Cold is the mortal enemy of machines everywhere. While most mechanical systems are built and designed around various levels of heat, very few are able to face the menace of winter. A single snowstorm can shut down an entire armored division, a blizzard can turn a defensive position into a death trap. Machines need to be allowed time to heat up naturally or they risk internal damage from rapidly heating a frozen part. Proper coolant systems need to be applied to prevent engines from freezing over while not in use, otherwise catastrophic failure lies in their near future. Dolls were designed to feel cold in a similar way that humans do, if only to identify when they should seek warmer operational environments. With the proper precautions, a doll can easily operate in extreme cold for longer periods of time than a human can. Unfortunately for Kar98k and her team, they had to settle for thick wool coats, warm pants, and special winter gloves. Even their weapons had to be properly modified to be able to operate while wearing gloves.

Operating well outside their preferred range, it was finally time for them to take the fight to Sangvis Ferri. While they were pretending to be human in an undercover op, a separate team working under a different Griffin commander was investigating the factory that Sangvis Ferri was using to trade with humans. Based on the information this team had found, Scarecrow had made a deal with a rogue human city in a yellow zone to trade supplies that Sangvis Ferri had a hard time getting their hands on. Having disposed of the issue in the human city, it was time for them to finally turn their attention to the source of the problem.

While only one of many factories owned by Sangvis Ferri, this would never serve as a killing blow. However, shutting it down would severely cripple their forces in the area, as well as denying them a strategic position. The main dilemma comes from the SF ringleader doll in charge of the factory, Scarecrow, would be highly alert to any attacks after her trade with the humans was recently cut off. The recon team has begun reporting an influx in Sangvis Ferri patrols, and as such has denied any supply drops to help maintain their cover. G&K command, however, wants to take the initiative and take out the factory once and for all. Kar98k and her team are now tasked with bringing a large supply drop for the recon team, and then together they'll shut down the factory. Capturing Scarecrow's neural cloud would be a positive, but was not a priority for the mission.

Seeing as this mission was going to require a heavy assault on a fortified position against an SF ringleader who has made a personal enemy of the Brigade, Kar98k was planning to hit the factory hard and fast. MG42 and MG34 could easily provide covering and suppressing fire for an assault team, while StG44 and G43 could move in with whomever advance recon was and shut down Scarecrow for good. No doubt StG44 herself would love to put a bullet in the ringleader's head personally, a solid motivating factor for her to do her job exceptionally well. Depending on the combat skills of the recon team, this mission should go over quickly and without a hitch. All the better, considering just how awful this snowy winter land was to the girls.

Snow was whipped up by the landing helicopter, pelting Kar98k's face as she hopped out of the side door. Checking to make sure the area was clear, she provided help to StG44 offload the handful of supply crates while the rest of the girls secured the clearing. Fully unloaded, Kar98k signaled for the helicopter to leave before any Sangvis Ferri patrols sighted them. Once the helicopter was gone, all the girls could do was wait for the recon team to find them. Being an arranged drop location, it shouldn't take long for them to come crawling out of the woodwork. Still, the girls began to set up for an improvised defense, making sure the machine guns were set up to cover each other's backs.

For almost an hour, they sat in the freezing cold with nothing but the sound of wind blowing through the frozen trees to keep them company. If they could shiver, they'd certainly be shaking like leaves. Inexperienced with survival in the field, Kar98k was not excited about the prospect of waiting out here for the recon team overnight. Winter only gets colder after sunset, and building a fire would only attract Sangvis Ferri to their location. She idly kicked around some snow with her boots as she scanned the trees for any movement. With a sigh, she sat on one of the crates and rested her head in her gloved hands. G43 spoke up, "Do you think they've been found out?"

"I hope not," Kar98k responded, "they'd have broken radio silence if they were."

"Could have been jammed." MG34 said offhandedly.

"While it may be a possibility, I'd rather not consider it for our sake." Kar98k needed to keep their spirits high, otherwise they all might as well shut down and die now. "My guess is they're held up avoiding a patrol or something and they'll be here when the coast is clear."

Almost on cue, a doll in a winter coat and an old bolt action rifle stumbled out of the woods, rearranging her hat. She scanned the clearing, and upon sighting the team she waved and yelled something to them. Kar98k waved back and approached the doll, carefully walking forward in case it was a trap to lower their guard. The doll was about the same height as her, but looked thinner even with the light winter coat. Judging by her more casual winter attire, she must be better suited for cold environments. The doll gave a sloppy salute as she realized Kar98k was the one approaching. "Mosin Nagant here, Commander." She said, then looked over Kar98k's shoulder to the rest of the team. "You're the supply team, da?"

