There were exactly three things that were weighing down upon MP40's neural cloud, bouncing around and distracting her from simple duties. The first was the knowledge that every little detail about her was meticulously compiled and saved by the enemy, to a degree that she doubted whether or not she was created by her actual manufacturer. She didn't like knowing that the enemy that had almost wiped her out had been spying on her for some time. The real difficulty came from knowing that she couldn't even find out who they were, with her neural cloud purposely blocking out any knowledge of them. Being unable to understand an enemy with such an intimate knowledge of how she thought was a frightening thought to the Captain.
This led into the next thing on her mind, and that was the information on her and the others had been leaked to whomever this Juliet was for the purpose of setting up a trap. Notes about various weaknesses coupled with ideas and plots on how to counter the Brigade's standard operating procedures made it abundantly clear that Juliet was more than prepared for them. What made this knowledge even worse was that it was relayed to the Commandant by a Sangvis Ferri Ringleader that excelled in espionage and information gathering. Scarecrow was the last doll that MP40 wanted finding out their weaknesses, even if thus far she's remained relatively cooperative. If anything, Scarecrow had been actively making the attempt to safeguard them from any sort of White Faction meddling. Last night, she even intercepted and isolated an attempt to monitor the Brigade's position through their internet. She claimed that she wanted to study it after her mission was complete.
Unfortunately, her presence and cooperation led to the third thing that upset MP40; the current plan for a meeting with Juliet herself. With the Brigade officially present in the city under the good graces of Juliet, they had full permission to meet with the rogue Jaeger. Scarecrow, worried she would be identified if she snuck into Juliet's command center, wanted the Brigade to aid her. The Commandant's plan worked two-fold for the operation. By disguising Scarecrow as Kar98k, she would be able to investigate the doll freely. This would also break any trust in the leaked information that Juliet had, as Scarecrow was vastly different from Kar98k in appearance and attitude. For added measure, the two dolls accompanying her would also exchange uniforms and weapons.
Unfortunately for MP40, she shared the most qualities with StG44 to pull off the plan. While the uniform itself was quite clean and comfortable to wear, MP40 would have preferred to do away with most of the superfluous pieces the other girl wore on a day-to-day basis. The rifle itself was a bit too heavy and uncomfortable, especially when compared with her usual armament. StG44 also seemed upset by the situation, nervous about the state of her well maintained uniform being worn by someone else. Scarecrow, standing in the middle of the room wearing the Commandant's own uniform, tugged at the hem of the skirt as she tried to cover her now exposed legs. While she usually wore stockings at the very least, this much exposure was far beyond what she would have preferred. "For a uniform," Scarecrow remarked, "your attire is too loose and exposing. I don't understand how you can operate with so much clutter hanging from your body."
The Commandant shrugged, dismissing the critique of her chosen uniform. "Sorry I don't have a mask to go with the uniform, my air filters are built in and work just fine." Kar98k responded with a sarcastic tone.
Scarecrow opened her mouth to respond, but paused as she realized that the argument wasn't worth it. She admitted on more than one occasion that she needed their help, and she wasn't going to let pride get in the way of her duty today. Not to mention, she probably wasn't in a very advantageous position to be arguing with her enemy either. Instead, Scarecrow let the Commandant have her moment and let it slide, deciding instead to ask for more details on the meeting with Juliet. "There's no way that she's just going to allow us to simply walk in unannounced." Scarecrow remarked with her typical cold tone.
The Commandant simply smiled and said, "she did in fact give us permission at any time to drop by."
Scarecrow showed uncharacteristic disbelief. "You didn't find that suspicious at all?"
"Not really," MP40 responded, "people are more trusting of Griffin than Sangvis Ferri."
Scarecrow seemed to be caught between confusion and disbelief, unsure of how to feel about the information she was being given. "If the situation does fall apart, we may be forced to improvise."
"That's our specialty!" G43 added casually playing cards with FG42.
"It's how we caught you off guard." StG44 mumbled.
Scarecrow dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "I would rather not operate by the seat of my skirt," she said, "I like to know what I'm getting into. There must be a reason why they have such high end security protecting Juliet."
