Morrison and everyone else returned to the base after the ops.
Thankfully, they all made it back in one piece, minus some dummy links.
Morrison listens to SOPMOD talk animatedly about what they're doing while hiding, while STAR15, or Star as the other two of AR team call her, was a aloof and just provided enough to confirm SOPMOD's report.
He thought it's strange that they behave more…humanely than the usual Dolls, but chalked it up as being results of Persica's project….
/Flashbacks/
"She's a what?" Morrison blinked, at the sheer absurdity of what Persica said.
"She's a prototype. Although she's already working perfectly before all of this mess, she still has her problems, which I intend to fix for her 'sisters'." The pink haired woman said pointing at M16, just waking up after getting analyzed.
"Mhm, and we see my flaws, don't we?" She says, meaning she has been listening the entire time.
"That still doesn't explain how the hell is your memory encrypted and locked away. That can't be done unless someone overrides you." Morrison countered, crossing his arms. "Or Oli—40 and 45 hacked you, which is unlikely since they…died." He says the last part with a pause and pain.
Persica shrugged as she began typing some commands in the console before turning back to Morrison. "Either way, it's a dead-end for your investigation. you owe me one, Morrison." She says.
He peeked at the monitor, with several blueprints of T-Doll bodies, and all of them having AR_number for designations.
"Alright, thanks for the help, you two. And yes, I do owe you one." He says his farewell as he stands up and leaves, frustration slowly building inside due to the dead-end.
/Flashback end/
Morrison blinked as he realized zoned out again, he really needs a coffee soon.
Star looked at the commander, noticing him unfocused at SOPMOD's rambling, and staring at empty space before blinking again. He shakes his head and began listening to the blond AR again.
'Odd…' STAR thought.
Control Room, Griffin base at SO9.
Morrison was organising several files alone after it was delivered earlier by Kalina. He was immediately reminded back when MS Team compiled the reports together, 40—nein, Olivia, singing and Rivia humming along, while he listened to them, sometimes even joining them when he knew the song.
The terminal lights up, indicating a call, and snapped him back to reality, he answered it.
Helian shows up, with her ever-serious face.
"Helian."
"Commander."
She greeted
"You've successfully defeated Hunter and given us a chance to restore a human settlement.
But there's no time to celebrate. We must begin our next move.
According to the information acquired by the AR Team, there are files hidden in Area S09 that concerns Sangvis' important plans." she continues, several markers on the map appearing.
"We have deployed a team of T-Dolls to investigate.
Your mission this time is to help them reach their destination. Please take a look…"
"A team? How big?" Morrison asked.
Helian paused.
"Small. The team was ambushed in this territory of dispute.
I want you to intervene from the side and provide them with cover, Commander."
"You want me to take the sidelines instead of helping them directly?" He asked, noticing the odd directives.
"Unfortunately, yes, the team we out-sourced said they only require some firepower to the sidelines as part of the deal."
"Who are they?" He asked.
"That's also classified, Commander." Helian refused to answer, making Morrison sigh.
"Alright, I'll get my echelons up, count on me."
He's counting on his luck too, hoping that he won't run in any trouble.
/Time skip/
Morrison was glad his luck held out. The attack wasn't by far the worst he encountered, but it was odd….
"Their formations are better. Someone is directing them from the backline." He says his reasons to Helian after giving the after-battle reports. "I believe we're going up against a ringleader….again." he finished, his right eye twitching in annoyance. "How the hell did I encounter several fucking ringleader's just after I became a Commander."
Helian nodded. "As much as I am curious on why as well, I just received the report from the team I sent there. If we're going by your observations and this report, it might be true. I'll get back to you later after going through this one." She says as the line gets cutted off.
Morrison stretched as the AR Team watched him behind along with the other echelon leaders.
They were asked by Morrison earlier if they found anything odd while out there, and they gave out their own account of the battle, they also reached the same conclusion as him.
Star is becoming more curious, this commander is quite an enigma to the rest of the base after listening to them talk. The more she hear about him, the more absurd she thought it was, but it was proven today, not once, but twice. One when he was making plans, while another successful plan was already being executed, and Two, this meeting, that shows how perceptive he is.
/Later, Evening/
Morrison is currently with Kalina, compiling combat records from earlier and yesterday's, at the control room.
"Kalina, did you—?" He was about to ask when Kalina cutted him off
"Uncle Morri, I already did that, I've been doing this for years now that I'm hundred percent sure about it. And that's the 4th time you asked too!" She says, exhaling.
Morrison laughed. "Can't be sure once, twice, thrice. 4 is the way to go." He said. "Olivia said that after the one clean-up mission at S07… fun times." He says, smiling rather bitterly.
