[Day 1]
Well, he was right.
After doing a review on what he learned some time ago, SF attacked the base, thankfully he's good at defending and leading counter-attacks.
He and Kalina are currently in a meeting on what to do today after the attack.
And now there's this.
"Let me explain." Helian's voice suddenly cutted in.
"M-Mo—Miss Helian!" Kalina jumps in surprise when the console terminal opens up a line that shows Helian's strict face. "I'll leave it to you then!"
Helian's face turned towards Morridow. There's no need for introduction, as they both know who's who.
"Let's cut to the chase, commander." Helian says as she starts briefing him. "As you know, Sangvis Ferri has recently launched multiple attacks in Area S09 without prior notice.
This is a huge blow on Griffin's reputation so the higher-ups are taking this very seriously.
As HQ takes on the Sangvis forces, they've also sent me to investigate the reason behind their sudden riot.
Words from above, Commander, are that you'll be assisting me in my work till it's done."
Morrison nodded.
"Roger that, Boss."
Helian winced. "Please don't call me Boss, it makes me feel old." She complained, causing him to laugh.
"Alright alright, got it."
Then Helian continued her briefing.
"According to the latest report, enemy movements were detected behind the field. We're guessing those are Sangvis scouts.
They're very few in number, but we can't possibly let them roam free in times like this.
Please dispatch troops to the designated locations. Destroy the Sangvis forces and command posts to prevent our intel from being leaked.
That is all, Commander. Do your best."
Morrison looked at the satellite image and his clues and already had a plan.
"Kalina, get STEN, Mini-Uzi, G3, FN FNC, and FAL. Have them grouped as Echelon 1-Alpha." He said as he stretched his back, it's time for work.
He finished destroying the outpost faster than he thought and there were no casualties (besides FNC eating several chocolates after the operation, much to Kalina's dismay.)
"The operation went smoothly. You did quite well, Commander…" Helian congratulated him.
"No, it's not done yet, something feels wrong Helian." Morrison said as he paced back and forth.
"This went too smoothly."
Helian paused, then nodded. "Your intuition is kicking in?"
Morrison stopped when an incoming call request from HQ pinged in the channel.
"Sorry, give me a second." Helian said before turning around.
"Yes... Yes. Hmm? Those T-Dolls have been found? ...Thank goodness. (Sigh of relief)
...That can be arranged. I have someone here who can provide aid. Sure. Leave it to me, Mr. Kryuger."
She turned around with some light in her eyes, those are usually bright when one of the cases and mission she's handling is having good progress.
"...Sorry for the wait, Morrison. I just received a call from HQ. I'll be giving you an important mission. Let me confirm the intel first. See you in a bit."
The line got cut off.
The uneasiness is still there, much to Morrison's dismay.
It went well, then not.
He managed to rescue the dolls the HG sent for a mission that had gone awry due to Agent, one of the SF Ringleaders. only to realise that there's some of them left out there.
Then he's on a rescue mission to get them back, thankfully it's easy this time, no ringleader.
Morrison is on standby, the uneasiness growing heavier each mission.
[Next Day, Day 2]
Now it's time for him to take command to kill one of the said ringleader.
"Please memorize all information about this Sangvis Ringleader - Model SP65 'Scarecrow'." Helian said through the line.
"According to information provided by the rescued T-Doll, she knows the details and objective behind the recent Sangvis raids. Our objective is to capture her and extract her memory module.
Unlike previous minor skirmishes, this time your troops will be up against an advanced T-Doll. But you've made it this far. I'm sure you can handle this. Begin the operation, Commander, and good luck."
He sighs, as he watched his own Echelon,1-Alpha, and HQ's echelon move via the UAV live cam and some of the doll having small camera on their chest, providing live feed from the ground.
They cleared the area of SF troops swiftly.
"Alpha-5 to Mothership. We found our target." FAL reported. "Proceeding with Plan K, flag extract for pickup."
"Proceed, flagging Extract, ETA: 5 Minutes." Morrison announced before switching immediately to another screen to signal the helicopters to fly at the designated extraction point.
"Alpha-1 to Mothership,1,2,4 in position. 3 is on her way." G3 said.
"Team HQ, status?" He asked, looking at the other team at the field.
"HQ-3 Copies, 1 and 2 are ready. 4 and 5 are on standby." One of the dolls from HQ said. "I can't wait to break them to pieces!"
In the body-cam, it shows Scarecrow, ordering the units around her, she's either aware of their presence and baiting them, or trying real hard to find them and have no idea they're literally right next to her.
"Alright, Go." He said calmly as Alpha and HQ laid fire at the ringleader.
She didn't stand a chance against an ambush, nor the units around them.
Scarecrow is down at the ground, lying at her back, her legs blown off and all of her drones are down. Her gas mask is also broken.