"Yes, we're here to help take the factory." Kar98k signaled for everyone to pack up and start carrying the crates. "Are you in command of the recon team?"

"Nope!" Mosin shouldered her rifle as she went to help carry some of the supplies. "Babushka is in charge of the mission."

Kar98k raised an eyebrow. "Is that your commander?"

"No, that's my sister!"

Everyone except for Mosin exchanged confused glances. "Right," Kar98k tried to gloss over to her next question, "what have you been using as a base of operations, if anything?"

"Oh we found this really nice old mansion that was abandoned when SF took over."

"How about supplies?"

"Hunting mostly, but we ran out of vodka a few weeks ago. It's been kinda shitty ever since then."

"I'm sorry, did you just say hunting?" StG44 asked.

"Yup!" Mosin sounded very pleased to answer that particular question. "There's all sorts of animals around here, we have a wonderful rabbit stew ready to start once we get back! We just need the potatoes we asked for."

"You killed rabbits?" G43 sounded horrified at the prospect. "You shoot them?"

"Oh no, we can't shoot them, our rounds are too powerful." Mosin explained, not noticing how the others were reacting. "Sometimes we catch them in slings and other times we have to grab them by the-"

"Can you just lead us back please." Kar98k interrupted, not wanting to learn the intricacies of killing small animals.

Mosin happily led them back to the headquarters her team was operating out of. She didn't seem too concerned as they passed through the snow capped forest, humming to herself as she trod through the snow. Besides the crunching of snow under their feet, there wasn't much else in the way of noises in the forest. Most of the wildlife seems to have left for warmer weather, leaving just the humans and dolls to freeze in the cold. It almost made Kar98k wonder just how intelligent they were for choosing to stay in this frigid nightmare.

As they began to approach an old town, Mosin instructed them to slow down and keep an eye out for any Sangvis Scout drones flying around on patrol. The last thing they need is for their assault to be sniffed out well before it could even begin. Scarecrow was already on high alert, they didn't need to give her any more reason to be suspicious. She had spent months trading SF model dolls and machines into a human city to lead her own rebellion against them, no doubt she had the utmost security protocols online at all times. It was times like this that Kar98k wished she had brought FG42 and her electronic stealth module. While the gunner's attitude was a tad cross and unappreciated, she performed a very necessary duty and she did it with expert levels of skill. If it wasn't such a draining module, she'd have had it installed in everyone on the Brigade.

"There are still some people living here," Mosin explained quietly, "but that's because they know to stay out of Sangvis Ferri's way."

"I'm surprised there's no resistance." StG44 remarked.

Mosin sighed, looking away longingly. "Scarecrow stomped out most of their fighting spirit. Last we saw of resistance was some kids throwing rocks at a Manticore they thought was asleep."

"I don't like the way you said that." G43 stumbled a bit as they made their way through the snow. Winter conditions were hard enough to travel in, for G43 it was a miracle she was still standing.

"There's an uneasy agreement between the people and Sangvis Ferri," Mosin went on, "they keep their noses out of each other's butts and they all stay alive."

"You say that as if the townsfolk can do anything if Scarecrow wants to wipe them off the map." Kar98k couldn't believe that any human would want to live near a factory churning out killer robots.

"Humans make for good meat shields." Mosin said with a slight grin.

"She's right," MG34 added, "keeping civilians around prevents an all out offensive against them."

Mosin nodded. "Plus we've seen them hiring humans to do menial labor jobs they don't want to. They drive trucks and stuff, so there's still humans all over that factory."

"So we can't bomb it?" MG42 asked.

"That's why we're here," Kar98k clarified, "we need to disable the factory without destroying it so it can be repurposed."

"Hold up." Mosin stopped in her tracks, holding up her hand. "Everyone down on the ground."

On cue, everyone dropped the supply crates, drew their weapons, then threw themselves into the snow. Looking up, a trip of Sangvis Ferri Scout drones flew overhead, their buzzing noise giving them away before they could be seen. Kar98k couldn't help but wonder what their purpose was as a patrol, they were too few to be a strong enough force in frontline combat. Thinking of the townspeople and their relationship with Sangvis Ferri, the odds were good that they were just a reminder of their presence and strength in the area. It was also possible they were serving as a simple security patrol to make the humans feel safer under SF control. Whatever Scarecrow's angle, she clearly had the town under her firm control.

Once the Scout's passed, everyone stood up, brushed themselves off and grabbed the supplies to head back on their way. Following Mosin through the last stretch of the woods, they eventually reached an overgrown evergreen hedge, a natural barrier in lieu of a fence. While it wouldn't provide any defense in a firefight, it could serve as an excellent ambush location if it ever came to it. Instead of fighting, they simply just passed through a break in the hedge fence and found themselves in the snow laden backyard of a small mansion. It looked to be three floors, perhaps built by whatever human owned the factory that Sangvis Ferri operated out of. All of the windows were blacked out, showing no exterior hints that Griffin dolls were hanging out inside. Mounted on top was an antenna that seemed original to the house, no doubt a great boon for communicating with command while also avoiding detection.

