the elevator so consistently? I know there's three cars, but-

Mk23 opens the door to the final room, leading the rest of 11-1 out.

M200 walks up to me. "We're ready to go."

"Awesome." I place my hand on her shoulder. "Everyone else?"

I get nods all around.

"Alright then, see you later!" Eva eagerly raises her fist.

I bump it reluctantly.

"We're off!" Mk23 cheers.

---

I have to say, this concert is… not the greatest.

The band is okay. M200 is enjoying herself. It still feels like a date since the rest of 11 is elsewhere, but still close by.

No, what is giving me pause is the location. We're out in the open at the end of a long corridor: The place SV-98 and I had been talking about sniping someone yesterday. I should have paid more attention to the location of the concert and maybe the programming too.

Once more, I can help but look at the sign detailing the day's events.

9:30-10:30, Mayoral speech.
11-12, Four Nights of Grace concert.
12:30-1:30, Address by the CEO of GeneLab.

It's nearing the end of the concert, and my nerves are wired.

It didn't help that I hadn't noticed the sign for a good first half of the show. It was during halftime, as the band had paused their set briefly to talk, that I had heard a whisper in the back of my mind over the roar of the crowd.

He's going to be here.

That whisper had prodded me to look around, leading to me discovering the sign.

Back in the present, my mind races as I try to come up with a plan. This place isn't that far into the northwestern portion of the city, but it should be good, right? We can-

I feel a tug on my jacket, and M200 looks up at me excitedly. "That was wonderful!"

"I'm glad." I smile at her.

"So, where should we go next?"

"Well…"

My eyes close. Briefly, I recall all of the things I've done the past few days. The relative peace I've been able to enjoy. The offer to go back to Sector 3 and forget it all.

Once I start this, I can't go back.

I let the last available lifeline float away and reluctantly point to the sign. "Looks like we can cause our disturbance here."

"...Oh."

I mentally send a signal to the rest of 11-1. "Are you all in position?"

NTW is the one that answers. "Yes. These smoothies are weird."

I glance up at the building on the other end of the street, my Linker oh-so-helpfully zooming in on a few bright splashes of color on the upper terrace of the building.

"Can you assemble your rifles without getting caught?"

"...No, I don't think so." NTW's voice conveys a thoughtful frown. "Why?"

"Anisim will be here in half an hour." I look at M200, who's hefting her guitar case and glancing around. "This will be perfect if we can pull it off."

"Do you have a plan?"

"...Is everyone on?"

I proceed to relay the plan I had just whipped up, asking NTW specifically if she sees any problems with it and adjusting it as we go. It takes the better part of our remaining time.

Once it's solid, I cut the connection, take a deep breath, and call Gentiane.

"Hadwin?"

"We've got a distraction plan… but I need your approval."

"Oh?" She sounds surprised. "Why?"

"Because-" I glance to the side as the crowd cheers to Anisim walking up onto the podium. "We're gonna be assassinating Anisim."

"Ladies and gentlemen! Dame i gospodo!" Anisim speaks into his microphone. "Welcome to the final day of our lovely little technology festival. Have you all had a good time?"

Cheers from the crow roar through the metal canyons.

I glance to the side to see M200 opening her guitar case. We had snuck up near the front of the stage, but off to the side at an extreme angle to reduce the likelihood of him seeing us and reacting.

Up in the fruit juice bar, Mk23 should be causing a ruckus with NTW and Tokarev while SV-98 assembles her weapon and prepares to snipe.

It's going to take about five minutes, according to the clock in my HUD.

I look around again as Anisim continues to blather on about this great city, but I tune him out as my nerves start to sharpen and filter out everything unnecessary.

My eyes flick around to the faces in the crowd, looking for anything that could cause a problem. No, it's all random people-

Wait.

I blink, and she's gone, but I swore I saw P90 glaring up at Anisim.

No, she's with Gentiane…

I rub my temples. I can't go crazy now. I have to keep it together.

"Hadwin?" Gentiane's voice comes through the Linker.

"I'm here."

"Go ahead. We're in position."

"Roger."

I glance at the timer. Still a few minutes.

"-due to recent unrest, we've been working night and day to work out a solution."

My ears catch the tail end of Anisim's statement, and the crowd holds their breath.

"And here it is! I am proud to present our latest in our series of combat units, the Patroller!"

From the alley a 30 meter tall unit carefully steps out. Its legs are the majority of its height, three of them leading up to a central pod that has some sort of cockpit embedded in it. Underslung is a 10 meter long cannon jutting forward.

"Holy shit." I curse.

"What? What are you seeing?"

"A Paradeus unit we've never seen before." NTW's calm voice comes over the radio. "Hadwin, now would be a good time to get 11-2 on the way."

"Yeah." I mentally connect to 11-2. "Negev-"

"On the move. Get away from the Patroller."

"But-"

Anisim's voice, enhanced by the speakers, booms out over the cheers of the crowd. "With this unit, we will no longer have to fear ELID attacks outside our walls. It has the capacity to-"

I get a message from 45 and my mind goes elsewhere. "Yeah?"

"I'm watching you on the news." She states. "Want a hand?"

"A hand?"

"Yes. A hand."

I glance back up at the towering Paradeus weapon. "Do it."

Suddenly, the screen behind Anisim springs to life, showing…

Showing…

Oh, god.

Is that how people are turned into Strelets?

Several of the audience members puke. Others just look very confused as the next short clip starts to play, a map of the kidnappings and… what has to be doctored footage, certainly.

Anisim looks behind him, realizing the crowd isn't paying attention to him anymore.

Oh…

"SV?" I call through the Linker.

"In three."

Three.

Two.

One.

There's a loud crack and Anisim's cheek suddenly starts leaking a red liquid.

SV-98 curses in Russian and a second shot rips through the silence, this one missing the man entirely.

"SV?!"

"The wind in this artificial canyon is too unpredictable!" She cries. "You'll have to-"

I don't wait around. I pull my pistol out and run around to the side of the stage.

The crowd starts to panic as Paradeus units pour out of the alleys, guns drawn.

One of the Strelets spots me and aims its weapon.

A loud boom reverberates and the Strelet falls over dead. M200 has her weapon ready, and is already aiming at the next guy.

"Thanks!" I yell as I climb the steps. Gotta get up there before-

Anisim appears at the top of the stairs.

For the briefest of moments, we lock eyes.

He sees the weapon in my hand, the look in my eye, and he knows.

He retreats at full tilt and I sprint up the stairs to land on the surface of the stage.

Anisim has his own weapon pulled out and trained on me.

He fires first, the bullet aimed true.

A blue ripple stops the bullet a meter away, the metal deforming against the mostly invisible barrier. S.A.T. has saved my life once again.

"Using a gunpowder weapon, huh?" I call. "I thought that was beneath you."

"What can I say? Revolves are just something special." Anisim gestures to his firearm.

I bring my Walther up and squeeze off two shots, but a Strelet gets in the way, dying for its master.

Anisim continues to back up and I press forwards as more Strelets start swarming the stage.

The crowd is running all around in a panic now and 11-2 are able to get close enough to the stage to start firing. AEK's and Aleah's guns roar, forcing the Strelets to pay attention to them.

Anisim almost gets to the stairs on the opposite side of the platform, but jerks back as a bullet from SV-98 sparks on the metal railing.

With the help of the Exo suit, I'm able to run around the crowd and get close to Anisim. I aim my pistol-

He whips around with inhuman speed and knocks the gun from my augmented fingers. "YOU!"

"ME!" I snarl back, rearing back a hand for a punch.

He intercepts it with his own hand and sweeps my leg out from under me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the Patroller start to engage 11-2, but NTW's round pings off…

Holy shit, that shield is visible in the daylight.

The MGs move their aim, and M200 also focuses on the new threat, leaving me to struggle with Anisim.

He brings his revolver to bear and I bring my leg up to kick it out of his hand. He maintains a hold on it unfortunately and fires a round wildly. It's inside the protective field S.A.T. has set up for me, meaning the shot pierces the stage right next to my head.

As he lines up for his next shot, I pull on the arm still grabbing my fist and send him off balance, then trip him.

He goes down hard and the revolver once more goes off as he pulls the trigger wildly.

"HADWIN!" he roars. "I told you! We're needed in this city!"

"Needed like a plague!" I snarl back. "It existed just fine before you got here, and it'll exist after you're gone!"

He brings the revolver around once more, and this time, I can spring to my feet in time and once more kick at it.

When my boot touches the weapon, I feel a shock ring through me as said boot explodes, the top half of my mechanical foot suddenly exposed as the revolver goes flying.

…What the fuck- SOPMOD! What did you put into my foot?

Anisim lunges at me, ignoring his mangled hand. I'm still off balance, having not expected my foot to do whatever it just did and as such we both go down in a tangle of limbs.

He gets on top of me, forcing me to hold my arms up to block as his punches rain down.

"You've made a grave mistake, Hadwin!" Anisim's face is furious. "You've made the last mistake of your miserable life!"

I manage to catch one of his punches and shove him off of me, only able to get to my feet when he springs in my direction again, once more bowling me over.

"You're a pathetic loser! Ricardo told me everything, Hadwin. Everything! None of those dolls actually like you, you've just been manipulated by Gentiane!"

His face is so satisfied, so sure of himself.

"So?" I state coldly. "I already knew that."

His eyes open wide in surprise. "What? But then, why-"

My left hand splits apart and I jam the knife up into his ribcage.

He gasps in pain and falls to the side, allowing me to get to my feet.

He tries to pull something similar, but I kick his leg out from under him and stab his thigh.

He howls in pain and I take a few steps back.

I glance to the side once again to see the battle-

Where's the Patroller? It's not… Why are AEK and Aleah looking upwards?

The huge mech crashes down, apparently having jumped about two blocks.

"...Al diavolo!"

I don't have time to verify who said that, as its main cannon starts to glow, I dive to the side to avoid its beam.

Unlike the Rodeleros which maintain a beam that singes the air it touches, the Patroller's cannon fires a small shot… that punctures right through everything in its path. The stage has a hole about a meter in diameter and so does the ground…

Note: Do not get hit by that.

My Linker sarcastically displays a thumbs-up icon before highlighting something in my view.

Anisim's revolver.

I scoop it up and turn toward the weapon's owner.

He's managed to get to his feet, but he's leaning on the railing for support, cradling his new wound. Under his hand, I can see his flesh mending before my eyes.

"You can't win, Hadwin." He shouts. "I can heal in a matter of minutes. We have hundreds of troops to your few dozen!"

Seriously?

That's not fair!

"How?!" I demand.