The HQ dolls surrounded her, while Alpha hung at the back, making sure they didn't get ambushed.
Helian shows up in a hologram to speak with Scarecrow.
Morrison's gut twisted, when he heard the coordinates.
"ALPHA AND HQ, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE NOW!" he shouted as Helian also realized what's happening.
"Everyone back off, she's gonna explode!" Helian shouted as everyone else ran away before an explosion occurred.
The live feed from the body cams died.
Morrison was afraid, what if they all died… it'll be his fault again.
"Alpha team, do you copy?" He asked.
Static.
"Alpha team, do you copy?!" He asked again, his voice cracking for abit.
Static.
"1-Alpha! Answer me!" He was about to ask one by one when the radio came back to life.
"A-alpha 3 to Mothership, we're still alive…. " Sten said through the radio.
"HQ is also all green." One of the HQ team dolls, Ingram announced. "We're all fine here, Commander."
Morrison let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god."
Helian also seems to share the same sentiment as him.
"Alright, HQ and 1-Alpha, get yourself checked as the EVAC is 2.5 clicks out, be ready for extraction."
He sighs, as he feels the pit loosen, there is still the feeling of something wrong but it wasn't as bad as this.
The next few days are a fresh breeze, 1-Alpha is back at the base after the operation, fully recovered as Echelon 2-Silver also returned from their commission.
2-Silver consists of Springfield, M14, PPK, Tokarev and SAA.
They were worried when they found out about the operation, but were relieved when it ended with no real casualties.
Right now, Morrison was sure they're currently at Springfield's cafe talking, or at the firing range, training, or going around the perimeter guarding.
There were also several combat simulations based on the first operations. Most of them are modified to some level of difficulty, but nothing impossible to Morrison.
[Day 8]
Then, the next operation came.
Morrison got briefed by Helian again, to investigate the coordinates.
It was easy to find out there was nothing there but SF troops.
No, that part was concerning to Morrison due to the fact there's supposed to be NO Sangvis units active there.
Which means that they're one step ahead of them.
He gathered the reports and his opinion and sent them to Helian who nodded that his assessment is indeed the most probable scenario.
[Day 9]
The next day, Morrison got a message from Helian to scout a certain area.
It has SF units, as expected.
There WAS SF units, as expected.
Morrison groaned, as he felt it again.
"Fuckin hell…." He groaned, as he look over the tactical map of S09, previous POI and AO's marked.
Then he noted the movement, then the fact that they seemed to be….
"They're following something."
"That's right, they're following something…or rather, someone."
Helian said as the terminal turned on revealing her.
"And I supposed you can't tell me?" Morrison asked.
Helian shakes her head side to side. "Unfortunately, that's beyond your clearance.
But keep investigating, any info overlooked by us in HQ will be valuable." She said before the line got cut and the terminal turned off.
Morrison sighs, before heading out of the tac room, noticing it was really late.
He haven't gotten this worked out since….
"...since I was investigating their deaths…." He said under his breath.
He used to pull everything he could to find out what the bloody hell happened in the dubbed "Butterfly Incident".
Only to end up in a dead end.
He pulled out his necklace in his neck with two empty round of .45 ACP and a .40 SW hanging on it along two dogtags with their weapon name etched on it.
After some walking, Morrison stopped by Springfield's cafe and noticed she's still there.
Springfield noticed him approaching. "Hello, Commander. Still up very late, I see."
"Good Evening Springfield." He says as he leaned at the counter. "I was just finishing stuff at the tac room. The longer this operation last, the more resources we waste." He explained.
Morrison watched the Rifle wash dishes with her dummies and clean the kitchen through the counter, before Springfield herself comes out again.
Springfield nodded. "Then would you like a cup of coffee? Or perhaps tea?"
"Would you girls want coffee, or tea?" He asked the two submachine-gun doll.
"No, not this time I'm just passing by here, I'm going to my room to take a rest." He says, before pushing himself off the counter.
"Take care, Springfield, and good night." He says before leaving.
"Goodnight, Commander." She bids him farewell before continuing to cleaning. She noticed the necklace with the odd but not out of place items but didn't comment.
Afterall, what kind of cafe owner is she if she start ratting her customers personal life, much less the commander himself.
Not only was he kind, but he's also smart and understanding unlike some of her fellow doll's previous commander, he also knows when to pull out to prevent everyone from getting injured or worst, die.
But she noticed that sometimes he goes unresponsive for 1 second as if reminiscing about something before doing some ridiculous or out of the way, yet it will work wonderful and provide benefits.
Granted it was a simulation, but his resourcefulness is respectable.