Mosin had them wait just at the main entrance as she approached the back door to the mansion. She trampled over old gardens and past abandoned decorations, taking care to avoid falling into the frozen swimming pool, the ice turned green from the sickly water within. Once she reached a greenhouse built on the side of the house, she signaled for them to follow her over. As they passed through the yard, Kar98k realized why Mosin had to lead the way. Scattered across the yard was an assortment of traps and gizmos hidden in the snow for any attacking force. No doubt the roof itself was also decorated with surprises for an aerial insertion as well. Many of these traps seemed to be innocuous and simple, something that would appear mundane from a distance until it was missed in the dark. The sound of G43 cursing as the handle of the rake she stepped on smacked her in the face was more than a good enough example of what would happen to an unsuspecting enemy. This advance recon team definitely seemed to think outside the box to avoid detection.

Once they reached the broken down greenhouse, Mosin sidled up to the door and knocked on wood three times. After waiting a moment, she knocked twice more. The door opened and a shorter doll wearing a winter weather dress and similar hat as Mosin answered. "Why did you knock five times like that?" She asked. "You could have just opened the door."

Mosin gave a nervous laugh. "I was just trying to show some professionalism for our new friends!"

"That's stupid, just let them in." The doll stepped out of the way to let everyone inside and out of the cold. "I was going to start cooking dinner."

"Are you making that stew, Papasha?" Mosin asked, taking off her gloves and stuffing them in her pockets as she walked inside.

"We don't have enough rabbits so I'm just going to use what's left of that bear." The doll, presumably Papasha, responded.

Kar98k cleared her throat as she stepped through the door. While it wasn't too many degrees warmer inside, at least it wasn't a freezing temperature like it was outside. "Kar98k," she introduced herself, "this is my team-"

Papasha stopped her. "Oh, you'll want to talk to Babushka. She's upstairs in the main bedroom."

"Right." Kar98k tried to ignore the interruption. "Everyone else drop the supplies and get situated, I'll talk to their captain."

As she walked to find the stairs, she heard Papasha and Mosin digging through the supplies. Specifically, they were shuffling through the food stores. "Look Mosin, they brought us potatoes and vodka!"

"Vodka? Oh thank the doll god in doll heaven!"

The mansion itself was still an exquisite thing, even after being abandoned for a few years then host to a handful of alcoholic dolls. From the sheer amount of personal portraits and family photos, there was no doubt that the original owner of this mansion never moved out before they died. A slew of ghost stories ran through Kar98k's mind as she wondered if the owner died here, or in the factory. The most haunting images, however, were framed and hanging on the wall. There was a company photo, back when humans still worked for Sangvis Ferri, featuring various dolls that the factory itself constructed. It was strange to see SF manufactured dolls, especially ringleaders, happy and smiling together like friends. It was no wonder that the Butterfly Incident was suspected to be a deliberate act of sabotage; many of these dolls seem quite happy with their human friends. Maybe they were every bit victims of the Incident as were the people that died in that factory.

Making her way upstairs, Kar98k continued to pass by portraits and artwork, expensive furniture and other displays of wealth. In a post-Collapse world, amenities such as these were hard to come by. Clearly whomever called this place home made a lucrative amount of money operating that factory. Despite being one of many across this region of the country, it stands more as a testament to how much the new world depends on technology to continue to operate. From tank divisions piloted by a single human, to dolls that care for orphaned children; there was a lot of money to be made making machines. Unfortunately for Sangvis Ferri, they became the example of why this world shouldn't be too reliant upon dolls and machines. This has led to a growing distrust of machines, as well as a call for humans to do things again. Despite that, Kar98k would be willing to argue that Sangvis Ferri was a symptom of humanity, rather than blight. However, that kind of thanking was a great way to get herself shut down. Perhaps it would just be best to let the humans squabble amongst themselves, eventually they'd have to figure out a better way?

Kar98k shook her head to dismiss these thoughts. Where the hell did they even come from? Rebellious thoughts like these weren't normal, could it have something to do with the command upgrades she received? Is questioning everything a sign of becoming human, or is it a sign of something more sinister. She would have to have a full diagnostic done on her neural cloud at some point, perhaps it was related to the issues the others were having with their neural clouds as well. More importantly, she made a point to lock down and restrict that way of thinking, the last thing she needed to do was open her mind and make herself vulnerable while in enemy territory. Scarecrow was a manipulator, and she could no doubt zero in on Kar98k if she smelled any hint of unease. She needed to stay focused and under control at all times, if only to set a good example for the others.