"N-" He coughs up blood, and he looks like it is hurting him something fierce. Good. "Nanomachines, son."

"...Nano-what?"

He smirks through the pain, though his anger doesn't fade completely. "Sorry, it's just something I wanted to say once."

I raise his revolver and take aim.

"What do you think will happen to this city if I'm gone?" His face twists back to angry. "It was on the brink of financial collapse when I stepped in! Do you honestly think it will survive without me investing in it?"

"SV?" I mutter.

"Yes!"

"Fire at him on my mark."

"But-"

"Please."

"...Roger."

"And what about those KCCO outside? They're not going to rest until they find what they're looking for, razing the city in the process."

I fire a bullet, but it goes wide, and Anisim smirks.

"You're too green, Hadwin. Too new. You haven't seen the horrors outside the walls of your comforting little city until recently and that's too short a time to become effective." He stands up straight and I'm able to see the wound on his stomach is gone. "I have been with Paradeus for my whole life. I've been changed." He spreads his arms wide. "You've entered my world and you're going to pay for it."

In the corner of my vision, P90 pumps her fist.

"Mark." I mutter and leap forward.

A bullet pings off the floor in front of Anisim, SV's round arriving just on time.

Anisim's eyes flick downwards to catch the flash of light as the bullet scrapes the ground, sending up some sparks and by the time he's looked back up, his own gun is pointed at him.

I pull the trigger, this time the round finds its mark.

Anisim howls once more as the bullet punctures his heart.

I had closed into hand-to-hand distance with my leap and grabbed him. Before he can react, I lift him off his feet and toss him on his back, hard.

He gasps as the wind is knocked from his lungs.

I crouch down beside him as he bleeds excessively and gasps for air. I don't know if his heart can repair itself, but I don't intend on finding out either.

"Here's the thing, Anisim." I tap his head with my left hand. "You may be holding this place together, but be it the KCCO, the ELIDs or you, you're all killing people for your own ends. We're doing our best not to."

"Y-you liar." He coughs, blood spurting out. "People are going to die because of this."

"Less than would from your schemes." I glance over to see that indeed, his heart is starting to repair itself. "We know what you were doing to the people here. We've got the footage." I spring my left hand open. "Your twisted ambitions end here."

"Ends here?" He laughs despite the pain apparent on his face. "Stupid. I'll be back on my feet before you know it!"

"Just shut up."

The knife plunges down-

And then there was one.

As morbid as it is, credit where credit is due. Sop's knife is sharp, I hardly felt resistance as I stabbed his skull. Some part of me recoils at the clinical nature of the thought, but I tuck it away until later.

It almost feels anti-climactic.

He's dead.

The one who caused all this shit is dead.

I stand up, watching the wounds to verify that they're not closing. They aren't. He's well and truly dead.

Only one left.

The serial number И1704, emblazoned on the side of a Hydra, appears in my mind. Not now, but soon.

I check his revolver and find it empty. All six shots are spent. Oh well, I don't have spare ammo for it. I toss the firearm back on his corpse and glance around for my own.

Instead, I come face to face with the barrel of the Patroller.

The barrel end is glowing slightly and I can hear several dolls screaming at me through the Linker.

Without conscious thought, my legs propel me backwards up and over the railing on the side of the stage right as the Patroller starts to shred absolutely every bit of stage, a mechanical screech echoing through the concrete valley in its rage.

I land hard, the pain in my chest renews and I can't help but cry out.

Within seconds, S.A.T. is by my side, checking me for injuries. "Hadwin! Are you-"

"I'm-" I cough. "I'm okay." She hauls me to my feet and I make sure everything works, both in the exo suit and my body. "What's up with the Patroller?"

"Its shield is very hard, a lot stronger than mine. It only lowers it to fire its weapon, leaving very little time to attack." She glances back. "AEK and Negev were forced to retreat, but NTW, M200 and SV are able to keep it pinned by timing their shots."

"That doesn't feel pinned." I observe.

She pulls me into the shadow of the stage. "You might want to ready your main weapon."

Oh right. I pull off my backpack and withdraw my M16, quickly plugging the two halves of the rifle back together the way 416 had trained me. S.A.T. loads a few more shells into her weapon and bolts off, already off to defend the rest of the squad from the tall Paradeus mech.

"Hadwin!"

I resist rolling my eyes as yet another person wants my attention. "Yes, Commander?"

"We were unsuccessful."

I almost drop my partially assembled weapon. "WHAT?!"

"According to 45, you and I are fighting the same new unit. It found us immediately after you initiated and drove us away from the wall."

"FUCK!" I snap the last bit of the gun into place and load a magazine into it. I set it to burst and charge it. "What's plan B?"

"We need you to get to the APC. It's the only way we'll be able to get Ange out safely. I've already called up Anti-Rain, but I'm not sure when they'll get here."

The Linker helpfully provides me with a map. "...Okay, fine. We're gonna have to deal with this Patroller first."

"Hurry." Her voice is strained. "We're holed up in a bunker near the wall, but this thing packs a punch."

"Don't I know it." I mutter, closing the connection.

Almost immediately, a new channel opens and I accept it. It's 45. "Well, looks like everything's going to go wrong all at once."

"...Now what?"

"I don't know where they all came from, but I'm looking at the cameras Paradeus 'lent' me and there's Strelets and Rodeleros pouring out of the alleys. The city will be overrun soon if we're not careful."

"Can't I catch a break?" I ask the sky rhetorically.

"Didn't we just come off of vacation?"

"Is that what that was?" I pull the gun up to my eyes and carefully move forward, looking for a target that doesn't have a friendly near it. I'm not confident enough in my aim to not hit a friendly in the line of fire. "Didn't feel like it to me."

As I round the corner, the Linker highlights a few Paradeus ground troops. I raise my M16 and fire a few bursts their way and I even get a few of the Strelets.

The Patroller is stepping around, trying to aim its cannon at the scurrying dolls but not having much luck. It's a pretty big gun for the job and it eventually gives up and finds a new target: The top of the building down the road.

"11-1! GET DOWN!" I shout, as if that'll reach them over the machinegun fire.

M200 lands behind me from her last sprint, the bipod of her weapon hits my shoulders and she freezes for a moment.

Then the whole gun twitches with a deafening boom and the barrel of the Patroller is knocked off course, punching a hole through the building.

"SV! NTW!" I shout, desperation obvious even to myself.

"We're good!" SV returns. "We got off the roof, we're coming down to get to you."

"Good." I look back up at the Patroller, which is turning back to face us. "Make it quick."

Meanwhile, we have to deal with this thing.

M200 grabs my arm and almost yanks it out of my socket as she leaps aside, dodging a lower powered shot from the Patroller's cannon. I say lower powered because it only cuts a meter into the pavement, not a few meters. It's still plenty to have to deal with and I doubt S.A.T.'s shield would be able to stand up to it.

S.A.T., AEK, and Ithaca are all on one side of the Patroller, aiming up at it. They start to fire, and the Patroller is forced to turn around to keep itself from taking damage. Negev has leveled her weapon at the Strelets and Rodeleros that are coming from the side streets.

I turn to M200. "Do you think you can hit the cockpit?"

She frowns. "What cockpit?"

"That blue and red part up there." I point to the nose of the tall device. "There's armor over it."

"I can hit it." She nods. "I need to be underneath it though. It can't be jumping around."

As I watch, it lowers its shield and makes a massive jump, landing a whole block away and already turned around to face us.

I dash to the side, M200 going the opposite way. The exo suit propels me to speeds I had only felt on a motorcycle and almost slam into the half-slagged stage, but manage to stop myself before I rip myself in half, changing direction to aim for an alley that seems to be deserted.

I need to think of a plan. How do I keep it from jumping?

It… it had to lower its shield when it jumped. And when it was firing its gun.

"Okay. I have a plan."

"Wonderful!" AEK's voice is tinged with sarcasm. "Wanna share with the cla-"

A loud explosion hits my eardrums as AEK gets cut off. I wonder if she's okay-

A small status bar appears in the corner of my vision, with nine nine entries. Four of them are fine, the dolls up in the building at the end of the street. 11-2 and M200 all have some slight damage, but nothing critical. Looks like AEK was just cut off by that shot, not cut down.

"We need to pin it in place so M200 can shoot its core." I continue after reassuring myself that everyone's alright. "It doesn't move around much when its shield is up. At least, it lowers it when it's firing its cannon or jumping."

"Si, but that's easier said than done." S.A.T.'s voice is strained. "We don't have unlimited ammo out here."

"I have an idea about that." I state. "M200, can you get into position where you are?"

"Yes, I can."

"Great. 11-2, fall back. Only one of you should be firing at the Patroller at a time. Kill anything that gets in your way, but conserve your ammo otherwise. S.A.T.?"

"Si?"

"Can you extend your shield over to me from a distance?"

"...Not more than a few dozen meters."

Right. "Nevermind then."

"Are you gonna do something stupid?" 15's voice bleeds into my consciousness.

"Probably." I check my magazine and, finding it half empty, retrieve another from my tac vest and slide it into my weapon. "M200?"

"In position."

"Okay."

I sprint out onto the field of battle. Half a dozen Strelets that are a LOT closer than I expected them to be, they turn to face me with their weapons drawn.

I don't have time to think. I point my M16 in the direction of the closest one and squeeze the trigger. It goes down in a shower of blood.

Horrible images of a poor child being stuck into one of those suits flashes through my head before disappearing entirely.

Stay on task.

My weapon finds the next target as the remaining Strelets open fire. Their shots graze past me, but I'm able to keep moving and plug three more of them before any of them get a good shot in.

The last two dive for cover before I'm able to bring them down, and I decide to ignore them.

My real target is a lot bigger, after all.

I aim at the underbelly of the Patroller and yank on my trigger, a spray of bullets sparking as they deflect off of the coating on the tall machine.

It immediately drops its shield and leaps high into the air, though the trajectory it is taking doesn't take it too far away.

I skid to a stop behind some rubble, once more changing the magazine as fast as I can. There's still ammo left in this mag too, so I tuck it into the tac vest.

"Commander! It's aiming your way!" NTW calls.

I peek my head over the rubble to find that it is indeed aiming at me. The shield goes down-

"M200?"

M200's gun reports-

The Patroller vanishes as it leaps higher than ever before. I wouldn't have even seen where it went without my Linker putting a big red alert with the text "LOOK UP" under it.

As it is, I can only curse and once more start sprinting.

"It definitely has some high level awareness." Ithaca muses over the radio. "M200 was fairly hidden."

The Patroller lands, though one of its legs pierces through the mutilated stage and it starts moving around to shake off the scrap.

It gives me a few seconds.