"I'd like to know too," Kar98k nodded In agreement, "which is why you're going in there as me to find out."
Scarecrow smiled, a small and unassuming smile that could mean a million things to this doll. "I'll do my best to keep Griffin's positive public image."
MP40 wasn't sure what to call Juliet's headquarters. The old warehouse had seen an extensive amount of restructuring, no doubt a sign of how the insides were perhaps converted as well. It seemed to have been turned into a mixture of barracks and a cathedral. The bastard of structural design looked to have more than one floor, being able to provide decent sniper coverage down onto the streets. While hidden, defensive placements were set at locations to make them seem like religious iconography. Most notable was for stark white pillars placed at the corners of the facility. Each pillar hovered in place, with a ring flashing lights while it spun around the center post. Scarecrow pointed and whispered, "Those devices block a very specific range of electronic warfare signals, I would prefer if we destroyed them."
"How can Juliet control the Sangvis troops in the city with those there then?" MP40 whispered back.
"She uses a very specific signal range that is apparently amplified by those signals," Scarecrow explained, "that's how she's able to overwrite our own OGAS control over the lower ranks. Without the amplifiers, I will be able to reclaim control."
Easier said than done, plans never went the way they were laid out to be. As they approached Juliet's cathedral, its daunting size became even more unsettling. MP40 began to wonder just what exactly had happened to the rogue Jaegar to make it think that living in a massive building like this was a great idea. Sangvis Ferri never cared for showmanship to this degree, least of all in their architecture. Anything that had been developed post Butterfly Incident was never as obnoxiously over designed as this. Juliet even had stain glass windows installed for extra effect. The main entrance was a secretary foyer, with a human woman sitting behind a desk working at a computer. She was dressed fairly normal for the extravagant building she was in, but at least she looked like she bathed more than once a week. In fact, she was probably not a native at all from her soft and well maintained appearance. "May I assist you?" She asked, not looking up from her computer.
Scarecrow stepped forward and stood in front of the desk, making sure she cast a shadow on the woman. While her words flowed normally, they didn't sit well on MP40s neural cloud. "I am the Griffin Commander," she said, her cold monotone carried through her disguise, "I was informed that I may visit with Juliet whenever I so pleased."
The secretary looked her up and down, judging her disguise. It was clear that the secretary had been given the information on Kar98k, but she wasn't sure on how to call out the façade. Looking at MP40 and StG44 and their switched uniforms and arsenal, the woman was even more confused. She wanted to call their bluff, but the more she looked the more nervous she became. Scarecrow, unflinching, used her eyes to glare deep into the girl like a predator on about to make a kill. The secretary didn't know how to respond, finally giving in to the intimidation. "Oh of course," she said, nervously tapping on her computer, "I barely recognized you from the references we were given."
It seemed that she tried to call them out after all. Scarecrow, true to her namesake, maintained her resolve and held firm with her intimidating glaze. "Information these days can be so unreliable." She said with an offhand tone.
The secretary pushed a button on the phone to page Juliet. "The Griffin Commander is here to see you." There was a slight waver in her voice, like that of a person delivering bad news. There was a long pause with no response. "She will see you now."
Scarecrow exchanged glances with MP40 and StG44 before they entered the threshold. Beyond the secretarial foyer was the main area of the warehouse. However, instead of being filled with boxes and crates, the floor was arranged in pews facing a central podium. The warehouse really was converted into a massive cathedral, dedicated to whatever the Paradeus cult seemed to teach. MP40 made a point to pocket one of the pamphlets as they approached the main podium. Standing behind the podium was a single doll, adorned in a glorious black robe. It was odd to see one of the Sangvis Ferri Jaegers without their usual camouflage capes and cyclopian visors, but this had to be Juliet. She held her arms aloft in greeting, welcoming them to her church. "Greetings," she said, "it is a pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you," Scarecrow lied, "your operation here is quite impressive."
Juliet approached them, seemingly unable to recognize Scarecrow. "As is the tenacity of your own operation."
Scarecrow smiled at the compliment. "Your words mean more than you may think."
