The Mobile Task Force - Chapter 5: Shattered

"Katana 2-Charlie, this is Katana 1-Bravo, report your status!" Castle ordered over the noise of deafening Griffin fire. Just when she thought things were going all too smoothly, the situation instantly took a turn for the worse.

"Katana 2-Charlie, this is Katana 1-Bravo, respond!" Castle shouted again into the radio. There was no reply.

"Castle, what the hell is going on over there?" Kia asked, her team still trying to catch up to the other two groups.

"Shit, Kia, I can't raise her," Castle replied, "She's not responding."

"Is she…" Kia began.

"No, she's still alive. I'm still picking up her signals," Castle pre-empted, "Can't say the same about the rest of her team, though. Shit…"

"Damn it, this was always a risk…" Kia cursed as she racked her brains trying to figure out their next move. She should have never let themselves get overextended like this, and now with Katana 2-Charlie's team essentially wiped out, they risked losing control over the entire village.

"Kia?" Castle asked, "What's the plan?"

"Uh, I- I don't know!" Kia stammered, "Give me a moment!"

"For fuck's sake, how the hell did things get this fucked already?" Castle angrily shouted, "Katana 2-Charlie, what the hell are you doing?!"

For the first time in her life, tears streamed down Katana 2-Charlie's face as she felt every trace of willpower leave her body. Where she used to find confidence and determination, Acre now only felt terror and regret. She regretted having disobeyed Castle and Kia's orders so many times, and the arrogance which now placed everyone on the verge of death. Turning on her radio and choking back tears, Katana 2-Charlie could only mutter a single phrase:

"I'm so sorry."

"What?" Castle demanded over the radio, cursing under her breath. Neither Kia's nor her team could get a bead on the enemy machine gun. At this rate, they'll have to write off Katana 2-Charlie's entire team. Not to mention this was her first time in live combat, there was no way she would be able to handle the pressure of a situation like this.

"Katana 2-Charlie, listen to me, please!" Kia pleaded over the radio, "You've got to get out of there!"

"I- I can't!" Acre cried, burying her head into her arms as a stray bullet blasted apart a nearby Vespid's face. "I'm sorry!"

"You don't have a choice here!" Castle impatiently shouted while exchanging fire with Griffin forces, "This is not up for discussion!"

But Katana 2-Charlie didn't hear the rest of what Castle said. She felt as if her mind had shattered into a million pieces, unable to form any coherent thoughts as pure unadulterated fear overwhelmed her consciousness. Another bullet detonated a grenade on the body of a downed unit, sending shrapnel all over the room. Suddenly, Acre felt a pain in her right leg. A vision of the unconscious doll in the command post flashed through Acre's mind as she quickly peered at her leg, only to realize that it was simply hit by a falling light fixture.

"What the fuck do we do, Kia?" yelled Castle as she fired at the corner of a building, keeping a Griffin doll at bay, "We gotta get a move on, now!"

A brief silence ensues over the radio as the experienced pair desperately tried come up with an exit strategy. Although the assault kicked off with relative ease, the situation was now falling apart by the second. Finally, it was Kia who spoke up.

"Castle! Cover me, I'm gonna go and extract 2-Charlie myself!" Kia shouted. Although Kia herself couldn't believe what she was saying, it was the best thing she could come up with so far.

"Are you kidding me?!" Castle yelled back, "That's suicide!"

"It's our best option, and there are only bad options!" argued Kia, her voice slightly trembling. She eyed her destination; she would have to run across an empty road to get there, but it wasn't too far.

"Forget about Katana 2-Charlie, Kia!" Castle shouted, "Leave her, we have to withdraw now!"

"No… I won't leave her!" Kia obstinately continued, "We're all in this together!"

"It's too risky!" Castle pleaded, "Why are you so dead set on saving her?!"

"If I were in her position," Kia began, "I know you'd to the same for me!"

"Kia! I-" Castle protested.

"There's no time to waste, we have to move!" Kia interrupted as she fired off the last of her smoke grenades, "Castle, give us some covering fire!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Castle groaned as she trained her rifle onto the Griffin lines. Everything was simply going so wrong, but with Kia dead-set on bringing their comrade back, there was nothing Castle could really do but to provide as much support as she could.

"Katana 2-Charlie!" Castle yelled into the radio, "We need suppressive fire, NOW!"

Roused by Castle's order, Katana 2-Charlie realised that the enemy HMG was no longer firing upon her position. Teary-eyed. she looked around herself and saw a scene of utter devastation. The shop's items were scattered haphazardly all around the floor along with dead dolls, broken furniture, and rubble from the walls. She coughed from the dust filling the room and slowly raised her head to the window.

What she saw horrified her. Kia and a handful of dolls were making a desperate dash across an empty street toward her. What the hell was Kia doing? Katana 2-Charlie thought to herself. Although the smokescreen partially concealed them from the enemy, tracers landed all around Kia as she switched between running and blindly firing into the smoke. Katana 2-Charlie watched in stunned silence as the friendly team slowly grew larger and larger in her field of view. She couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread grip her as she saw a stream of green tracers erupt from the hilltop and rain down on Kia's position. She was reaching for her rifle when she saw a bullet pass straight through Kia's right knee joint.

"NO!" Castle screamed as she watched Kia collapse forward onto the ground. The downed doll attempted to get up, seemingly not realising what has happened to her, when another bullet hit her square in the stomach and sent her sprawling back onto the ground.

Time seemed to slow down as Katana 2-Charlie watched Kia writhe on the ground, bullets still landing all around her. She could see red-orange machine fluid oozing past Kia's hand which was covering her stomach, a thin wisp of smoke rising from the wound. A Ripper unit rushed over to Kia's side, bending over to pick her up when a stray bullet struck a grenade on the unit's belt. Katana 2-Charlie's eyes widened as the resulting explosion enveloped both dolls.

"Kia!" Castle cried in desperation, "Kia, respond! Respond, please!"

"Kia, she-" Katana 2-Charlie blurted out, falling back from the window. "Castle, I saw-"

"Shut up!" Castle suddenly shouted over the radio. A bullet struck the wall close to Castle, but she didn't seem to notice. Where did we go so wrong? Castle asked herself in despair, shifting her gaze over to Katana 2-Charlie's position, her face darkening with anger.

"Castle! I-" Katana 2-Charlie began.

"Shut the fuck up!" Castle angrily snapped, "This is unacceptable! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

There was no reply. Katana 2-Charlie was once again curled up on the floor in a fetal position, eyes glazed over as her arms covered her head. How could this have happened? The mortified doll asked herself, What went wrong? Her entire body was caked with dust and rubble, the vibrant purple of her hair all but covered by shades of grey. I couldn't even move my body, the doll thought, her body shaking from shock. If only I wasn't so afraid, Kia would still be alive now…

What have I done?

"Katana 2-Charle!" Castle's voice erupted once again through the radio, "RESPOND!"

Katana 2-Charlie silently disconnected herself from the datalink network. She felt her mind slowly boil away into darkness as she cowered in the corner of the devastated room, visions of what just happened flashing through her mind. Mere minutes ago, Katana 2-Charlie felt so confident in herself, but now she wanted nothing more than to be swallowed up by the rubble and disappear forever.