Kalina frowned, his de-facto uncle is doing it again. "Uncle Morri, it's not your fault, and Miss Olivia wouldn't be happy if she sees you mopping around like that."
"I know, I know…. It's just one thing I can't seem to stop." He says, as he leaned back.
The two stayed in silence before being alerted by an incoming call from Helian, Kalina answered it.
"Helian, I take it that this bizarre day's battle have been answered?" Morrison asked.
She nodded "This Sangvis attack is no trivial matter, Commander. The situation isn't looking very good.
The team has identified the local Sangvis Ringleader as 'Intruder'.
She seems to be a new model as there is no other information about her in Sangvis Ferri's old product catalogue. "
"A new model? Didn't they stop making new models years ago?" He frowned.
"More likely she hid herself from us for this long…
But from what we've learned in our investigation, unlike previous T-Dolls that are suited for solo combat, this one specializes in issuing commands.
Block the route on the side. We must do whatever we can to undermine her defensive maneuvers.
That's the only way to intercept Sangvis reinforcement and prevent them from pouring into the battlefield."
Kalina nodded. "Then that means she's gonna be tricky to fight, the longer this last."
Both Morrison and Helian nodded at her comment.
"Correction, it'll be tricky if we even last that long, we only have two echelon, so we can't expect to fight her in the long run unlike the last few one's." The commander corrected, as he nodded at Helian. "I assume we need to do it tomorrow then?"
Helian nodded and the call ended.
/Next day, after the operation./
M4 was sitting in the Griffin's Staging Area lounge taking a break, discussing the future contingency plans with Morrison when she froze.
"That's…a comm signal?" She muttered.
Morrison observed her reaction. 'a puzzle piece!' He thought.
"M16... Is that M16?! How are you doing?!" she shouted, her emotions flooding with relief and leaking brightness.
"….AR-15 and SOP-II are both here. We are only missing you…..What business do you have? When are you coming back?!" Her voice hitched again in worry. "Hello? Hey! M16!"
Morrison looked at M4 curiously. Right now, he could actually see some resemblance with M16 and her.
'She changed too, after all this years.' he thought, thinking about M16's action there.
SOPMOD and Star walked into the area, probably done with their patrol.
"M4... Still no news from M16?" Sopmod asked.
M4 hesitated, before starting to speak. "She…"
Star holds up her hands, stopping M4. "...Hold on. Someone's making a public broadcast!"
Morrison's radio crackled to life
"Pleased to meet you, everyone.
Still awaiting news from your companion? Perhaps you should focus on what's at hand." a girl's voice spoke through the broadcast.
Star was agitated. "Intruder... I didn't expect you to make an appearance so soon."
Intruder chuckled at that. "It would be discourteous of me if I didn't entertain guests who grace my land with their presence.
First of all, I need to congratulate you on cutting off my reinforcements in our last battle.
But that was only one of my many supply lines so I'm not offended in the slightest."
M4 was angry, or atleast her anger was contained from Morrison's observations. "That was just the beginning, Sangvis…
We will be targeting your defenses next. Prepare to surrender."
"I'm afraid Master will object, but I'm more than glad to welcome you.
Please inform your commander, it's officially show time."
Morrison narrowed his eyes, looking straight at M4, who looks back at him.
"There will be no need for that, Intruder.
...We are already at your door.
Commander, please give the order."
Morrison grinned in response.
He was about to call for the two echelon when Helian called him.
"We have a new task for you, Commander.
The team in charge of this mission has cut off communication for some reason.
We can't get in touch with them. Please find out their whereabouts.
Beware of this Ringleader. Intruder is best known for her plots and schemes.
She may not have launched any large-scale counterattacks yet, but we mustn't slack off on scouting missions."
Morrison laughed. "Already on the way to make sure she plays her part of the plan, Helian. She just made a public broadcast to provoke us."
"Then I expect you and your team to do the task successfully."
Morrison nodded. "Roger, MS-1 out." He says as he ended the call, and realized what he just said.
He began swearing in German as the 3 AR observed him in amusement.
/Time skip/
Morrison is getting anxious, scratch that, he is very anxious. "No counter-attacks, just some small attacks …What the hell is she planning to do."
M4 hesitated before opening a line to call someone.
"...M4A1, I knew you would call me." Intruder answered. Morrison is currently tapped into her comms to listen to their conversation.
"Tell me... Where is M16?" M4 asked, making Morrison frown before nodding, ofcourse she prioritize her sister.
He would do the same if it was his family too.
"What is your objective?
Griffin has already entered your territory, yet you have not organized any significant counterattacks!"
"Oh? I didn't expect I'd frighten you by doing nothing.
