Chapter 39 – Eradicate the Disturbance [part 2]

The skies were clear and the sun was shining. A perfect day for battle. "This is M4, Team One is in position."

"SAR here, on route now. T minus five."

"Yulia and company are ready." Ursula nodded and positioned the drones properly.

"Alright ladies, let's do this!" She repositioned the drones and got ready. Intruder was focused on the radar station to the south. Dozens of SF squads were between her and Intruder. It was going to be a tough fight.

SAR's team touched down and waited. Gunfire split the silence, and the fight was on. A massive explosion shook the entire side of the mountain, causing a shift in the rock and ice. The team was knocked to the ground.

"Woah~!" SOPMOD said.

"Ah, damn…whoops."

"'Whoops'?!" Ursula scolded.

"Is everyone okay?" M4 asked.

"Geez, give me a break: I don't know explosives! M4, cover me!" ST AR said with a huff. The gunfire picked up and started heading towards the AR team. SAR took a sharp inhale and tensed up. The rest of her team followed suit.

"Ready?" The other dolls nodded quickly. The last of the SF patrols had left the immediate area. Intruder had her flank exposed. SAR tapped the SMG dolls in front of her. "Go go go!" She hissed. The dolls charged forward in formation.

Distance indicators in their vision told them they were nearly within range. SAR swallowed her fear and roared. "Open fire! Bring her down!" The dolls followed orders: staggering their positions as Ursula instructed. A smug grin flashed briefly on Intruder's face as she readied her weapon. As the dolls approached, SAR noticed the disrupted piles of snow nearby. "Skorpion, now!"

"Wa-hoo!" She cheered and chucked a molotov cocktail just as the first set of enemies jumped out of the snow. The bottle shattered and began torching the dolls coated in the solution. The trap had been sprung. The SF dolls kept advancing, with Intruder firing alongside them. Guard units advanced with their shields up.

"Zerner Network stable. SAR, Type 92 and OTs-12, activate combat overhauls." Ursula spoke quickly, trying to manage multiple teams. The dolls confirmed and continued firing. The Zerner connection linked the dolls similar to a physical connection between computers. They shared their combat data and senses, allowing for significantly improved combat. Type 92 shared advanced targeting information; weak points and such. OTs-12 used that, along with her other combat optimizations, to become the keystone of the team.

One of MP5's dummies exploded. She repositioned out of range. "Stand still, runt!" Intruder turned and continued firing. Her lazy aim caused a bit of friendly fire.

"Widerange network stability has been lost due to Parapluie interference. Zerner optimizations are down, please standby." A friendly A-Doll said over the comm. Intruder laughed and flipped her gun around. SAR gasped.

"She's got a minigun!"

"Oo, wait!" MP5 said. "I got this, hang on." She and her dummies scattered and stood between Intruder and the other dolls. The minigun began to hum. "Ready!"

The minigun roared to life, and a pale blue shield surrounded MP5 ans her dummies. The bullets shattered on impact. Intruder let out a shriek and dragged her gun through the snow as she rushed the Griffin dolls. Bullets from her flank tripped her up, and she vanished under the snow.

"Take care of the small fry first." M4 said as her team advanced. The two teams pushed forward and began clearing out the leftover guard units. "SOPMOD, look for the ringleader."

"On it!" She ran up to the area where Intruder fell and began digging through the snow. To an outsider, it looked like she was playing instead of hunting. Those that knew SOPMOD knew it was a mix of both. "Hey M4, she's not here!"

"What?"

"No body here! Not even a finger. Man…" She whined. The teams spread out and watched every angle.

"How could she give us the slip?" ST AR 15 asked. She snapped to her left to investigate a noise. "This isn't good."

"You can say that again." SAR muttered. "I'm on my last mag."

"Same."

"Me too."

"Last mag here, too."

"Shit…" ST AR felt at her jacket. "I'm out too. SOP?"

"I have 2 bullets….I think. Oo, wait: I have a grenade." That got a wry chuckle from the radio.

"I think I like this one." Ursula said. "Listen...we don't have the supplies, we need to fall back and regroup."

"But the Ringleader...and M16."

"Neither have appeared on our long range scans. For all we know-" The snow around the dolls exploded as Dinergates ambushed them. Intruder stood behind them, coated in snow and looking rather worse for wear. "Make each shot count! Shoot 'til empty and get out of there. We've almost established contact with Bryant: we'll have reinforcements soon."

The dolls began to run, each shooting their remaining bullets and leaving dummies behind to slow down the enemy. More Dinergates began swarming from the sides. M4 jolted suddenly as an idea struck her. "SOPMOD, I sent you a target." The two shared a nod and SOPMOD raised her gun. There was a pop, and a grenade sailed into the center of the approaching enemy.

The enemy was blown to pieces, leaving Intruder alone. The dolls started to retreat. Intruder took aim, but a bullet tore through her shoulder. A glint of light appeared from the south. Another shot shredded her leg at the knee. She stumbled and coddled her bad leg. Another bullet whizzed past her into the snow. "Griffin...AR Team…M4…" Intruder growled and aimed her minigun at M4. "Damn you." Her minigun started to spin. "Damn you all!"

Ursula shouted something, but the words were lost in the chaos. The dolls lept to action, but were too spread out to get there in time. Weapons, boots, limbs and personal effects were thrown to distract Intruder with little effect. M4 froze as the impending damage warnings began flashing. She closed her eyes and waited to be hit. The bullets struck.

"Geez...do I have to do everything myself?" A voice grunted. A T-Doll stood in front of M4, holding a shield from a destroyed Guard. She called out to SOPMOD and lobbed a single grenade to her. "Make it count." The sniper in the distance shot Intruder's shoulder, severing it completely. The friendly Doll threw down the shield and raised her weapon. Controlled bursts of fire pushed Intruder back. The Ringleader turned to run. Mid-turn, a shell caught her in the stomach and exploded. The smoke settled, and what was left of Intruder crumbled into the snow. There was a brief moment of celebration, before the exhaustion and stress caught up to them. Several dolls shut down their combat software and switched to power saving mode.

M4's savior turned around. "What would you do without me? Are you alright, M4."

"M...16...you, you…" M4 got up and ran for M16. M16 closed her eyes, smiled and stretched out her arm for a hug.

"Of course I'm alright, it takes a lot more than-" M4 cut her off with a vicious slap from her blind side. M16 stumbled. "Hey hey! Easy, that could have killed me!"

"I wish it would have! Then we could just rebuild you and I could do it again, you...you…" M4 buried her head in M16's chest, "You big dummy." M16 weakly hugged her.

Ursula sighed on the other end of the radio. "Good work, ladies. Mission complete, I guess."

"I'll say." Bryant said with his usual sarcasm, "Hope you liked the show. DSR 50 and SKS had a hard time hitting Intruder without friendly fire." Some of the dolls chuckled. The exhaustion was finally setting in; it was time to go home. "Now, somebody better bring me a coat: I'm freezing out here."

"One quick thing, Commander." M16 said. She ran a hand over M4's head. "A 'certain T-Doll' told me something recently." The mood quickly dropped. M16 took a breath. "'It is raining on the plains'."