Chapter 37 – Eradicate the Disturbance [part 1]

"What?!"

"Intruder is here, and she brought half the damn sector!" The storm picked up. It was getting difficult to hold their ground. "The enemy is pouring through the pass as well. I'm completely surrounded!"

"I'm pinned down at the FOB. SAR is down, and M4 is still in combat. I can't help." Bryant sighed and thought. Intruder had him. A sound defeat.

"Ursula, when you get the chance, head back to where we landed. I have a plan."

"What's the plan?"

"Don't worry, Yulia will tell you. I'm sending her to you." He shut down the line and connected to his dolls on the field. "Everyone, pack up and rally on me. MT-9 and Yulia; I have a new job for you." He leaned back in his chair and waited. The two Dolls arrived, and the sounds of gunfire were getting closer.

"Yulia, take these and place them over the western pass. I want to be able to completely seal the passage. Go now, lead the others that way and meet up with Ursula. Tell her to return to base and get ready for another attack. We need to be more prepared for the next time." Yulia saluted and ran off.

Bryant turned to MT-9. "I need to you clear the path from here to the radar station to the south. You and I are going to hold up there for a while. I'll follow as soon as I finish my work here." She nodded seriously and ran off. Bryant turned to his map and searched for weakened Griffin signals. He marked them on his tablet and grabbed a very special bomb from under the desk. "Let's see how Intruder likes this."

Yulia finished placing the charges and led the combat teams to the main command post in the mountains. Ursula arrived a few minutes later carrying what was left of SAR. The rest of her dolls didn't look much better. "Yulia, where's Bryant?"

"He had to finish something…" Ursula nodded and carried SAR to the waiting helicopter.

"Yulia, what's the plan?"

"Bryant said to go to back to base and regroup."

"What about him?"

"Yulia, did you meet with Ursula?" Bryant's voice was ragged. He was shivering.

"Yes, we're all here. We're just waiting for you."

"Yeah…about that." There was a soft click in the background before the charges that Yulia placed detonated, trapping SF on the other side.

"Commander! What are you doing?!"

"My escape wasn't part of the plan. Someone needs to deal with this lass. I'm-" gunfire interrupted, "damn, just go! Go now, that's an order!"

Yulia and Ursula had to leave anyway: their supplies had been abandoned in the retreat. The survivors jumped into the helicopter, leaving the dummies to fight to the end. There wasn't enough room to bring them anyway. The last of the enemies on their side of the sealed passage fell upon the dummies and defeated them quickly, but by then the helicopters were well out of range.

Everyone hung their heads and treated their wounds. ST AR15 and SOPMOD looked disappointed, but for different reasons. SAR sighed and leaned back against Ursula. Yulia held onto her seat hard enough to leave marks.

"...that was bad." was all Ursula could manage. There was a calmness to her voice, like a switch had been flipped. She turned to the sulking M4. "Squad leaders, damage report."

"AR Team accounted for. SAA was damaged, but we retrieved her core."

"Squad SAR lost STG, M9, MP5 and SIG510. Only M9's core was retrieved."

"Squad SKS, all accounted for."

"Squad Yulia; MT-9 and Commander Bryant unaccounted for." Ursula nodded and pulled up her tablet.

"I have a total loss recorded for Squad FNC and Squad T-91." She tossed her tablet aside. "Alright, I'll take this loss, but you can bet that I'm not going to take it lying down." She scanned the helicopter and locked eyes with each doll. "We make our next attack in 36 hours. Rest up now: when we get back, we shift gears."

The command room was quiet. Intruder rather liked that. A dinergate scurried past her down the hallway, looking for traps and enemy dolls. She entered the room and grinned. The light of the monitors cast shadows on every corner. "You aren't an easy human to corner. That is a compliment, I suppose." The figure in the chair didnt move. Intruder raised an eyebrow and turned the chair around. It was a dummy wearing a heavy coat.

Intruder looked down and saw the explosive set in the dummy's hand. She huffed. "Mediocre, at best." The monitors flickered to reveal the Commander. He looked incredibly cold and weak. All humans look the same.

"Mediocre? I'll also take that as a compliment."

"Ah... you're the one Alchemist is toying with." She tossed the dummy to the ground, unworried by the explosive. She sat daintily and crossed her legs seductively. "I suppose you're here for the AR Team rat, yes?"

"Of course."

"Your plan was... amateurish. But, it had as much charm and elegance that a mere human could muster. Similar to your bomb threat here: a crude but efficient way of doing things. Very….human."

"I thought you'd like them more. 'Skip all the unnecessaries and get right to business', yes? It's much better that way."

"Indeed." The two were silent, watching eachother through their screens. "Commander," Intruder said, "You left your coat here. You won't last long in this cold."

"I dont need it, as long as I stay inside. You don't seem to be in a hurry."

"No, I am not." The quiet returned.

"Intruder…"

"Yes?"

"Would you be mad if I were to hurt you?"

"As if you could. I spotted-" she stopped and looked up. The metal crossbeams supporting the building had been rigged with smaller explosives, but only the ones above the monitors. The blast would bury her in the command room, even if it didn't do much damage. She chucked ruefully. "Well played."

"Thank you, that means much. It's unfortunate that it won't kill you."

"Yes indeed." She leaned forward towards the monitor. "And you do know what will happen to you when I climb out of this mess, right?"

"Oh, I know." He moved the detonator into view of the camera. "Come and get me."