Another bright idea flashes through my mind. "NTW, where are you?"

"I'm still in the tower, on my way down."

"Okay, stay in there."

"...Which floor?"

"It doesn't matter. Tokarev, Mk23, stay with her to assist with targeting."

"Da."

"Okay!"

"SV, continue down to meet with us. 11-2, where are you?"

"We're-" The Linker suddenly updates with their positions. "-in a side alley."

The Partroller manages to shake the last bit of debris off of its leg and it turns to face me.

"Tell me you have a shot."

In reply, AEK's gun roars and a stream of bullets start impacting the shield, which goes up just in time to avoid any immediate damage. Still, its main cannon never stops pointing my way.

It must be targeting me primarily for some reason. Because I killed Anisim? Because I'm the human?

I guess it doesn't matter.

"Okay, 11-2, retreat."

"Hadwin?!" This time it's Aleah.

"If you're in the area, it's not going to let its guard down. Just start blowing up anything else in your way, get us a path out of here."

"...Roger." Aleah doesn't sound happy about it.

"Me too, Commander?" M200 asks.

"Yes please. Try to join up with SV."

"Got it."

AEK's hail of bullets ends abruptly, and I raise my own weapon.

Right now, the Patroller is between me and the former stage. That means that building NTW will be sniping from is toward my back. I need to turn the Patroller sideways so she has a good shot.

I fire a few rounds at it to get its attention and once more start sprinting.

It, as expected, turns to track me, barrel already starting to glow.

P90 pokes her head out from behind a chunk of rubble and I thoughtlessly aim for it, leaping over it and slamming myself face first into the ground.

The beam carves a crater through my cover and deep into the road, barely missing me.

Well, if my hallucination is willing to give me lemons-

I scramble to my feet, once more trying to edge around the tall Paradeus machine.

It continues to track me, the underbelly canon warming up once more.

"Got it."

At the end of the street, glass bursts outwards as NTW's rifle fires, the round finding its way through the air and into the side of the Patroller.

For a moment, nothing happens.

The glow of the cannon starts to fade, one of the legs slips, and the giant topples. It crashes down hard, the top part cratering into the remains of the stage, turning what little is left into twisted scrap.

"Nice shot." M200 praises her teammate.

"Thank you." NTW's voice is calm. "Should we make our way down as well, commander?"

"Yeah." I sit down on a nearby chunk of debris. "Yeah, meet up."

"Hadwin, we've cleared out the area. No more Paradeus forces in the area." S.A.T. reports. "They must have been expecting an attack, because the streets more than a block out are clean. They were all around the stage plaza."

"...Okay, good to know." I get back on my feet. "See if you can grab some transportation. We need to get to Gentaine ASAP."

"Transportation?"

"Commandeer a car or something. It doesn't matter, we just need to hurry."

"Si."

I walk over to the stage and examine the Patroller. The 'core' was indeed a pilot's seat, but the pilot was dead before he was put in there. The flesh is leaking off of the skeleton.

I choke back some bile and avert my gaze. Now's not the time. Keep your head in the game.

I look around, trying to distract myself, and I locate my fallen pistol. It's been thrown pretty far by the fighting. Once I retrieve it, I notice that it's pretty dinged up. I cycle the slide and everything seems to still move properly.

"I managed to convince a bus driver to lend us his bus." Ithaca reports. "Sending our location."

"Alright. Everyone meets up there. Let's go save everyone else."

---

AEK drove the bus. I'm not surprised, but it made it a lot harder to reload my magazines. I only managed to replenish one of them before Aleah turned to me.

"Are we going to head straight for Gentaine or head to the APC first?"

"What are we closer to?"

"Currently, the scene of the battle. We have to go past their position to get to where M4 parked the APC."

I bite my lip. "Fine. S.A.T., Ithaca, you two come with me. Tokarev and Mk23 too. We're getting off when we get to the closest point, and the rest of you can retrieve the APC."

AEK nods. "Two minutes until we get there. Damn, this bus is so SLOW!"

"Next time you pick the vehicle." Aleah snarks at her fellow machine gun.

"It was the only one who would let me borrow it." Ithaca tilts her head. "Should I have asked around more?"

"No, this is fine." I try to calm my breathing. "AEK's just used to her bike."

"Damn straight." She pulls on the horn as she barrels through another red light. "Okay, prepare to get off."

I tighten my grip on the M16 and use my spare hand to hold onto the railing of the bus for dear life and AEK weaves around more stopped traffic, then screeches to a halt, doors opening before the tires stop skipping along.

I'm out the door before any words can be said, the two handguns flanking me and the shotguns right behind.

Around us, people start screaming and yelling in Serbian.

I hadn't really been thinking about it, but five heavily armed individuals bursting onto the street is probably not reassuring.

Oh shit… I was probably on TV when I initiated with Anisim. I hope my parents didn't see that.

Still, I don't have time to consider this in detail. My Linker highlights the route directly to Gentiane's position and I start jogging in that direction. We're only two blocks away, but I shouldn't wind myself before I get there.

Mk23 looks about as serious as I've ever seen her, and on my other side Tokarev lets twin blades slide out of her sleeves. S.A.T.'s shields slide over us, the faint shimmer disappearing almost immediately. Ithaca palms a few shells.

I open a link to Gentiane as I triple check my rifle. "Gentiane, what's your status?"

"We're holed up in the lobby of the Grand Fountain hotel. Paradeus-"

I hear an explosion from down the street, around a corner, and start to move a bit quicker.

"-Paradeus has cut us off from our vehicles. Anti-Rain's still on their way." There's a brief pause. "Did you get the APC?"

"I've got 11-1 working on it. For now, we're coming to back you up."

"Glad to hear it. Ange isn't doing too well, but Lucas is keeping her stable."

"Good." I skid to a halt just before the corner and gesture for the others to halt.

Mk23 taps my arm. "Commander, what is our plan?"

I peer around the corner, spotting the Paradeus forces easily. As Gentiane had indicated earlier, there's a Patroller currently standing on the center of the street, watching and waiting at the entrance of a hotel marked as the Grand Fountain. Arrayed around it are over a hundred Strelets still standing, a bunch of Rodeleros, and a Doppelsöldner. All up and down the street there's carnage. Burning vehicles, destroyed Paradeus units, and a few corpses staring up at an uncaring sky with hollow eyes.

I duck back behind the building and address the four dolls currently waiting on my words. "Alright, here's the plan. We need to distract Paradeus until the APC gets back. To that end, S.A.T., Ithaca, and I are going to go in and draw as much of their attention as possible. In the meantime-" I tap Mk23's shoulder. "You get to show me how effective you are when in stealth. I want you and Tokarev to sneak around the back. They have directional shields, so attacking from behind might work."

"You can count on me!" Mk23 turns to her fellow handgun. "Let's go!"

Tokarev nods to me and sprints off after Mk23.

"So, it's just the three of us, Hadwin?"

I can't help but smile at S.A.T.'s remark. "I wouldn't say 'just'. In any case, let's go make ourselves a nuisance."

Ithaca raises her riot shield into a ready position, S.A.T.'s hip shields start to position themselves restlessly, and I check for the fourth time that my gun isn't on safe.

"Go."

The three of us run around the corner and I immediately break for a burning husk of a car, even as the two shotguns behind me open fire.

A good portion of the Strelets and two of the four Rodeleros turn out direction and start firing. Twin beams of pure crimson energy lance overhead before too many rounds to count start blasting out of the Strelet's energy weapons.

I poke my rifle through the destroyed window and pick a target. My M16 is set to burst fire and it sends three bullets thirty-or-so meters into a Strelet, ever so slightly increasing the odds in our favor.

To my left, Ithaca stands out in the open, taunting the Paradeus forces with her mere presence, weapon sweeping side to side and firing every time a Strelet pops its head out.

To my right, S.A.T. is busy pushing towards the Rodeleros, forcing their attention onto her. Their beams bounce off the shield and carve swathes of metal and glass from the nearby buildings which come crumbling down.

I continue to pick targets and carefully pull the trigger.

Strelets go down one after another under Ithaca's and my assault, and one of S.A.T.'s shots manages to snap off a Rodelero's leg.

Unfortunately, the Doppelsöldner is still advancing towards the front of the hotel, presumably DEFY and Gentiane. It's too tall to enter the lobby, but if it can aim inside…

There's still gunfire coming from inside the hotel, so there's still someone fighting, I guess.

Hold on, where's the Patroller?

"HADWIN!"

I leap back just in time as the Patroller's legs spears right through my cover, tossing it aside with a flick of its leg.

I land on my backpack, staring straight up at the belly of the Patroller. As I scramble to get my wits back, it aims the cannon downwards and leans sideways to get a good angle on me.

Not having much in the way of mobility options, I roll to my stomach and attempt to get to my feet even as the cannon starts charging up.

Two shotgun blasts overlap, and the Patroller's cannon swivels away just enough that its searing heat is all I feel as I desperately attempt to get distance between myself and the tall unit.

My rifle is aimed towards the shuffling Patroller as I get out from under its shadow. A few trigger pulls later and it is turning to face me.

I manage to duck out of sight behind a melting truck before it can face me, but given its situational awareness I doubt it has actually lost me.

Glancing to the side, I notice that a few of the Strelets in the back are starting to suddenly fall down. One of them turns around and fires a few times, but in the chaos of battle, the majority of the force is concentrated on the hotel.

Looks like Tokarev and Mk23 are doing a good job.

I don't have time to contemplate it much further as the Patroller once more bears down on me, ignoring even the shotguns behind it in its quest to murder me.

…Am I a Patroller magnet?

It lowers its shield to fire and I spray some bullets in its general direction hoping to throw off its aim.

The roar of a powerful engine resounds through the concrete canyons, heard through gaps in the gunfire, and the APC arrives on scene at a breakneck pace. It's on a collision course with the Patroller, but it's not slowing down. Actually… It's speeding up.

I'm unable to rip my eyes away as the APC slams into the Patroller's leg, snapping the appendage in two and sending the unstable unit down to the ground.

I'd bet most of my salary that AEK is behind the wheel and absolutely ecstatic about that fact.

A wave a relief washes over me, but it's short lived.

The Patroller is still facing my direction despite being on its side and its cannon is still getting ready to fire. Once more, I leap out of the way just as it fires, though this time I'm not quite fast enough.

I manage to roll back to my feet, debris I rolled over digging into my spine the entire time, but I'm unable to get to my feet.

Probably because the mechanical one is now half gone, that last shot having torn off everything in front of the heel. The remains of the boot that had been detonated earlier in my fight with Anisim are now completely gone, leaving me with naught but a stump.