"Our words often do." Juliet motioned for them to take seats on one of the pews to have their conversation. Unaccustomed to wearing a skirt this short and open, Scarecrow almost forgot to cross her legs as she sat. It wasn't clear if Juliet noticed or not. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Juliet's tone was pious and carried a holy might behind it, it didn't feel at all like it would come from a generic SF model.
"I was curious about yourself." Scarecrow leaned forward in feigned interest.
"I'm always open about my past," Juliet explained, "as the light of Paradeus has guided me from the dark."
Scarecrow took a moment to consider her next statement. "Your past is still a bit of a mystery to me, I'm afraid," she carried her voice as though she was cutting her way into Juliet with it, "I'm curious what Ringleader you served under and if you may require protection."
"I served under Alchemist before Griffin captured her in a major winter operation," Juliet explained, "so your company is already providing my protection."
Scarecrow paused once again before asking more questions. Many of them were simple and dealt with the daily operations, the point of Paradeus' presence, and other mundanities. MP40, however, could tell that Scarecrow had already reached a conclusion and was just drawing out time. She was playing with her food, circling in for the kill. No doubt she was prodding for any mistakes or errors, but she had everything she needed to know.
The city streets disgusted StG44, more so than she had ever thought they would. This place was a borderline pig pen, with the homeless refugees shambling about, waiting for the next rain to wash their filthy bodies. So far on their walk she had seen at least one man relieving himself in an alleyway, making no attempt to conceal himself. From his stiff leg and movements it was safe to assume the man was suffering from ELIDs and lacked the mental faculties to care about his exposure. People openly dealt drugs to numb the pain of their existence, whether the source was physical or mental. The few folks wandering the city that weren't borderline zombies were either dolls or those sick Paradeus cultists. There was a severe lack of data about them in her database, but that was probably due to a lack of knowledge in general. They did seem incredibly common in places like this, especially further west in Central Europe. They seemed relatively harmless, but something about them was still unsettling.
The various dolls in the city didn't seem very friendly either. They gave the Griffin group a wide berth, as if they didn't want to be seen associating with tactical grade dolls. They almost seemed afraid in a way, as if being nearby the trio was a death sentence or a curse. It was unlikely that they had recognized Scarecrow, as Juliet's rogue SF dolls and drones made no attempt to respond to her. Juliet's dolls were dressed in white robes as they patrolled, keeping their weapons concealed as they patrolled. It seemed eerie, and definitely made StG44 believe that this was all a trap.
While walking, StG44 couldn't help but notice that they had been walking for much longer than they should have been. Checking their position, as well as their recorded route, she discovered that they've been traveling around in circles and random paths. Angry, she grabbed Scarecrow by the arm, trying to get her attention. "Where the hell are you taking us?" She growled, more as a statement and less as a question.
Casually, the group stopped walking. Scarecrow gave a subtle glance over her shoulder, as if she was directing StG44 to look behind them. Glancing quickly, three men were quickly approaching them, each reaching into their long coats. "Trust me." Scarecrow whispered as she shrugged off Kar98k's coat. "Oops." She loudly said, turning around to pick the coat up.
Before StG44 could respond, Scarecrow reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it into the eyes of one of the men that had been following them. Blinded, he bumped into one of his two companions as the third reached forward with a stun baton. Scarecrow sidestepped, grabbing the man's wrist and pulled him close to her. Bodies almost touching, she delivered a punch to his solar plexus, followed by another blow to one of his kidneys. She followed up by kicking his knee, bending it backwards and sending him to the ground in various levels of excruciating pain. The man that didn't have dirt in his eyes tried to deliver his own charging attack, but Scarecrow entered a roll to avoid the stun baton, grabbing the one dropped by the first man she had dropped. Returning to her feet, she entered a standoff with the man, distracting him just long enough for MP40 to bash the back of his head with her weapon.