All right, I'll tell you. The order I received…
Heheh It's actually pretty simple - Kill some time."
Morrison's eyes widened in realization. "We've been made. Fuck."
"Kill some time? That is your order?" M4 says, making Morrison think if she haven't connected the dots yet, or refuses to believe it.
"What's so strange about that? If that's what Master wants, I can sit down and enjoy a nice cup of tea with you. But first...you need to make it to my teahouse." Intruder taunted.
"That will not be difficult, Intruder.
Griffin has traced the coordinates left behind by a squad we dispatched in advance. We will meet very soon." M4 answered with cold fury.
"Heheh Then I'll look forward to it."
The line was cutted off, and M4 looked at Morrison.
"Commander…"
"Fuck it, we're going to rush her, blitzkrieg style." He says, as he calls them. "Alright, 1-Alpha and 2-Silver, were starting Plan B!"
/Meanwhile at M16's hiding place, after 416 picked a fight with M16, a few minutes later./
M16 felt movement behind her.
"Tsk... I'm just about to retreat. Please tell me you're not here to finish after 416…" she groaned in annoyance, as she looked at who met her. "...UMP45."
She narrowed her eyes at the submachine-gun doll. She wasn't sure why, but she felt anger at this particular doll. As far as she knows, she haven't met her before, only running into her several times before, and the first time she did, she was really really angry.
It also have been years since she last contacted or hell, haven't seen Morrison, so she really can't say if this is the same 45 he's looking for.
"... I'm not buying that. Don't you have two big boys in that case?" 45 playfully asked with a smile.
"Oh, these... I don't think they're meant for you...
...What do you say?" M16 smirked, gauging 45's reaction.
45 seems to not bite to this. "...Ditto
After all, I'm just on the way home after a job well done, picking up 416 while I'm at it."
M16 made an observation. "Aren't you gutsy. Operating alone when your squad isn't that big to begin with."
"9 alone is more than enough to handle this kind of trivial mission. 416 had worked her share so I gave her a holiday." she explained, shrugging.
"And her idea of enjoying a vacation is to break my legs…" M16 laughs bitterly, her head shaking in disbelief. "You guys are one of a kind, 45. One of a kind."
"Relax. 416 won't kill you. She's just a bit upset."
"I know. That's why I spared her life." M16 narrowed her eyes, body ready to bolt into cover.
"I know. That's why I'll also spare yours." 45 grinned in response.
"Ha, what a bargain. Deal." M16 agreed, if this is the same 45 that Morrison was looking for, M16 is sure she'll definitely die if, ever, she was the same 45 that worked under Morrison Gray.
Each time she talks with her, she's getting more flashes of how similar the two act, and now, she was sure that Morrison taught UMP45 how to talk like this.
"But you'll be throwing away this life I've spared if you go back right now, M16." 45 said, the traces of smile gone.
"...Oh?" M16 noticed the shift
"Don't underestimate 16Lab's neural cloud technology. I won't die so easily. 45, just what have you learned...from this mission?" She asked, curious as to why the 404 Squad was here. Highly unusual, but not eye-catching if it involves a large wad of money.
"Here. Come closer." 45 says as she got closer instead and whispered to her ear " 'It's raining on the plain.' "
M16 looked at the submachine-gun, confused.
"Raining? Plain? ...What the heck?"
45 walked back, smile still not present.
"Communication logs intercepted through close-quarter infiltration from 1500 to 1700.
A total of 41,960 results yielded, including mentions of the fence that contradicts basic battle strategies...
If you're interested, then take a look at this comparison chart. More importantly, see what she wants to do next…" she continued.
M16's uncovered eye twitched in annoyance.
"Hey, don't just enter replay mode.
Can't you store some understandable language in that puny brain of yours?" M16 stopped her techno-geek speak.
"Your creator might just understand what that means, you know." She finished, her eyes narrowing.
M16 paused. "What...did you say?"
Then, UMP45 smiled again, she began turning around.
"Heheh Then we'll be taking our leave. If you run into your fellas at Griffin, just tell them…"
M16 grunted. "That you got wiped out. Yeah, I know the rules."
45 began walking away. "Heheh That's it. Until the next time."
M16 was annoyed at her antics. "Morrison won't like it when I tell him you 'died' the second time." She said loudly, gambling her life for a confirmation she doesn't know if she can even say to the one who needs it.
UMP45 stopped, trembling before walking away fast.
M16 grinned at her response when she was sure she was gone. "Bingo."
An explosion rang outside, far enough to not really cause a ringing in her ears.
"And it looks like they're already hunting, it's time to end this show."
/Later, back at Morrison and Griffin./
M4 is pointing her gun at the damaged Intruder, who's too weak to even lift her arms.