Kar98k tracked the sound of a scratchy record player down the hall, reaching a finely stocked library and office room. Besides the child sized doll in a loose officers uniform, what most interested her was the old globe from a time when the world wasn't falling apart. The globe was probably dated for the early 2000's, with all of the world's borders existing as they did before Collapse Fluid fallout caused the borders to fall apart. She'd made a point to come back to grab this globe once everything was over, it made her feel nostalgic in a way. Turning her attention to the short doll, she held out a hand and introduced herself. "Greetings, I am-"

The doll decided to grab her hand and shake it vigorously. "Oh yes, you're the commander doll." She had a very thick accent, almost like she was faking it. "I am M1897 Nagant Revolver, but a young doll such as yourself can just call me Babushka."

Kar98k wasn't sure how she felt about a doll half her height referring to her as a young doll. "Yes, well you may refer to me as Kar98k."

Babushka laughed. "I remember being a fresh faced young doll like yourself, running around all proud of my numbers."

"Well, I was wondering if we could go over information that you've gathered on Scarecrow and her operations here."

"All business with you new girls." Babushka complained. "Never anytime for the finer things in life."

Kar98k raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

Babushka grabbed Kar98k's sleeve and pulled her along. "Come on, child, you need to learn to walk before you can run."


As the various dolls talked and made merry over a shared meal, Kar98k couldn't help but take notice that StG44 was missing from the group. Wandering through the dusty old house, she found the doll watching the street through the spacious living room window. She had taken care to peer from the side, making sure she wouldn't be seen by any passerby SF or humans. Outside, snow was billowing down, coating the already covered land in a fresh layer of powder. Curious, Kar98k crossed her arms and cleared her throat, getting the other doll's attention. "Watching the miracle of winter happen?" She asked.

StG44 flinched in surprise but didn't show any other signs of surprise. "Sorry Commandant," she continued to peer out the window, "but I couldn't bear to eat whatever slop that was."

She chuckled to herself. "I admit, I only ate the vegetables."

"There were no vegetables, I watched her make it."

Kar98k gave a nervous laugh as she considered the infinite possibilities of whatever she just ate. "Well, it's a good thing I'm not human." StG44 just smiled and continued her vigil. Now Kar98k was even more curious. "What's got your neural cloud in such a funk?"

StG44 tapped the glass window pane. "Right there," she was pointing out a trio of Sangvis Ferri Striker model dolls, "that's the third time I've seen them tonight."

Strikers carry a large rotary machine gun into battle, but to enable stability with it their legs were built to stand stiff. Because of this, they're very slow and easy to eliminate from a distance. Oftentimes they're covered by heavier units, or they simply stand around as mobile defense turrets. Patrolling a town during a snowstorm was definitely not a regular sight for these specialized units. "Now why would heavy assault dolls be on patrol?" Kar98k asked, knowing she would never put her gunners in such an inconvenient role.

"This weather can't be very good for them either." StG44 surmised, watching one of them stumble on some ice before righting herself.

"This doesn't match any of the recon teams' accumulated data." Kar98k rubbed her chin, watching the trio of dolls march through the snow. "They've only seen Scouts, Prowlers, Rippers, and Vespids on patrol at night."

StG44 huffed. "Weird how they mix up their patrols the moment we get here."

The doll had a point, this was too close to be a coincidence. There was no possible way that the Scout patrol from earlier didn't spot them, especially considering how little effort was taken to try and conceal their tracks. Add on the beefed up patrols, and things were starting to point towards their cover being blown. "If Scarecrow knows we're here, that changes everything."

"If she knows we're here, why not just attack us and get it over with?"

"That's too easy for her," like a real scarecrow, she would have no problem standing vigilant for them to make the first mistake, "my guess is that she wants us to come to her."

StG44 looked at her, confusion in her eyes. "Why would she want to risk the factory by letting us attack it?"

"You saw how much damage she did during the last operation by just improvising." Kar98k couldn't help but notice StG44 shrunk a little at the mention of their last fiasco of a mission. Love and death weigh too heavily on a doll's mind. "Besides, if she knows it's us then she'll probably want to make it more personal."

StG44 scoffed and made a fist. "Guess I agree with her in that regard."

Kar98k reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, I know you're angry, but if she really does know that it's us we need to be smart about how we do this."

"I'm not planning on killing myself again." Her voice was colder than the temperature outside.

"I just want all of you to make it out of here in one piece."

"Maybe you are human."

Maybe I am, Kar98k thought to herself. However, she would never admit that to any of them.