Chapter 53 - Trial by Fire

Ursula opened an eye and tried to remember what had happened. They were in the middle of a match, she had been losing…and then the whole room exploded. The commander she had been sparring with was killed, buried under the rubble. Rescue A-Dolls were turning over slabs and putting out fires. Ursula slowly tried to stand, and stumbled. A strong hand grabbed her and hoisted her onto her feet.

"Singed, but in one piece." The hand steadied her and Ursula's vision finally cleared. Mr Kryuger stood in front of her. He looked at a command tablet, and tried turning it on. Nothing. He banged it against a piece of debris and it beeped to life. He handed it to Ursula and nodded. "Good luck. I'll go looking for survivors."

With that, the boss left to find the others. He waded into the fire and smoke and vanished from sight. An A-Doll rushed over and started first aid on Ursula while she connected to Zerner. The signal was weak, but it was there. Nearly half of the dolls in the base were lost or unaccounted for, and another quarter were trapped in inaccessible locations. That left only a few dolls and the AR team…but that was all she needed.

She connected to the open comm channel. "This is Ursula, assuming command of any available squads. Prepare to engage the enemy."

There was static just before Squad SAR and Yulia connected. USP Compact was trapped in the base, so Squad Yulia was assigned to help the A-Dolls search for survivors and salvage anything they could. SAR's team was already engaged and ready for orders.

The available dolls had been pushed back to the inside of the base. A hole opened up in the cafeteria, which was conveniently close enough to the surface for the bombardment to open a path in and also extremely hard to defend. Sangvis has pushed deeper into the base now, pushing past the barracks - also convenient - leaving most of the dolls unarmed.

SAR squad engaged and began pushing the invaders back. But, they weren't making much progress. "AR Team, we need support!" SOPMOD picked up the call. She gasped happily.

"Commander Ursula, we're already on it! Look, look: a matching set of eyes! That almost never - " M16 gently kicked her off the call.

"We're stuck in the east wing. Thankfully we weren't even tickled by the explosives. ST AR and M4 are looking into a Parapluie signal that spiked shortly before bombardment. Helianthus is with us." Gunfire echoed in the communicator. "We have this under control, give 'em hell."

"Good, stay safe. Surface teams are on their way." The call disconnected, and a Zerner network signal was established. The dummy units on standby activated now that the signal was not jammed. That meant the surface team was making themselves a target. "All units: Zerner network online, dummies active. Get into the armory and scrap them all!"

The few teams that Ursula had control of mobilized. Behind her, the surviving support staff were rallied and began working to re-establish a proper network. Occasionally a small alarm or cry for help was heard through the gunfire and explosives. But Ursula was laser focused. Calm and collected under fire, but with an ace in the hole. Her hands wandered to her other communicator. If things got bad, she would just leave. That had been the plan all along.

There was no escaping up on the surface. As the network equipment needed to be stationary, Bryant and his team were almost immediately surrounded by Sangvis. At least the dolls with him were capable in combat.

Bryant hadn't been in this situation since his time in the army. Bullets whizzing by, shouts and mechanical groans, the smell of sulfur and gunpowder. Part of him loved it, it made him feel alive. The other part of him dreaded every second. The adrenaline screwed up the signals, leaving him in a state of frenetic energy and sick euphoria.

He stood by a small field computer he had set up with IDW beside him. Despite the gunfire, she seemed relaxed and untouched by the gunfire. She made rude gestures towards the approaching Sangvis as the other teams picked them off. The other commanders were nearby, desperately issuing orders and trying to regain control of the situation.

A massive red blip appeared on the radar, and the Sagnvis teams seemed to reorganize. "Ringleader located!" One of the other commanders yelled. "Model Designation SP-Nano." Bryant held his breath and scanned the battlefield for the Ringleader.

IDW turned to Bryant. "I don't see her…maybe she's - " she didn't get to finish the sentence before a grenade landed just feet away from her. Her tail fluffed up and she narrowed her eyes through the smoke. She let out a panicked meow and scrambled to safety. Bryant tried to clear his vision before a haughty laugh rang out over the battlefield.

"Fear me, Griffin junk! I am Ringleader Destroyer!" A short doll with massive white pigtails stood in the center of a small army of Sangvis dolls. She started laughing and mocking the Griffin dolls, but the Sangvis dolls around her stopped to listen to her gloat. Bryant was fed up within a few seconds.

He pointed to the Ringleader. "Someone shut his brat up." As soon as Bryant gave the order, a half dozen snipers were trained on the ringleader and taking potshots. The small doll started flailing as bullets struck and bounced off her armor.

"Not fair! Let me finish - ouch! You big…uuuurgh!" Destroyer began firing off a barrage of explosives. Her aim was…bad. She probably hit more of her own forces than the enemy. IDW especially was enjoying it, using her superior speed to almost literally run circles around the ringleader and her forces unharmed. "Stand still, idiot cat!"

"Who's the idiot, da nya? I haven't been hit yet!" The Ringleader let out a frustrated scream and began firing with abandon. IDW was good, but under such a heavy barrage, IDW was blown to pieces. The Ringleader then turned to the rest of the support staff with unchecked fury.

"Don't look down on me! Kill them all!" Destroyer began unloading a wave of explosive death towards the security dolls. Sangvis and Griffin dolls were torn apart in the ensuing fight, showering the field with twisted parts and synthetic flesh. Destroyer laughed with joy as her forces started overwhelming them. A bullet struck her cheek.

The team that shot at Destroyer was completely wiped out, along with the human commander standing too close to them. Bryant flinched and drowned out the horrible sounds of the entire team being wiped out. "All combat squads, hold the line! We need to keep the Zerner Network up." Bryant said that more to himself than to the dolls. His mouth was dry, and he could feel himself breaking out into a sweat despite the chilly air around him. His words, however, made him the next target. Destroyer turned to face him.

She looked enraged and confused. She aimed at him, but didn't fire. Her face twisted in fury. Then embarrassment. Then anger again. She stomped her foot and looked at the battlefield. "So close…so close! Dammit dammit dammit dammit!" She yelled and pulled at her hair. "Retreat, all forces retreat!" She roared and ranted for a bit longer before the Sangvis units retreated. The Griffin teams pursued them as far as they could, but eventually the order came down to ignore the enemy and start fortifying the base.

--

Destroyer kicked and smashed as much as she could in the base as her weapons reloaded. "Dammit! How did I run out of ammo!"

"Shut up, idiot." Dreamer mumbled as she repaired the body that Destroyer had just been in. She took a lot more damage than she noticed. Those Griffin dolls were getting good. "You really dropped the ball on this one. Master isn't going to be happy with you." The smaller doll turned red with rage and shame.

"Stop it! I did everything you told me to! Maybe your plans just suck." Dreamer smirked and gave her a lethal look. Destroyer yelped and looked to the ground.

"It doesn't matter…"

"Give me another chance, I can kill them this time!"

"You will~." Dreamer said with a satisfied hum. Destroyer started shaking. "They have your signal now, and you can be sure that they will be coming for you."