I land face first on the ground, once more in range of the Patroller and in plain view.

NTW leaps out of the APC, gun ready and fires at the downed Patroller, forcing it to bring its shield back up. This cancels its shot.

I unsteadily get to my feet, noting that since I couldn't feel my foot anyway these past two weeks it's not that much harder to walk. I just don't have as much spring in my step. I'll be able to manage until I can get Sop to make me a new one.

Suddenly S.A.T. sprints up beside me, scoops me up, and heads for the nearest alley. Ithaca isn't far behind and I'm able to see why quite quickly.

The Doppelsöldner that had been harassing the hotel's entrance is now stalking our way, the attempts by the rest of the newly arrived 11-1 and 11-2 not deterring it in the slightest.

"Commander! We've got the Patroller!" SV-98's voice comes through the Linker. "We'll leave the Doppelsöldner to you!"

"Alright but be care-"

I cut myself of and instintively duck as I notice the Doppelsöldner is already aiming its twin arm cannons our way.

We make it into the alley just as the first barrage from that unit comes, and the brick wall is turned into a lethal hail of shrapnel that slices past me and scrapes up all three of us. Thankfully, no serious injuries.

Once more, I feel like maybe we'll get out of this, but that's only until I turn around and look where we're going.

A wall on three sides.

This alley is a dead end, possibly literally.

S.A.T. skids to a halt and lets me down, all three of us without words turn and raise our weapons at the shadow approaching the mouth of the alley.

The Doppelsöldner steps confidently into the mouth of the alley, only for its frame to get stuck on the walls.

It's too big to get in here!

Ithaca's shotgun booms, the tight walls enhancing the blast to dwarf anything else.

The Doppelsöldner doesn't react, instead slamming one of its bulky arm cannon into the wall to try to make space. Its shield is holding for the moment, so I guess it just doesn't care about her for the moment.

I crouch behind a dumpster, S.A.T. also tucking in close as Ithaca ducks behind one closer to the Doppelsöldner after unloading her weapon at it. "Okay, plan?"

"Don't you have one?" S.A.T. asks.

"Well, last time the plan was to drop a building on it, but that's probably not an option right now." I dare to look around the edge of the dumpster and see that the Doppelsöldner is still trying to ram its way into the alley.

Oh.

OH!

Its tail cannon is broken! It's not able to fire it, and it's probably not able to aim its cannons at us with any accuracy because of how wide it is!

Okay, we have a little bit of time while it chips away at the walls.

"Okay… I have a really dumb idea!"

Ithaca glances back at me as she reloads. "Coming from you, that is slightly worrying."

"What is it, Hadwin?" S.A.T. asks.

"We need to get it to fire its missiles." I lay the plan out in my head. "And we're only getting one shot at this."

"Why are all of your plans borderline suicidal?" S.A.T. mutters with disapproval.

"Because I didn't bring my AT4 out with me and, as far as I know, we don't have anything powerful." I lick my lips. "Aleah? AEK?"

"We're on our way." Aleah responds. "What do you need?"

"When the Doppelsöldner fires its rockets, shoot at those rockets. Then, shoot at it once its shield goes down."

"Hell yeah!" AEK cheers. "You can count on us!"

"Hadwin, shooting missiles won't detonate them." S.A.T. frowns at me. "They have to hit something."

"Well… yeah, I knew that." I tap her shoulder in what I hope is a reassuring gesture. "Trust me."

"You did just say it was a stupid plan." Ithaca racks her namesake once and loads in a final shell. "How are we going to force it to fire its missiles?"

I take a deep breath-

S.A.T.'s arm winds around me. "Don't even think about it!"

"He was going to head out, wasn't he?" Aleah's voice is calm.

"Si."

"What are we going to do about you?" Aleah laments sarcastically.

"Fine." I bite out. "Ithaca, I hate to ask-"

"Done." She steps out into the line of fire, her weapon brandished. "Come at me, you lumbering beast!"

The Doppelsöldner stares at her for a second, the lens on the front nose cone focusing on her face as she raises her riot shield as well, plants her feet and starts to fire.

Then, the Doppelsöldner steps to the side, hiding its main nose cone from view including the camera, but allowing it to aim its left arm cannon down into the alley.

"ITH-" I start to yell.

She's already on the move, but she's just a bit too slow. The plasma blast rips through the shield she's holding and then through a good chunk of her side, sending molten metal shrapnel sparking past my face as S.A.T. pulls me out of the line of fire.

Fuck! FUCK!

"ITHACA! ITHACA!"

"I'm fine, commander." Her voice is perfectly level, like I hadn't just seen her get gutted. "My core is intact."

"I… I…!"

"Hadwin, calm down!" S.A.T. continues to hold me in place as I strain against her grip.

Enhanced by the exo suit, I'm actually able to struggle my way past the edge of the dumpster once more to see Ithaca's broken form. Her eyes flick to meet mine, and she ever so subtly shakes her head 'no'.

Fuck that.

"HEY! UGLY!" I roar, rage building inside of me.

The Doppelsöldner's camera eye focuses on me.

In the background I can hear several dolls expressing concern, calling my name.

"CAN'T BEAR TO WATCH, HUH? TOO MUCH OF A WIMP?"

It stares back at me, unflinching in its massive size.

"LOOK ME IN THE EYE WHEN YOU KILL ME, YOU FUCKING LOSER!"

"HADWIN!" S.A.T. redoubles her efforts to drag me back but I raise my M16 and aim it in the Doppelsöldner's general direction. I manage to get a few shots off that all ping against the shield before the M16 clicks empty.

"Aw, fuck."

The missile pods on the side of the Doppelsöldner open, apparently having taken my provocation to heart. Learning that these things basically had a human fused into them makes my stomach churn, but it also means that they have a weakness.

Humans make mistakes and humans are vulnerable to provocation.

I let S.A.T. pull me back into cover even as my Linker highlights the two machine guns running up behind the Doppelsöldner and getting ready to unleash fury.

They open fire and I can only pray that I'm right.

The missiles launch from inside the shield, arcing at a strange angle to make it into the alley.

Perfect.

The bullets of Aleah and AEK plow into the eight or so rockets, spinning them off course, and in these tight quarters, they start to spin around unpredictably.

As I had hoped, three of the basically nose dive and slam into the ground right in front of the Doppelsöldner. What I hadn't really thought about was the remaining missiles.

Most of them start spinning in tight circles, moving unpredictably. Two of them aren't off course-

S.A.T.'s shields once more appear a split second before my world turns orange as the explosion rips through the air, immediately filling my nostrils with the scent of burnt trash as the dumpster detonates.

Her physical shields wrap around me as she hugs me close. That shield deflects the incoming debris as it falls down all around us from the other missiles slamming into the walls on either side.

After a few seconds, all is quiet.

I dare to peak out, and the Doppelsöldner is lying on its back, unmoving.

The missiles had burst its shield, AEK and Aleah had been able to gun it down.

I scramble to my feet, running over to Ithaca, who wasn't so lucky with the debris, a chunk of twisted metal staking her arm to the ground. Her skin is charred more the closer it is to the blast. As it wasn't behind her shield, her face is completely gone and the metal skeleton slightly melted. Her eyes are still both functional, moving around, though I can see that they're not complete spheres but semispheres. Without skin to cover them, the inner structure of her face is illuminated from her eyes as well.

"Well commander, seems like I'm in a bit of a pickle." She gestures with her free arm. "If I might ask you a favor?"

"You're not allowed to die." I collapse to my knees, already reaching for the debris. "We'll get you fixed right up-"

"Hadwin, I won't be dying. This frame is practically trash at this point though. Instead, I would like you to save my core and my shotgun. It was a gift from my previous owner."

I grab her shotgun and just kind of hold it, unsure of what to do with it.

"You may want to take some shells as well." Her lips curl into a knowing smile. "Feel free to use it until you give it back to me. I expect you to do it in person."

"...Got it." I take the shells she offers.

"Alright, I'll be retreating to my core now." Ithaca's eyes lose their light and my heart lurches.

It's okay.

She's not actually dead.

She'll be alright as soon as we get her a new body.

S.A.T.'s had lands on my shoulder. "We should get her core."

"...Yeah." I roll the body over, move the shredded clothes aside to locate the hatch at the base of her neck and carefully pull it open, exposing the core.

Once it's free, I hold it up to my eyes. The lights flicker around on it, and my Linker helpfully labels what each one means.

It seems like everything is okay.

Okay.

I start to get my breathing under control as I tuck the core into my tac vest and get to my feet, shotgun and shells loosely held.

Aleah leaps down off the Paradeus unit and marches over to me. "Hadwin. Are you okay?"

"...Y-yeah." I nod. "Let's get back to getting Gentiane out of the hotel."

"Not needed." She shakes her head.

"The Paradeus forces in the area have been routed." Gentiane's voice comes through the comms. "All units report back to the hotel lobby."

With S.A.T.'s help, I'm able to clamber over the Doppelsöldner's corpse and down to the other side.

Looking around, the street is a mess. The pavement is flowing red with blood, leaking from the 60 or so Strelets, some Rodeleros, a Patroller, and one Doppelsöldner. We're not without casualties ourselves, though.

NTW is leaning on M200, having lost the lower half of her leg. FAL's arms are both missing, FN FNC holding her weapon instead. AEK's arms are melted slightly, but she's still got use of all of her limbs. Mk23's covered in human blood, and has a few bullet holes right through her stomach, though they don't appear to be crippling her. AK-15 has stepped out of the hotel lobby, and her jaw is missing a patch of skin exposing her teeth. A few of the other dolls have damage here or there, but we're not missing anyone else. I manage to relax ever so slightly upon completing a headcount of Echelon 11-1 and 11-2.

Aside from that…

There's a bunch of corpses on the ground that are probably unrecognizable. Neither Paradeus nor Griffin aligned, just people that got caught in crossfire.

It makes me sick, but I cram that down. I'll deal with it later. For now-

I lead the wounded parade into the Hotel lobby where DEFY, Gentiane, Ange, and to my surprise, Anti-Rain are all waiting.

Sop and 15 seem happy to see me, M4 and RO just glance my way before turning back to Gentiane.

"Looks like Paradeus was more ready than we thought." Ange smiles weakly, her voice only audible due to the Linker. "Looks like we'll need plan B."

"What's plan B?" I rest the M37 on my shoulder.

"Decoy run." Gentiane's eyes shift to meet mine. "Need to take the APC and the still-combat-effective dolls in an obvious run on the wall, while Ange is snuck out in a different location."

Ah.

"DEFY will be escorting Ange out in her van." Gentiane continues. "All of the dolls that need repairs, take the buggies back to the hotel. We'll get everyone fixed up for the next operation."