Those unresponsiveness and getting detached off the conversation is a serious problem, especially from earlier, the Commander didn't notice it, but he stayed like that for 10 seconds, his eyes glistened for a few seconds before he blinked them out and he snapped out of it.
Springfield concluded that he might need some help, she hopes Kalina have some answer about it.
But for now, she needs to finish closing down the cafe and get some rest.
[Day 10]
Morrison and Kalina are sitting inside one of the tac room, working when Kalina noticed a ping at her tablet
"Ah Commander! We got a new mission! It's from 16Lab—" she was cut off when the terminal turned on again and a woman with unkempt faded pink hair and cat ears appeared on it, wearing a wrinkled lab coat. She seems very tired with her heavy eyebags.
"Ah…so you're the comma—wait, Morrison?" Persica blinked at the unexpected person.
"Yes?" He looked up at her from the map.
Kalina processed on who was it before speaking.
"You're the one who requested the mission, right?"
The researcher nodded her head with a smirk.
"Then I'll get straight to the point. Hmm... Your mission this time is to eradicate Sangvis forces in the area and retrieve some research data."
"Miss Persica wishes to recover some data stored in a database. This order has been approved by Griffin." Kalina read out loud the mission that was listed in her tablet.
Persica yawns before starting to leave.
"Yeah... It's annoying how Sangvis Ferri keeps sitting on the database.
I'll go make some coffee. I'm leaving everything to you…"
The line went silent and got cut off.
"Well then." He stretched as bones popped. "Let's get to work." If Persica's request is related to Helian's mission….
It's a lead for this puzzle after all.
Kalina felt that this is all for nothing as the search went on.
"How long do we have to keep looking, Miss Persica?" She asked with a pout.
Even Morrison seems to be getting burnt out in this search mission.
"Just...a little longer...
According to my sources, this is the last possible location…"*she whispers.
"Eh really?!" Kalina went wide-eyed like she was given something expensive.
"Heh." He sniffled a laugh before forcing it to die down.
"Ehem, Continue?"
"Yeah... As promised, this will be my last commission.
I'm guessing this place has what I'm looking for…"
She sent a coordinate to Kalina who inputs it into the tac map. It immediately zoomed away towards…
"HVVQJ in Area S09? But it's all ruins. No sign of any databases there." Kalina wondered, as she navigated the console. "Seriously, what are you looking for, Miss Persica?"
"Hmm... Nothing important.
Could be just "sugar cubes" I left behind the last time I moved?" she said cryptically, although with her expression and tone, it could be misunderstood.
"WHAT?" Kalina shouted
Like that.
Morrison's eyes narrowed.
"Alright, 1-Alpha. Our contractor said this is the last location. Beware there's SF activities reported here." He warned, before leading the squad to a house that contains…
"Nothing." FAL says, after searching the house, that Morrison assumed is a safehouse. "Besides the tape, there's nothing unusual here."
"Alright, pull-out and get back here ASAP." He commanded them as he watched the team pull out and come back to the base.
Immediately, FNC ran to the command room, carrying the tape before running off.
"Well, Miss Persica here's what's inside the safehouse." He said as he held up the tape.
"And why did you assume it's a safehouse?" She challenged, amused.
"Oh nothing, it's just one of the safehouses listed by 16Lab last time I checked." He smirked. "Now, can we listen to it or do you want us to send it to you?"
Persica shrugged. "No, play it, I don't mind."
He let Kalina do the work as he stands back.
A recording starts playing showing a POV of a girl that seems to be wearing a fitting shirt or something, and a jacket tied around her waist. He did noticed the Griffin logo too.
"Day 70 on the run. No progress at all... Or rather, the operation is in jeopardy...
...As I am being targeted by Sangvis troops.
I did expect Sangvis pursuit, but they are coming hot on my heels. Things are looking very bad...
I do not know how much longer I can keep this up. I have to get in touch with someone from Griffin as soon as possible."
The recording ended.
"So that's who the SF were chasing all this time, huh." He said first, earning a look from Kalina and curiosity from Persica. "It makes sense, this sugar cubes of yours is probably 1.) Some unique doll core 2.) A codename for documents."
Persica smiled at that. "It might be."
The door opened revealing Helian, she walked into the frame of the camera.
"Was your mission accomplished, Persica?" She asked
"Ofcourse, the data is here, the result should be here in any moment."
"Oh and Morrison, thanks for the help. I'll treat you a coffee later if you pass by."
"Then please make haste. We're running out of time, as you well know." she said before turning towards Morrison as the calls gets terminated.
Helian sighs before talking again. "Unless you fancy drinking dirty water used for doing the dishes while sitting in a freezer, I'd suggest you forget it."
Morrison laughed at that. "Oi, you know that's my favourite even back then."
Helian's eye twitched for a moment.
"Let's get back on track, Commander.