Most of the threats eliminated, Scarecrow turned her attention to the man she had tossed a mixture of the city's filthy dirt into his eyes. He had pulled out a flask of alcohol and was trying to wash out his eyes in an attempt to regain his vision. Wielding the baton that was meant to burn out and disable a doll's neural cloud, she jabbed it into the man's groin. Electricity coursed through the man's body, causing him to jolt and stutter in place until Scarecrow pulled the baton away. Still twitching, he fell to the ground with a meaty thud. There was no doubt that the electricity that had coursed through him would have been enough to kill him, seeing as it would have been set to stun a tactical doll. Scarecrow dropped the baton on him as she casually retrieved the commandant's coat.
Staring in absolute disbelief, StG44 was still trying to process what had just happened. "They had been following us for some time." Scarecrow explained, acting as if this was normal, "Unfortunately for them, their observation drone lacked the same security measures as Juliet."
Looking around, StG44 spied a hovering camera drone, twin propellers keeping it afloat in the air. How long had they been following them, who did they work for? A quick search of the dead man failed to turn up an identification, but all of them seemed to be wearing some sort of symbolism related to the cult of Paradeus. MP40 and StG44 shared a look of concern; they did not detect the men at all, it was as if they had appeared out of nowhere. Scarecrow, however, seemed more curious than ever. "Oh my," she remarked with faux sarcasm, "it appears someone has some explaining to do."
The man with the broken leg sat lifeless on the street, foaming from the mouth as the cyanide pill that was hidden within his teeth made quick work of his drastically short and fragile human life. These men were serious enough to kill themselves to avoid capture, or maybe fanatical was the right terminology. Depressive suicide was hard enough for a doll to grasp, but this was just outrageous of a concept to grasp. More so, if Paradeus had claimed to be benevolent and peaceful, then why were a group of armed men trying to capture them?
Warning, possible hostile platform Model SP65 Pioneer Reconnaissance Doll requesting to share neural cloud data stream, allow transfer?
Allow
Permission granted.
"Firstly, the security measures built around the cathedral are far outside that which should be capable of a Yellow Zone slum, or a fanatical cult like Paradeus. If anything, the design philosophy and silhouettes match closely to the patterns of weapons and equipment fielded by the White Faction. A possible connection should be explored. (See attached footage and images that label possible weak spots based upon weaknesses found on White Faction equipment.)
Juliet showed several discrepancies during questioning that concludes she's merely a puppet being controlled. She claimed that she served under Alchemist before she was captured during your "Operation Hypothermia". This is false as not only has Alchemist not been captured by Griffin, but she would never agree to be stationed in the location that Architect was during her capture. (See attached footage of Alchemist brawling with Executioner over an open window this winter.)
More importantly, however, was the clear evidence that Juliet was not broadcasting her speech in a similar vocal system to a dolls built in speech. While most lower ranked Sangvis Ferri models don't use traditional speech to communicate, they do have a built in speech module for their commanding Ringleader to use them as a liaison. (See attached footage of a chorus of Vespid singing during last year's Christmas party. I am quite proud of their performance.)
However, in Juliet's case, there was a slight delay between the movements of her lips and the words she was saying. This delay, while too short for a doll to notice unless aware of the discrepancy, was longer than it should be while being controlled by a Ringleader. This implies that she wasn't speaking using her own voice, but broadcasting one from a microphone. A doll or other computer would control her like I would, leading me to believe that a human is controlling her. (See footage comparing human voice broadcast and natural speech for a doll.)
While I am unsure of the purpose of the men that tried to attack us, I can assure you that they will deeply reconsider any future attacks. They seemed to be members of the Paradeus cult, but I couldn't find much else on them beyond various means of suicide to avoid capture. They're fanatics, and they certainly were targeting us. The time frame with my meeting with Juliet and our encounter with those men leads me to believe that she is in fact onto our plot. While she would no doubt be suspicious of us after our meeting, I can not rule out the possibility of a traitor amongst your ranks. When factored with the leaked information about you and your dolls, I can't help but feel that you've been infiltrated for some time. (See attached neural cloud scan of FG42, dated three months before the White Faction made their reveal.)
In order to maintain the element of surprise, I will share no details with you about my force within this city. This includes forces I have brought, deployment locations, and other data I have gathered that is not important to our joint operation. I recommend we move on Juliet soon, before the enemy has any more time to prepare against us. Be careful who you trust, Kar98k."