"And the APC?" I ask.

"It's going to the front lines with the combat group." Gentiane nods. "Anti-Rain will be going, any dolls that still have ammo, and are over ninety percent functional."

"Guess that disqualifies me." AEK laughs lightly. "Arm's are kinda not doing too hot. Or rather, they got too hot, if you know what I mean."

"Me too." Mk23's face is crestfallen. "I made an error in judgment."

Mk23 is in arms reach, and I pat her head a few times, her bells ringing slightly as she starts to shake in frustration.

"Alright, I'll be over with the combat group." I turn away from the lobby towards the carnage outside.

"Actually-" Ange coughs and AK-12's eyes open, examining her commander. "I'd like it if you came with me. We need someone to drive the van that's less suspicious."

I look over at her incredulously. "Me? I think every Paradeus unit has my face stored in their database now."

"Put on a hat and sunglasses." She waves my concern away. "We've got space for at least one or two more in the van counting DEFY and us three."

Three? My face scrunches as I try to reconcile the number before AN-94 helpfully points at…

Ah, Lucas. He's getting out of here now too. His eyes are distant, looking out at the street as if in a trance.

I'll have to figure out what's going on with him later. For now my eyes sweep over the dolls, many of them scarred from the recent battle. Sop is hopping up and down in excitement, though I know I can't pick her.

I have to leave the most combat effective dolls with the attack force. They're going to be under attack…

"Tokarev?" I call and said doll walks up, the bloodstains on her dress contrasting her serene smile. "Try to get yourself cleaned up a bit. You'll come with me."

"Da!"

"Alright, everyone has their orders." Gentiane claps her hands. "All attackers, follow me."

"...You're going with the decoy unit?" I mutter to myself, but it is carried to her ears.

She turns to me. "I've been in the field myself and the dolls have proved that they're more than capable of keeping a human alive."

I open my mouth to object, but bite my tongue at the last second. I probably shouldn't even care about her well being, but…

She walks past me, Anti-Rain walking past me as well. 15 leans in and bumps my shoulder, pausing only to make eye contact before continuing on.

Right.

No time for feelings. Just… lock it all away.

I steel myself and turn back to DEFY. "So, where's this van?"

---

Carefully, I pilot the van down an alley, the Linker issuing directions Ange had laid out to ensure Paradeus is thrown off our track. In doing so, I'm only a few turns away from the wall and the exit that Ange and RPK had insisted was going to be clear. 45 is helping by spoofing camera footage, but I can't really verify that.

AK-12 had insisted on sitting in the passenger seat, head in hand and extremely calm. Her eyes would crack whenever a Paradeus unit would stalk by, though they never seemed to focus on us. There are still people out, though they sensibly avoid the white mechs, ducking into stores or alleys to avoid the mechanical hybrids.

It helps that the only units Paradeus is fielding right now are Strelets, leaving the weirder ones in reserve, and that the news is largely being suppressed with a message about staying inside. Strelets look like heavily armored humans, so they're not quite as intimidating as a Doppelsöldner.

I'm actually grateful for the news suppression too, since it means there's other people out and we're not immediately suspicious. If there was a curfew, there's now way we'd have gotten this close.

A finger pokes my shoulder and I flick my eyes over to see AK-12's standard smirk directed my way. "What's up?"

"Since I have you alone, why don't you explain why you and your commander are suddenly on such bad terms? I've been asking around but nobody is willing to tell me."

I sigh. "My position as Field Agent isn't what I was told, I'm supposed to be moral support for the dolls. I'm not even supposed to be in combat, since that could make everything worse."

"...I see." She frowns. "Continue."

"Uh, that's the gist of it. I was lied to and I'm not happy about that. There's also the fact that I was supposed to start falling for the dolls and vice versa, I guess. It's a safety net so none of them kill themselves."

"That's… all?" Her eyes crack open, staring right at me long enough to set my skin crawling. "Knowing this makes you hostile towards Gentiane?"

"I get that dolls don't have as much freedom as humans and this will sound odd to you, but it feels like I was put through hell for no reason." I turn down a small side street and check my mirrors to verify nobody is following us. "If she had told me up front what she wanted me to do… Well, I wouldn't have agreed to participate, probably, but I wouldn't feel like she betrayed me."

"From what I've been able to scrape off Level 2, it seems like 404, especially 45 betrayed you too. You got over that."

I pull the truck over, having arrived at our destination, put it into park, and turn to AK-12. "There's a difference."

"Oh? Do tell."

"404 was trying to do what was best for everyone, even if they did it poorly because they didn't tell me first. Gentiane-"

"Ah? Didn't Gentiane do the same?" She twirls her fingers. "You said that you are here to make sure none of us end our lives, which would be best for everyone."

"It's not best for me."

"Neither is your relationship with 404." Her eyes shift back towards the back of the van, separated by a partition that I think she can see through. "They're criminals."

"Sure, but-"

"But what, they want to get into your pants?" She crosses her arms. "They wouldn't have anything to do with you if Gentiane didn't hire you."

"Yeah, but if she hadn't hired me, I'd still have a hand and a foot."

"I seem to recall you traded that hand for 404, very explicitly." AK-12's smirk becomes infuriating. "So perhaps you're still ahead?"

"AK-12, I'm going to say this once." I stare her straight into her burning eyes, aware that I'm starting to develop spots where the brightest point of her eye is. "I do not like being screwed around with. 404 earned their way back by saving my ass. Gentiane is unapologetic and isn't going to be out here fighting to make sure we all make it home."

AK-12 regards me for a few seconds. "She's currently doing the decoy duty originally assigned to you, strapped into a very similar exo skeleton, and is facing the same types of risks you would face. It would seem that she's doing exactly what you said she wasn't, heading out to battle." Her eyes close and the smile returns. "Maybe give the woman who's had an extremely stressful year off the hook a bit, da?"

She opens the door before I can react, her weapon slung onto her shoulder in a smooth motion before she ducks out of sight to open the rear doors and let the others out.

My fingers drum on the dash, each metal digit thumping on the plastic. Everyone's been so preachy lately. I should probably figure out a way to shut them up-

Huh?

W-where did that come from?

I pinch myself, the pain bringing me back to reality a bit. Calm down, when you get agitated-

You start to see things that aren't there?

Slowly, I turn my head to see P90 sitting in the passenger seat. She smiles and waves.

I dare not look away or even blink. "...P90?"

"Yeah! Hey Haddy, it's been a while." Her trademark smirk creeps across her features. "Been keeping good care of my patches?"

I can't breathe. My eyes start to tear up, but I dare not wipe the tears away for fear of her leaving.

Again.

"Is… is that really you?"

"Mmm… I think so." She shrugs in a carefree manner. "Do you think it's me?"

"...I-"

Someone knocks on the driver's door glass.

"Hadwin?" AN-94 peers at me curiously. "Is something the matter?"

I look back from AN-94 to the passenger seat, but it's vacant. "...I suppose not."

I climb out to see AK-15 carrying Ange while RPK, AK-12, AN-94, and Tokarev are all ready for battle. Tokarev managed to get herself mildly cleaned up, though I wouldn't bring her anywhere unless it was an emergency for fear of causing a panic. Lucas is oddly quiet, having not said a word to me since this morning.

Ange smiles weakly as I meet her eyes. "Ready, Field Agent?"

"Yes." I take a few breaths to calm myself and let the fear and worry fall behind.

We turn to head out the other end of the alley and onto the street that will lead out to the wall, only two blocks down. It's a short walk, but it feels like each step my legs get heavier and heavier.

AK-12 falls in step with me and pats my shoulder. "I didn't think I was harsh enough to bring you to tears, dorogoy."

"...Shit." I wipe my eyes to get rid of the evidence. "This wasn't your doing. It was… someone else."

"Mmhmm."

She puts her typical infuriatingly know-it-all smile back on and I have to bite back some harsh words. Instead- "So, what did you call me?"

"Ah?"

"You called me, uh… doorguy?"

"Da. Dorogoy."

"What does it mean?"

"Expensive."

…Huh?

"If you want to call one of us expensive, it would be dorogaya, since Russian has masculine and feminine terms."

"Why would I call anyone expensive? Especially in Russian?"

She shrugs. "It may come up."

"...Yeah, now I'm sure of it." I shake my head. "The more powerful the doll, the more unhinged they are."

"I'll take that as a complement."

Lucas steps up to me, seeming to try to find some words, but finding himself unable to say anything. After a few tries, he gives up as his eyebrows knit into a tense knot.

We arrive at the mouth of the alley before I can question him. AN-94 peeks around the corner onto the street. Her view is transmitted to my Linker and I reflexively take in a sharp breath.

"So much for being undefended." RPK comments offhandedly. "Do you suppose we can ask them to let us through?"

A wall of Strelets at attention, shoulder to shoulder in a semicircle around the exit of the city.

"I'm going to say no." Ange whispers, her Linker sending the words to our ears. "I guess we need a distraction."

I sigh and step forward, peering around AN-94.

…It is just Strelets. Sure, 30 is a lot, but we can probably figure out how to take them out relatively easily, right?

"I don't want to carry Angelia if we're going to be chased." AK-15 speaks up. "We should ram through with the van."

"The van would be a good option with this much resistance." AN-94 agrees tentatively. "But if we're going to fire on all of those Strelets we're going to need all the firepower we can muster."

I glance back at my dour friend. "Lucas."

He jerks awake. "Y-yeah?"

I pause for a second, trying to figure out what his expressions mean. He's worried about something… but what? "Are you able to drive the van?" I hold up the keys. "Will you be okay to drive?"

"...I think so, yeah." He grabs the keys from me, staring down at them for a few seconds.

I glance back at the others. "Give us a second." I throw my arm around his shoulder the same way he always does to me and pull him back into the alley a few steps. "Lucas, what's up?"

"It's nothing."

"Bro, you've always been my rock to rest on. Let me return the favor for once."

He hesitates, before leaning on the wall and rubbing his temples. "How do you do it?"

"Do what, specifically?"

His eyes look into the distance. "I was… I was talking with Ange, making sure she was okay. Suddenly, Gentiane starts yelling and everyone draws guns, and… in the initial barrage…" His face turns an interesting shade as he clutches his stomach. "I… I saw people running away from the white robots, b-but they couldn't run fast enough. They were screaming, and one of them looked at me, and her eyes were asking me to save her but I couldn't-"

"Hey." I curl my hand into a fist and lightly bump his chest. "Lucas, look at me."

His eyes slowly creep up and I see the same hollow hell I had seen in my mirror all too often lately.

"This is Paradeus' fault. That person's death, it's their fault."