Griffin is now assigning an important mission to you. I'll give you a detailed explanation…
I'm sure you've had your own suspicions.
The Sangvis invasion in Area S09 is by no means a random conflict.
A Sangvis Ringleader is in fact searching for a T-Doll known as M4A1. She is part of the AR Tactical Unit under Griffin and has been collecting some research data under the commission of Persica, researcher at 16Lab.
According to our sources, her neural cloud, i.e. memory bank, seems to be carrying extremely important confidential intelligence.
M4A1 is currently lost in Area S09. We must bring her in safely with all possible haste. But due to certain agreements, we cannot openly interfere with the situation.
After some discussion, Griffin HQ has decided to delegate this mission to you.
Launch an immediate search in Zone T6, Area S09 and secure M4A1 before Sangvis forces get to her."
Morrison's gut instinct flared. "What about the enemy ringleader?"
Helian nodded and continued.
"The Ringleader in the area has been confirmed to be Model No. SP524, an advanced T-Doll widely known as 'Executioner'.
Though she is currently hellbent on chasing one target, she'll still attack if approached rashly. Please exercise caution."
"Then we need to strike them tomorrow, as soon as possible." He says pointing at the clock showing 6pm. "We're going to need all of our energy on this one and it's not gonna be good if we go out there at night."
Helian nodded. "Alright, 7am sharp, we're starting."
[Day 11]
Morrison was geared up and was with 2-Silver with his own sniper rifle, a Zastava M76.
They are currently positioned several blocks away from 1-Alpha, who are clearing the eastern side of the AO. A small abandoned town he was familiar with.
Gunshots rang, gunfights echoes loudly across the silent town.
"Mothership this is MS, status?" He asked.
"There's nothing yet….wait, I'm detecting a Griffin signal! Northeast!" Kalina said through the comms.
"Alpha move towards Northeastern bound quick! Go!" He said as he stand up ang quickly shouldered his sniper. "Silver, regroup and position yourself around the northeast with 1 in north, 1 south west and one south of the northeast. M14 take the church at the east, that's the highest vantage point that you can use, PPK accompany her. The other's there should be some abandoned parking lot or a 3 story building. Move!"
He sprinted down the house he's in straight out of the house, he immediately ran towards the alleyways and used it to avoid patrols.
Five minutes later, Alpha and Morrison grouped up and entered the building the signal was from.
The scene revealed a young woman with dark hair with some green highlights, the same woman from the recording. behind her is the supposedly ringleader he was supposed to be wary of, dead.
"Commander… is that you?" She asked Morrison when he came in view of her. "Are…you the one Miss Persica mentioned?"
Morrison nodded. "You got that right kid, you look like hammered shit." He said bluntly as Alpha team fan out inside to check the corners.
Several clears rang out before regrouping with him.
The girls are curious about their VIP and the fact that she solo'ed a Ringleader.
"Mothership this is MS, package "sugar cubes" secured, I repeat, the "Sugar cubes" are secured. Ringleader SP524 "Executioner" has also been confirmed KIA. Seems like our VIP got her first." Morrison reported, as he gets a confirmation from Kalina and that extraction are on the way.
"Come on M4, we need to move out of here." He motioned her to follow.
"Commander, I'm sorry for causing trouble to you, I was told by Miss Persica that she have gotten a "old friend" as a backup for me, I'm assuming you know her before this?" She asked.
"Mhm. I remember you, you're that girl M16 kept blabbing about when we met last year. You're her sister, I presume?" He asked making her eyes widened.
"Is M16 safe?! What about Sopmod or Star?! Are they okay?" She asked, before she realized the answer from Morrison's reaction.
"Sorry kid, but that answers my question, you have some data's that is important from SF, that you and your team are forced to break off right?" Morrison guessed as they got out of the building. "Silver team, move to the extraction point 'Z'. Don't engage any SF units unless spotted first." He said through the radio as they used the alleyways again to go to the extraction point.
"Y-yes, that's right…. Commander, can I request something?" M4 asked. "Can you…no, please…please save us."
"No Commander, it's all thanks to you…. You saved us from the—" UMP40 said.
Morrison stopped moving when she said her request.
The Alpha team and M4 also stopped, before Morrison looked at M4, his eyes glistening.
"Alright, you got it kid, now you girls go first, I'll watch the rear instead." He said as Alpha team didn't question it, since they can ask later, M4 hesitates for abit before muttering a thank you and following Alpha team soon after.
Morrison didn't move for abit before following them.
A.N.
And that's chapter 2 covering the whole CH 1 of the game
I know, lazy writing, but that's mainly because the focus of this fic is our main character, Morrison Gray, and his interaction with 404 (mainly with 45 herself) and the effects of his presence with them.