Chapter 15 – Storm the Beaches
The ragged band of commanders and dolls stepped off the helicopter and were guided into a waiting limo. Bryant settled in well. He was still very used to civilian life. Ursula and Helian, on the other hand, looked insanely uncomfortable. USP and the other dolls were riding in an armored vehicle following behind the limo. A friendly, well dressed man sat in the back with the commanders. His black suit stood out from the bright red jackets.
The man put a tablet between the three commanders. "We spotted the patrols on these beaches. We think they are coming from this island." He enlarged the image on one island and pointed to a small cliffside. "They've set up a small outpost here. We'd like you to go and eliminate them." Ursula nodded and put her chin in her hand.
"Looks easy enough. We could take it with three squads, right?"
"I'd take four, just to be on the safe side." Helian said and nodded to Ursula. "Zachary and I can handle things from here."
"Bryant." Bryant corrected.
"Yes, sorry. Bryant and I can handle the patrols." Helian blushed and turned to the man. "Anything else." He nodded slightly.
"There is more, but I want to let the Chief tell you about that." He put the tablet away. "He'll know the technical side of things." Bryant nodded and leaned back in his seat.
"Fine by me. Where are we headed?" The man gave a salesman smile and rolled down the window.
"We are heading right towards the shining jewel of the new Adriatic: Neo Karis."
"Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. Let me confess that I've never had enough money to go more than twenty miles from home. A big resort, I get that: what's there to do?" Bryant said, trying his best to goad the man into a speaking frenzy.
"You'll get a full tour and more information…after the mission." Bryant shrugged and chuckled.
"Clever. I like you. I'm looking forward to it." He said and turned out the window. The massive resort rose out of the ocean like an ivory spike. A zero-support suspension bridge connected it to the mainland resort, which was beyond fancy. A number of eateries, bars, clubs, and date spots littered the mainland; while the clubs, attractions, and other interesting bits were found on the spire. The limo kept on its course, passing through several security checkpoints before arriving at the Spire. A monorail passed by. Bryant couldn't see much at the speed they were both travelling, but he picked out a few under-cover security guards.
"You don't have much visible security. Smart…but what do you do for crises?" There was some silence and the man played with his hands for a bit.
"We were…protected by Sangvis Ferri up until the…event. Since then, we've relied on our own private military, which has been effective at keeping them at bay." Bryant nodded and looked at Helian. "But we assure you that we will help you in any way possible. This is the last resort on the Adriatic. We'll do all we can to protect it." Helian coughed.
"As long as you pay, we'll trust you." The limo stopped and the doors opened. The dolls stepped out of their van and awaited orders. Helian gave her orders, and the small army climbed up the stairs to the command center. Inside, dozens of men and women organized the thousands of guards and police that patrolled Neo Karis. The center was filled with machines and maps. Every individual was tagged and followed. The amount of information they were able to process was amazing. And not a single doll was in sight. A man in a white shirt and floral tie stood next to a massive holographic map of the resort. He tapped individual locations, read the numbers, then moved on. He only stopped to greet the new commers.
"Chief Larson, this is Commander Helianthus, Commander Ursula and Commander Bryant. They've brought with them a small army of dolls from G&K." The chief nodded and hastily exchanged greetings.
"Good to meet you. You're dismissed Welks. Thank you." Their escort bowed slightly and left the room. Larson stopped and turned to the team. "Alright. Good to see you." He looked over the dolls and raised an eye brow. "I hope that you brought heavier firepower."
"Heavier? We were told that we only had to deal with rogue patrols? Is there more we need to know about?" Helian asked, nearly accusing him. Larson sighed and pulled up a map of the island that SF built their base on. A holographic semblance of the base popped up and Bryant took a sharp breath. A massive gun depot was being built on the side nearest to the resort. Three massive Jupiter Cannons were in the process of being built. One was almost finished. Once those were operational, the resort would be nothing but target practice.
Helian cursed and slammed her hands on the desk. "Jupiter Cannons!? How the hell are we supposed to deal with those? And that means that you have a ringleader here, too." Helian pinched her nose. "And we don't have enough dolls to lead a strike mission." Bryant stared at the holographic cannon. His heart began beating faster. He'd been part of an operation to destroy an encampment once. The Jupiter cannons tore apart hundreds of dolls before other commanders were able to break the siege. Bryant had helped, but not much.
"You are the specialists here, not me. You'll have to figure it out." Helian turned to the other commanders.
"I don't…know how we can handle this. Unless…" She turned to Bryant. "Someone was to…infiltrate the base and take down the cannons." Bryant shook his head slowly. "Bryant please: we don't have any other options."
"Send Ursula. I'm not dealing with those things again."
"She hasn't faced these monsters. You don't need the briefing: you know how they work." Bryant grit his teeth and looked at the cannons again. "And, I don't think that this ringleader will be a problem to deal with." Helian said and looked at Ursula. Everyone had a look of dread. Ursula was dreading the unknown. Byrant was dreading what he did know. And Helian was dreading sending one of them on this mission.
USP stood next to Bryant, standing just far enough back so she wouldn't be in the way. Numbers and words filled her mind; something was strange. She saw images and heard voices, statistics and code flushed through her digimind, causing another headache. She clenched her eyes shut, and uttered a single word. "Destroyer." She opened her eyes. "Destroyer. Ringleader Destroyer has a dummy stationed here. It hasn't been connected to the mainframe in ages, so it's probably weaker than her other dummies."
All eyes turned to USP as she held her head against the pain. She opened her eyes, and the voices continued. She focused on her thoughts and kept talking. "We need to push from the other side of the island. That's where the troops are thinnest." Bryant's face dropped into a strange frown. Almost like he was remembering something.
"Helian…I've changed my mind." He turned to the hologram and stared at the base. "Something is going on here…and I aim to find out what."