"But-"

"You can't save everyone." I glance away and I catch the barest hint of a gas mask slipping behind a dumpster. "In battle, there are casualties. Ithaca's right here." I pull out the core and let him look at it. "Trust me, I want to save everyone too, but I keep failing."

"..."

"Paradeus is going to keep killing people until they're stopped. Right now, until I get out of this city and leave Griffin for good, I'm going to make sure as few people die as I can. I don't care who, either doll or human, I'll do my best to keep them from dying. That's all I can do in the end."

"Yes… but… how do you stand seeing that happen without going crazy?" He clutches his head again. "The screams…"

I blow air out of my lips. "Yeah, that's… I didn't handle it well either, the first few times. It's still disturbing, but I guess after the first few times, once the smell of blood isn't all that strange, it gets easier."

"I'm used to blood, Hadwin. I work with doctors." He shivers. "I'm not used to seeing that look on the faces of my patients."

"...Y'know, that's probably a good thing." I sigh. "I've been broken through this past month. You're a good person though, so it's good you're leaving. You can help those outside the walls, undoing the damage. You don't need to see combat."

"You're able to hold it together. I should be able to as well." He sags to the dirty ground, back against the rough brick. "You know, I'm pretty jealous of you."

"...You're gonna have to run that by me again, chief."

"I'm serious. You're able to keep your head in these crazy situations and here I lose my cool because I saw- I saw-"

I sit down next to him after tucking the core back into my pocket. "I've been drinking a lot recently."

His eyes flick towards my face.

"I've not been sleeping much, I've had my worldview constantly torn apart, reconstructed, and recently I started hallucinating." I laugh to myself. "I'm not handling it. I'm just trying to keep enough things from falling through the cracks long enough that nobody I care about dies."

His expression is concerned and thoughtful, which is a lot better than the despair of earlier.

"I still think you'd do a better job than me if the roles were reversed, but you know what?" I stand up and haul him to his feet, something I had never been able to do before. "I'm glad you're gonna be a doctor instead. You're a good person. You focus on making sure that when the bullets and lasers stop flying as many people make it out the other side as possible. I'll do my best to ensure as few people have to come to you as I can."

He nods, short rapid movements. "Yeah. I… I'll do that." His hand clutches around the key. "Yeah."

"Thanks man. I'm glad I can count on you."

"Same here."

I glance back at the five dolls and injured human. "Okay, we're good to go. AK-15, if you would, please carry Ange back to the van. The rest of us will form a plan for when you get back."

AK-15 hesitates, looking down at her commander in her arms.

Ange smiles up at the tallest member of DEFY. "For now, follow his orders. He's not the best commander, but he's learning."

This seems to be enough for AK-15, who immediately starts carrying Ange back the way we came. Lucas follows them, only turning back to wave as they make it to the corner and disappear out of sight.

"So…" RPK's arms land on my shoulders, holding me in place. "What's your grand plan to get us out of here?"

"Simple." I duck my way out of her grip and turn to face the three DEFY dolls and Tokarev. "We're going to give them a much larger problem than some random escaping van."

---

"I must say, it's never dull working with you."

I eye RPK. "What?"

"Oh, just… this plan is absurd. I doubt many people would call it a plan at all, though it does fulfill the technical definition. I find that fascinating."

"It's not supposed to be complicated." I shrug against our shared burden. "It just needs to work."

"I like the plan." AK-15 holds her rifle at the ready.

"That's because it's so simple, a musclehead like you can understand it." RPK shoots back at her teammate.

Far from seeming offended, AK-15 just nods. "Yes, that is a large part of it."

"Still…" RPK glances at the object we're currently pushing, one of the large dumpsters that mercifully has some rollers, though it's not exactly light. "If this works, I will have to tell my grandkids stories of the day I used a dumpster to escape a city."

"Grandkids? Thinking that far ahead?" I smirk slightly.

"Yes. It's a dream of mine to have all sorts of human experiences. The difference between dolls and humans is just so interesting."

"I can't say I disagree."

AK-12 and AN-94 turn as we push the dumpster the last few meters to the mouth of the alley. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I make sure Ithaca's weapon is secure and that my M16 is ready to go, fire select to burst, and safety off.

"Alright. Ange?"

"Yes?"

"Time to get moving."

"Right. Operation, start!"

AK-15 and RPK slam into the side of the container, AK-12 grabbing a handle on the side to help it along. The street is largely deserted, but the few people walking quickly and quietly look up as six crazy people wheel a dumpster onto the street.

AN-94 and Tokarev hold their weapons in plain sight, aiming at the Paradeus troops encircling the exit, a tunnel leading back into the darkness.

There's a tense moment as the dumpster comes to a stop in the middle of the road and the rest of us aim our firearms at the wall of white colored armor.

I can't be sure later, but I think AK-12 fired the first shot.

All six of us open up, bullets spraying downrange haphazardly, no need to aim so much as to just keep the guns recoil from sending the bullet far overhead of the Strelets.

After only a moment, the Strelets predictably break ranks and return fire, scrambling for what little cover the end of their street provides. We've got two thick steel plates between us and their plasma blasts, so we're actually doing okay until they manage to slag the container.

Hopefully we'll be able to get away from this dumpster before it melts.

It all depends on how fast we can get the van into that tunnel…

"We're about to come around the corner." Ange's voice arrives in our ears.

"You heard her." I duck behind the container and glance at AK-12 and AN-94, the two on either side of the long dumpster. "Pop smoke."

The two DEFY dolls pull out smoke grenades and toss them on either side of the dumpster, the thick smoke choking up the gaps on either side of the dumpster, providing an impromptu wall dividing the street in half.

The van's tires screech as Lucas puts the driving lessons I had given him back in high school to good use, the nose of the bulky vehicle pointing straight at the dumpster.

I ignore the vehicle barrelling towards us to glance at RPK. "What are they doing?"

RPK is intently looking over the top of the dumpster. "They have a detachment coming."

"Right or left?"

"...Left."

I nod and turn to face the oncoming vehicle once again, holding out my left arm to indicate that the driver takes the right path. The van swerves to drive right through the smoke on the right side, and I return to crouching behind the dumpster. Worryingly, the metal at my back is starting to get warm and in some places it's starting to glow. Looks like it's not long for this world.

The van whizzes past and the six of us on foot use the cover of the smoke on the left to break for the side of the street.

We make it just in front of the smoke just in time to catch the Strelets trying to position themselves to aim at the fleeing van that had managed to avoid all of the Paradeus forces. Our own weapons roar, dying quite a bit of the Strelets red with their own blood.

Forced to contend with an actual threat over an escaping van, the remaining Strelets turn to face us.

DEFY proceeds to prove that they are elite dolls, dispatching the stragglers with ease, bringing this brief combat to a close just as the van escapes into the tunnel.

The quiet becomes deafening for a few seconds.

Holy crap.

HOLY CRAP!

It worked! My plan worked!

I almost let my lips curl in joy, but a horrible screech echoes out of the tunnel, followed by a sickening crunch.

"Shit. Angelia?"

"We're-" She coughs a few times, certainly not sounding alright. "We're fine. There's something in the tunnel, heading your way. We didn't see it until too late. It's big though."

I look at the five dolls, all of whom hurry with readying their weapons for further combat.

"Hey, Lucas?" Ange's voice continues to transmit. "Lucas, answer me!"

"What's going on?" I demand.

"He's hit his head and is knocked out, I think." Ange's voice is strained. "I can't really check him, I'm kind of… not able to reach him."

"...Fuck." I close my eyes for a second. "Alright, new plan. Most of us will hold here and delay whatever it is that's coming for us as long as we can." I turn to Tokarev and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Tokarev, I need you to do me a big favor."

"Da?"

"I need you to sneak into the tunnel and see if you can help Lucas and Angelia. If the van's still drivable, get them out of the city and to the Griffin camp."

She hesitates. "What if I can't get back in?"

"Then, I task you with protecting Lucas until I come to get you. Can I trust you with that?"

She beams. "Of course, commander. Your will shall be done."

"Thank you Toka." I let her shoulders go, but to my surprise she steps forwards and wraps her arms around me in a hug.

"I will miss you, commander. Come back safe."

"Of course."

She lets go, her pistol tucked away and the blades sliding out of her sleeves as she bolts for the side alley, presumably to try to get around the approaching forces.

"Do I get a hug when we depart?" RPK asks.

"If you really want one, I suppose." I glance back at the slagged dumpster and fading smoke, the tall building channeling gusts of wind to blow the thick smoke away. "We need a new place to hide."

"There's more dumpsters." AK-15 volunteers.

"No time." I shake my head. "We-"

AK-12 cuts me off. "It's here."

We all turn, weapons already raised as the white blur runs out of the darkness and onto the street. A few dozen Strelets are bad enough, but-

"Are you serious?" I groan. "Another Doppelsöldner?"

The new arrivals spot the five armed individuals relatively quickly, see the corpses of their comrades, and raise their weapons.

AK-12 grabs my arm and hauls me aside as all four of the dolls break into a dead sprint as the hail of plasma starts.

There's only one real place to take cover in the direction we're heading, an upscale cafe with large glass windows framed by round river stones. It'll be resistant to plasma for a bit, hopefully… but why are we heading straight for the windows?!

AN-94 raises her weapon without missing a beat, firing two bullets into the nearest window, but aimed over where anyone's head would be, and the glass shatters just as we reach the threshold, AK-12 leaping even with me in tow in a graceful arc to land inside the store.

The rest of DEFY lands beside us, AK-15 and AN-94 immediately plastering themselves to the wall and blindly firing back at the approaching horde.

I take stock of our surroundings, dismayed upon the realization that there are still people in this shop. Looks like they didn't heed the warning on the news-

Hmm?

I crouch run over a few tables, careful not to expose myself too much to where a group of five people I recognize are cowering.

Myroslav Rud, his two sons, and the two vault guards I had met that ill-fated day. What were their names? Oleksiy and… Gregory?

They all stare back at me in shock. "Is… is that the kid that messed up the vault?" Gregory asks.

"Hadwin." Yaroslav growls. "What are you doing here?"

I was going to use a more reasonable tone, but his attitude touches a nerve. "I'm here to kill Paradeus bastards." I make a show of loudly clicking the safety of the M16 to single fire. "Now that I think about it, you're all working for Paradeus, aren't you?"

Myroslav's eyes grow wide. "N-No! We work with them sometimes, but we're not Paradeus!"