Star was on her way with SOPMOD, while 1-Alpha is cleaning up outside. 2-Silver is in overwatch.
Morrison held his UMP40 tightly.
"It's over, Intruder."
Intruder simply looked at M4, smiling.
"So it is... How time flies...when you're having fun…"
"You find joy even in this outcome?" M4 asked.
"I accomplished my mission... Isn't that a joyful thing?"
M4 was about to ask when Morrison spoke first.
"You bought time, and now whatever your mission is done, you're an expendable unit." Morrison said, narrowing his eye at Intruder.
Intruder laughed at this. "Oh? You're very observant, human. That's right, They've had plenty of time to make preparations... The real show...will begin in no time."
"Real show…." M4 said "What real show?!"
Intruder chuckled in delight. "Oh, sweetheart... Drama...is all about...suspense…"
M4 pushed the muzzle of her namesake closer..
"Tell me where M16 is!
Why be in such a hurry to die?! Answer me!"
Before M4 can keep going someone else spoke.
"Actually... There's no need for that." M16 says as she walked out from the shadow. "I'm here."
M4 stared at her sister, before slowly walking towards the older doll.
"M...16...
You...You are finally…" she says.
"Haha, yes ofcourse! I am—"
SLAP!
"OUCH! You didn't even hold back!" M16 says, rubbing her cheek. "I'm injured, you know! That slap could've killed me!"
M4 is still frowning. "That would be perfect. We would not even have to download a backup copy of you. We would just start building you from scratch and reset your memory!"
"Oh please, spare me, that already happened once. It wasn't easy making it out alive. At least let me see a smile from my family!" She joked when she noted who was with her sister.
Morrison eyed the woman, still have his gun aimed at Intruder who was laughing at the slap M4 did to M16.
"Oh that was beautiful!" She gushed.
"I hate to admit it, but I'm with this woman this time." Morrison said, a small smile at his face. "That's quite an appropriate response."
He turns to Intruder. "I'll get you temporarily repaired, and sent to a holding cell, Helian and Persica will have fun having a live ringleader to observe." He said, and cutting her off when she's about to say something. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't die there. I know Persica can be quite scary but I'll write her a message to not traumatize you." He signals 1-Alpha who just got in to carefully drag Intruder outside into their EVAC.
He turns his attention to M16 and M4.
"Nice to meet you again, Commander. I'm Tactical Doll M16A1. But you already knew that."
Morrison smirked. "Deadbeat sister, I'm coffee maniac, nice to meet you again." He smirked at the flabbergasted expression M16 have before she also laughed.
After a few seconds she stopped.
"Well... Much as I'd love to exchange pleasantries first, I have some very important information.
It concerns a matter that you need to know ASAP.
We're in big trouble. Right now."
Morrison stopped laughing aswell, fully intended to listen. "Tell me something I don't know."
"'It's raining on the plain.'" M16 says.
M4 was confused while Morrison eyes widened.
"What the fuck?" He knows what it references. "What does Pygmalion have to do with the problem?"
M16 looked at Morrison, debating inside her digimind, before speaking.
"I heard this from UMP45... That itself is pretty bad news.
HQ will be up to something big soon enough."
Morrison's breath stopped, his eyes widened and his heartbeat quicken.
M4 looked at the Commander worryingly. "C-Commander!? Are you okay!?"
M16 came closer and pats his back to calm him down.
Morrison's thoughts is going in overdrive as he thinks about the MIA submachine-gun of his old team.
"Alive…she's fucking alive…. And she didn't even think about contacting me…." He muttered. "Diese Scheißgöre hat nicht einmal gedacht, dass sich seine Familie um sie sorgt!" He swore in German, suprising M4.
M16 laughed at him swearing. "I wasn't sure at first when I saw her years ago, I only confirmed it earlier."
She stopped laughing as he glared at her.
"What? Don't look at me like that, I don't have any idea on where you were after you left the lab! You went off the grid for 9 years! I guess that's where 45 learned from going by her track record. Hell, I didn't know you were the commander M4 was talking about until I spotted you fighting earlier from afar."
Morrison calmed down after that. "I guess I did cover my tracks too well…. alright, welcome to S09, M16. I'll report this first, then ask Helian later why did she not tell me that liebenswerte Göre was under the company's payroll this past year."
M4 was still confused on how did the two meet each other but held it for another time. "The AR Team is reunited, and the Commander is ready.
Whatever the order is, this time, everything will be fine"
M16 smiles at her sister. "Haha. Now that you've said it, let them come!"
Morrison nodded, as they left the area.
One step closer, I'll get my answer….and maybe a reconnection with her.