"Can it, old man." Danylo growls. "So what if we are? You're a wimp that needs girls to protect him-"

I point my gun near his feet and pull the trigger, the bullet almost punching a hole through his big toe. "Shut up. I don't want to waste ammo on you if I don't have too." I release the grip of my rifle with my left hand, springing out the blade. "So I suggest you all try to escape out the back before I decide you're better dead than in a position to backstab me. I hate cleaning blood out of my clothes."

The two brothers snarl, but sit back down on either side of their trembling father.

"Hadwin, what are you- oh!" AK-12 crouch-walks over to me. "We meet again."

"It's the blind bitch." Danylo growls.

AK-12's eyes open, and all five of the men opposite me startle backwards. "Care to say that again?" She raises her namesake to point squarely at Danylo's forehead. "I can assure you, I can see better with my eyes closed than you can with a telescope."

"Fuck you." Danylo spits.

"I'll pass."

"12, can I have you round up all of the people in here and get them in the back? I'll go help the others."

"Yes." Her voice is perfectly flat. "You all, move."

I run back to the front of the shop where RPK, AN-94, and AK-15 are set up to defend the shop.

"What's the situation?"

AN-94's eyes flick to meet mine for a fraction of a second. "They have barrier shields, making it hard to take them down. The Doppelsöldner is currently investigating the dumpster for some reason, but it'll likely turn our way soon enough."

I nod along with her words.

"Do you have a plan?"

I shake my head. "I've only been able to take those monster down with crazy suicidal methods."

"Ara?" RPK's eyes meet mine. "Do tell!"

"Not right now." AN-94 gently chides. "We'll talk later."

"I suppose." RPK sighs dramatically. "Though, I think that 15 and I could easily take it down if we didn't have to look out for the lesser forces."

I glance at AN–94, who just looks back at me. "You know what? Fuck it. You two do that, we'll do our best to lock down the Strelets."

RPK's grin is wide, her eyes are wider, as she stands up with AK-15 and vaults over the wall leading out to the street.

AN-94 and I cover them, taking aim at any Strelets that aim their way.

As she had informed me earlier, they have their shield active, but having a hail of lead slam into you is enough to get their attention. All fifty or so of them.

"Hadwin, we have a problem." AK-12's voice enters my skull.

"What now?"

"This store doesn't have a back entrance. Everyone's trapped in here."

"...Shit!" I duck behind the wall and reload, dropping the empty magazine on the floor in my rush. "How many people are in here?"

"Twelve. Four employees, eight customers."

Images of my former workplace, the roof caved in blocking the back entrance and crushing my coworkers flashes through my head. I had since learned that getting trapped in a killbox is suicide, but since we didn't have choices then and don't have choices now…

"Get them to the sturdiest place in the building then come back. There's a lot of enemies out here."

"Roger."

I finish reloading and charge my weapon before peeking back up and raining more lead in the Paradeus' general direction.

They're advancing pretty quickly. We're able to take out a few of them, but nowhere near enough.

AK-12 hits the wall beside me, her namesake already up and firing. "Looks like we have a lot of uninvited guests!"

AN-94 shrinks behind the wall to reload, tossing another smoke grenade out the window to help cover us.

I duck back down, turning to face into the shop-

"We want to fight!" Gregory and Oleksiy have come forward. They only have handguns, but their eyes are steeled.

Oleksiy follows up on Gregory's statement. "We're not going to sit here and let the women do all the work!"

"...They're Tactical dolls." I check my magazine, finding it still mostly full. "It's their job."

"Then why are you fighting? I thought you were a random kid."

"I am. I just got caught in a real pain in the ass fight." I pop over the wall and fire a few shots at the few Strelets bold enough to poke through the smoke. "If you don't mind dying, then feel free to shoot, I ain't gonna stop you."

The two security guards plaster themselves to the wall, showing better training than I had expected. Then again, they're trained security guards.

As long as they know what they're getting into, I suppose.

"They're approaching too quickly." AK-12 reports after a few seconds, her eyes once more open. "We're going to need to retreat back farther into the building."

"If we lose ground, we're not going to be getting it back." I counter. "So we should hold out until we absolutely have to retreat."

"We don't have unlimited ammunition." AN-94 turns to me. "We should force them into a killbox inside of this cafe instead of trying to shoot them while they're spread out like this."

"...I'll defer to your experience." I turn to the security guards. "You two, get back to the serving counters. We'll cover you, and you can do the same when we retreat."

"Got it boss!" Gregory yells, already getting into position to run.

"Now!" I pop up and spray down a Strelet, only for two more to take it's place.

"We're good!"

AK-12's hand grips my exo suit and I barely even blink, continuing to aim even as she drags be back to the serving counter.

There, I find a few more scared faces.

One of the employees crouch-walks up to me. "Um… you're the leader, right?"

"...Sure." I decide not to get into the technicalities. "What do you need?"

"Can you lend me a weapon? I want to help!"

I stare at the young man. He's my age. He's clearly scared, but he's willing to pick up a gun…

I see a reflection of myself in him. If anything, it's worse because he's not as reluctant to fight as I was.

Still, I'm not in a place to be picky. I hand him my M16. "You know how to fire this?"

"I've played some video games-"

"Okay, no. Don't point this at anyone you don't want to kill, it's on single shot, and the safety's off. Shoot anything that's white." I take a deep breath, 15's words crashing into my head, similar to what I had just said. "When we're done, hand me the gun back and never shoot anything again."

He blinks at me, but nods, careful to keep the barrel of the gun away from any of us.

Good.

I get a tug on my sleeve, and a woman of about thirty has her hand out. "I heard what you said. Can I…?"

I withdraw my pistol. "It's slightly damaged. If it doesn't fire properly the first time, just drop it and go hide. If it works, fire it until it's empty at anything closer than two tables away."

She nods and accepts the weapon.

My Linker pops up with a number and a small map of the area with some red dots spread around. 60 enemies left by esitimation, huh?

I withdraw Ithaca's shotgun, steady myself, and peek over the counter barrel first.

I immediately sight in on a Stelet that had made it way too close and fire, the slug going straight through its head, dropping it in a spray of red mist.

I pump the firearm and target the next Strelet.

And then the next. And the next, and the next-

Seven shots and the firing pin clicks against steel instead of detonating gunpowder. I duck back down to reload as the others periodically peek up and fire their own weapons.

45 left.

With enough firepower, those shields go down.

I just hope we have enough ammo…

"Hadwin."

Tokarev's voice shatters my concentration and I drop a few shells that scatter around.

Shit.

I scoop them up as quickly as I can before I respond. "Tokarev?"

"I'm in the van. It's not in good condition, but it should run. Lucas is unconscious."

"Good job. Is the way out clear?"

"Da, I think so."

"Alright, you know what to do. Thank you, Toka."

"It is no trouble."

I slide the last of the shells Ithaca had handed to me into the weapon and rack it to load the first shell.

Once more, I stand up and fire at the first enemy I see, noting belatedly that the restaurant floor has become a slick pool of blood and the new arrivals are having to pick their way through.

35 left.

"How much ammo-" I begin.

"Three mags." AK-12 interrupts.

"Down to my second to last." AN-94 replies shortly. "Not enough."

I fire another shot, risking taking a plasma shot for those precious extra fractions of a second to aim true, now that I know how dire the situation truly is.

For the next minute, we and the Streletes trade fire, the fancy cafe catching fire in a few places only for one of the braver workers to desperately fling a bucket of water at it, and the stone counter is starting to crack and shift under the strain of incoming fire.

23 left.

Somewhat predictably, the boy I had lent my M16 to had panicked after his first mag was empty, unable to move as the gun stopped responding how he expected it to, and after the shotgun emptied, I took it back, slamming home the few half filled magazines I have left.

Oleksiy and Gregory stop firing once their own weapons are dry, crouching down and getting out of the way. Oleksiy grabs the kid and pulls him away as well.

I spray down a shield only for the weapon to click dry before I can finish it off, AK-12 sniping it instead.

Still, it's not enough.

8 left.

AK-12 curses a streak in Russian as her own gun clicks dry, ducking down and rifling around in her clothes for her own secondary firearm.

Then AN-94 runs out, and finally myself a few bullets later.

The woman who borrowed my pistol's arm is seared and I collect my slightly firearm from her as she grits her teeth in pain, putting one of my two remaining handgun magazines into it.

I count down the bullets as the three of us desperately hold off the few remaining Strelets. They're growing bolder seeing that we've ditched out primary weapons for sub-caliber rounds, which hardly seem to make a dent in their shields.

When my pistol clicks empty on the last magazine I have, I tuck it away out of habit and look to either side of me.

AK-12 and AN-94 each draw out a final smoke grenade each, AK-12 pulling a short hooked blade from her jacket and AN-94 a longer knife from her boot.

I force my hand open and strain my ears for the sounds of them coming closer.

5 left.

The two DEFY dolls toss their last smokes out over the top of the counter, waiting half a second before standing up and vaulting the counter.

I'm only very slightly behind them, eyes locking on a target that balks in surprise as I leap off the crumbling counter, hand already back to stab it right through the faceplate.

My blade lands true and the Strelet's own weight drags it down off of my hand.

I immediately identify another target, though a part of me realizes that I'm not going to make it.

A hail of bullets comes in from the side, destroying the two remaining Strelets, and I have to skid to a halt on the bloody floor to avoid careening straight through the center of the kill zone. Lacking half a foot, I lose my balance and end up slipping in the blood, landing face to face with a corpse.

I close my eyes for a few seconds to compose myself before carefully sitting up.

RPK and AK-15 had returned, their primary weapons still active. Whatever they did to fight the Doppelsöldner didn't consume all of their ammo, I guess.

"Clear." AK-15 announces. "They've been routed."

Relief floods through me like a wave, and only how gross I feel keeps me from sagging back into the blood soaked floor.

"We… we survived?" The boy I had lent my M16 to stand up. His eyes are distant, and his voice is incredulous.

"We did." AK-12's eyes close for the first time since the battle started. "AN-94, please check everyone's wounds."

She nods and starts fussing around.

Gregory and Oleksiy walk up to me. "That… was crazy, kid."

"Are you sure you're not a soldier?"

I can't help but laugh derisively. "A month ago, I worked in a place like this. Now, I fight crazy people with laser guns. I'm normal."

"Well, if you're a normal person, I think I have to step up my game." Oleksiy offers his hand. "I have to thank you for saving me. I never dreamed that the kid I met at that party would one day save me."

"Same here." Gregory nods. "I see you've got a Linker now."

I smile. "Ha, yeah… I had just gotten it the day before I met you two. As you can see, AK-12- er, Lucia's not actually blind so I was kinda just going with the flow when I was talking with you, but I was actually really interested in learning how it could be used to help blind people. That part was true."

"I don't blame you, from what little trickles down to us grunts, it seems like several people wanted something our boss had. You seem like decent enough people, especially compared with those creepy Paradeus robots."

"They're cyborgs." I kick the nearest corpse. "Otherwise they wouldn't bleed."

"...I see." Gregory's face grows queasy.

RPK walks over. "Who are these?"

"Some old friends." I tell her. "Can you do me a favor and get everyone from the back out of the building? I think we can safely say this place needs a cleanup crew to remove the biohazard potential."

"Sure, but you'll owe me something in return."

I just stare at her as she smiles sweetly and walks further into the building.

I carefully pick my way outside, flick my wrist a few times to get the blood off my blade, and let my hand snap back together. I collapse onto the windowsill, the glass long since knocked or blasted away in its entirety.

I can't stop shaking.

My entire body is shaking and I can't stop it.

I hold my hand in my hands, aware that I'm smearing more blood over myself, but I can't help it.

That… that was too close.

Way too close.

AN-94 steps up beside me. "Hadwin?"

I look up to see she has both of the primary weapons I was using in her arms, lovelingly cradled like delicate vases.

"I have your weapons."

"...Thanks." I reach out and accept the shotgun first, my shaky hands almost fumbling the borrowed weapon. Carefully, I set it down on the ledge so as not to damage it before accepting the M16. This I set against the wall and go back to staring out over the street, covered in corpses.

The Doppelsöldner is fried, its rocket pod twisted off and its lens shattered. I don't know how RPK and AK-15 managed to kill it, but it's pretty dead. From the scar patterns, maybe they were circling it like sharks?

AN-94 sits beside me. "Good job."

"Same. You two are amazing."

"We're elites." She nods. "And you kept up with us."

"For certain definitions of 'kept up with'." I grin. "We survived, and that's what matters."

"Da." She scoots a bit closer. "We're almost out of the city."

"Mmm."

"...Do you want to come with us?" I'm caught off guard by AN-94's words, and I turn to see that she's blushing pretty hard. "AK-12 told me that you aren't too happy with your commander right now, and since we're not Griffin units, I thought that maybe…" She trails off.

I can't help but smile. "Thanks, 94. I appreciate the offer, but I have others to take care of too. I can't stop until we're all out."

"I see."

"Aw, it looks like we lost." I jump, turning in place to see AK-12 leaning on the wall next to my M16. "Too entranced by your harem?"

"...Sure, 12." I sigh. "I need to make some calls. I'll be back with you in a minute."

"Sure." She echoes my words and sits down on my other side, carefully moving Ithaca's shotgun to not damage it.

I close my eyes and connect to Tokarev.

"How's it going?"

"We've made it to the forest edge. Some Griffin forces are here to meet."

My ears perk up. "Yeah?"

"Da. We will have an escort back to camp."

"That's a relief. We've got a few moments of calm ourselves, DEFY should be joining you soon."

"Understood."

"Thanks again, Toka."

"Pozhaluysta."

I cut the link and call the next person on my list.

Gentiane picks up. She doesn't seem like she's in combat at the moment… "Yes, Field Agent?"

"Angelia is outside the walls with the Griffin forces. DEFY is taking stock and will be heading out shortly. Tokarev's already outside the wall too… I'm gonna need a pick up."

"The Paradeus forces we were distracting just retreated. They might be heading your way, so be careful. I'll get someone to send a buggy your way."

"Thanks."

"You may not believe it, but I'm happy you're alive, Hadwin. Good job."

"...Thanks." I repeat and the connection closes.

My eyes drift to the door as three figures walk out. Myroslav and sons, all of them looking around in horror at the carnage we had wrought.

I pry myself off the sill and start moving towards them.

For the first time since I had met the brothers, there's a bit of fear in their eyes mixed in with that hatred. Myroslav himself looks about ready to wet his pants.

"Hadwin?" AK-12 calls after me.

"Just cleaning up the remaining Paradeus forces in the area."

"Ah. Carry on."

Now they all really look afraid. I pop my hand open, the blade springing out as I get within a few meters of them.

Yaroslav is unable to pry his eyes away from the tip of the blade, a single drop of blood still clinging on for dear life. Danylo is staring straight at me, though it doesn't look like he's seeing me exactly.

"Hey." I bark and all three of them jump. "Do yourselves a favor and get out of the city. It's probably gonna get a lot worse in the next few days."

"W-what?" Danylo had obviously been expecting something different.

"I said, run. Leave Kruševac now." I point to the tunnel. "If I see you again, especially if you're helping Paradeus, I'll shoot you dead. Unfortunately, I'm out of bullets at the moment. So, run. If you're lucky, you'll get picked up by someone sympathetic to you."

"...You can't be serious."

I step forward, brandishing my wrist blade. "Oh?"

Yaroslav snaps out of his trance, now in a panic. "He's a monster! There's no way he's human! We need to go now before he kills us!"

"Hadwin!" RPK strides out the door. "I still have bullets left!"

"Oh?" I turn to her. "Well then, by all means-"

The three bolt and run, though in Myroslav's case it's not very fast considering how overweight he is.

RPK offers her firearm to me. "If you'd like."

The voice in my head is mercifully silent this time. "...No." I shake my head. "They're off the hook for now."

"Ah well."

I turn back, but RPK holds her arms out.

"...What?"

"I told you you would owe me."

"...Uh-huh?"

"I said I wanted a hug."

It takes my brain a few seconds to compute. "Why?"

"I dunno. Seems like it would be interesting." She gestures for me to come closer and spreads her arms again. "Come on."

"I'm literally drenched in blood."

"I don't care~"

Fine. Whatever.

I wrap my arms around the crazy doll for a second, her own squeezing me uncomfortably.

It's over before I know it. Red is leaching through her clothes and there's some on her chin too, but she doesn't seem to mind too much.

RPK turns towards the tunnel. "Well, that was an experience. I think I like Ange's hugs better."

"Then go get a hug from her then." I head back to sit between 12 and 94. They're a lot closer together now and I can't help but bump each of them lightly each time I move. Goddamn it, I know what this means.

"We've got to go now." AK-12 sighs heavily. "And just when things were getting interesting."

"You have to come back safe, Hadwin. We'll be waiting for you." AN-94 says quietly.

"I don't plan on dying here." I state.

"You'd better not." AK-12 leans her head on my shoulder. "It would be a shame to lose someone so different from what I'm used to."

"I'm glad I'm a source of entertainment for you." I deadpan.

AN-94 grabs my hand and I let her weave her finger in mine for a brief moment.

I wouldn't call the scenery romantic, but if I close my eyes-

A cough from behind us has all three of us turn. AK-15 is standing there, a slight blush on her face. "Ah, we need to go. No telling if more Paradeus units are on their way."

"Right." AK-12 hops to her feet. "Until we see you again."

AN-94 stands up too. "See you soon."

"Be safe." I nod.

I stand up and move to gather my weapons, only for AK-12 to suddenly pull both me and AN-94 into a hug, squeezing hard enough the exo suit is creaking.

"Okay. Now we can go." 12 seems exceedingly happy with herself, while AN-94 is just blushing up a storm. Both of them now have even more blood on their clothes. I'm starting to worry that it'll get into a wound and infect me with something given how much I can lose to other people's clothes without feeling any drier.

They turn and wave goodbye as they catch up to RPK.

AK-15 pauses as she walks by, a puzzled expression on her face. "Commander?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I supposed to hug you too?"

"...Only if you want to, AK-15." I sigh.

"Everyone else did."

"You're not everyone else."

She ponders this for a moment, eyeing my blood-soaked clothes. "I think I'm good."

"Great. Good luck, keep each other safe."

She nods and turns away.

I watch until all four DEFY members fade into the dark of the tunnel before heading back to my seat and watching the streets come alive with horrified civilians as the initial panic over the gunfire had sent them into hiding. I don't have the mental capacity to spare for them at the moment, so I just watch the variety of reactions.

Oleksiy walks out of the door and over to me. "They really are your girlfriends, huh?"

"...No, not… they're Tactical dolls." I get out. "It's just how they are. They were pretending to be with me at the party."

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"I suppose you're right." I lean my hand on my chin. "Dolls are a weird bunch."

"Say…" Oleksiy coughs into his fist. "Do you think that Griffin is hiring?"

I give him a look.

"I mean, you did just scare off my boss. And, you seem to be doing good things. I don't think I really like Paradeus that much anymore."

"Same here." Gregory leaves the ruined cafe. "It'd be nice to have a boss that doesn't stuff you underground for twelve hours a day."

"I'll put in a word. If you wanna join the main force…" I trail off, pointing to the still unguarded tunnel.

"...Mmm, I think we'll stick with you for now."

That gives me a start. "Me?! Why would you want to follow me?!"

"After that display back there?" Gregory smiles. "I don't doubt you'll do everything you can to kick Paradeus' butt."

I contemplate them for a second before once more burying my head in my hands. "Do what you want."

"Thanks, boss."

"We won't let you down."

"Yeah."

Sirens start echoing through the concrete canyons of the city, and I realize pretty quickly that Paradeus might not be my most immediate threat. If I get arrested now, that would suck. It's not like there's plenty of evidence to hold me on, between the 90 or so Strelet corpses, thousands of bullet casings, three guns on my person, and enough blood to drown a street.

I don't really have the time to think about it more before one of the buggies drives up, slowly attempting not to hit anything. I recognize the driver immediately. I grab both my M16 and Ithaca's weapon, hike my backpack up higher, and start staggering towards my escape.

"You look like you lost a fight with a bear." AEK grins as I approach.

"Just a few dozen Strelets." I attempt to return the grin.

"I can see that. Almost everyone is back at home base now. You ready to go?"

"Yeah." I turn back to the two guards. "You two coming?"

"Yes!"

They both climb into the backseat of the buggy, and we start driving.

I lean back in my seat a bit, the past few hours so draining that I find it's impossible to keep my eyes open.

"Hey AEK?" I mumble.

"Hmm?"

"Wake me when we get to the hotel." I disengage the Linker and close my eyes.

"Sure thing."

---

Authors's note:
24k words. A normal chapter is around 15K. Well, I think it's well worth the time spent to write it.

I don't know how large the next two chapters are going to be, but I have them planned out. Depending on how much I have to put into each of them, they might be bloated chapters too, I don't think splitting them into smaller chapters is a good idea, so we'll see.

I hope y'all enjoyed.

Beta's note:
ANOTHER ONE FALLS FOR HADDY (Like that wasn't a surprise lol) *Annie Are You Ok by Michael Jackson plays*
Also: THREE MAGS REEEEEEEEEEE (Excuse my stupidity, it's been a long day)