"People used to think the large would eat the small; Instead, it is the swift who are eating the slow."
– Curtis E. Sahaian
(The Delphi Method, 1997)

8:56 a.m. (GMT+3)—April 3, 2063—Point Cobalt

Archangel - Chapter 1: Back Against the Wall

Acre watched the sun rise over the ruined village. Somehow, they managed to survive the night, fending off several probing attacks from Griffin. Archangel was leading reinforcements their way, but until they arrived the situation was still dire. Letting out a brief sigh, Acre turned around and made her way to the other side of the house she was tasked with defending. From her second-story window she had a clear view of the main street and what lay on the other side. Acre wouldn't be surprised if most of the platoon-sized Griffin force congregating behind the hill yesterday had already made its way into the village. Compared to the paltry assortment of fodder units and SFMTF members all in various states of disrepair, the odds were stacked heavily against Acre's favour.

"Acre," Castle's voice appeared over the radio, "How's your arm holding up?"

Acre inspected her left arm, which had taken a stray bullet in a firefight during the night. Fortunately, the bullet merely grazed off the arm and didn't damage any key structural or motor components.

"It hasn't fallen off yet, Castle," Acre replied.

"Good, you're gonna need it. Here they come," Castle warned, "And I mean, all of them!"

Acre barely had time to scan the opposing buildings before enemy markers rapid began appearing on her tactical map. "Holy shit," Acre muttered to herself as gunfire erupted from both sides of the street. Smoke grenades landing close to the Sangvis lines obscured their vision as a wave of Griffin dolls charged forwards under covering fire.

Acre aimed her rifle at the street, firing short bursts over the smokescreen. A return burst of enemy fire struck the window frame around Acre, causing her to flinch backwards. As she moved towards another position in her house, a grenade flew through the window and exploded on a wall not far from Acre, the concussive blast knocking her onto the ground.

"Acre!" Castle called out, "What's your status?"

Acre scrambled onto her knees, keeping her body low enough to not be exposed from the windows. "I'm fine!"

"Fall back to the secondary line!" Castle ordered as she retreated from her room, firing a shot into a Griffin doll in the process.

"So soon?" Acre questioned. The Griffin assault had barely begun, how long were they going to be able to hold out at this rate?

Suddenly, Acre heard a loud bang coming from the first floor. Rushing down the stairs, she saw a Griffin doll in the hallway. The Griffin doll wore a flashy red beret and jacket, her orange hair tied in twin tails. As the Griffin doll—also caught off-guard—raised her STEN Mk. II submachine gun, Acre hastily pointed her ACR at her and the two fired almost simultaneously at each other. Acre watched as multiple bullets struck STEN square in the chest in quick succession, causing her to quickly collapse. Acre stared in shock at the body of STEN lying on the ground; she had reflexively acted without even thinking about it.

A series of shouts from the doorway snapped Acre back to attention as she scrambled for the back door. Acre barely ducked behind a corner as a shower of submachine gun bullets filled the hallway. With her body on autopilot, Acre ripped a grenade from her belt and flung it down the hallway. She heard a few surprised cries before a deafening explosion rocked the hallway, filling it with dust and shrapnel. Seizing the opportunity, Acre frantically exited the house and ran across the backyard towards safety amidst scattered shots. Diving past a stone gate onto the ground, Acre tried to use her left hand to break her fall, but instead found her face planted into the grass.

"Ow," muttered Acre as she pulled herself onto her knees. She took a look at her left arm, and realized her shoulder sported two new bullet wounds, and that the force of the fall caused its joint to break.

Right then, a grenade exploded on the other side of the wall, causing it to crumble and knock Acre back onto the ground. As Acre lay dazed underneath the rubble, she saw a Griffin doll approaching her location. As Acre began reaching for her rifle, the Griffin doll noticed her and pointed her gun at her. Just then, a sudden burst of bullets hit the Griffin doll on her side, instantly dispatching her. Acre craned her neck and saw a familiar figure running towards her.

"Dagger 3-Charlie!" Acre gasped in relief as the Sophie raced to her side, firing another burst of .45 ACP somewhere out-of-view.

"Come on, let's go!" Sophie urged as she helped Acre out of the rubble. Together, Acre and Sophie made their way towards the secondary defensive line.

During a moment of respite, Acre took a good look at Sophie. Mud and grass stains covered her lower body, and her vibrant purple hair was a mess with small pieces of dirt tangled within it. Her gun looked too big for her small stature, but her demeanour was one of relative composure. Of course, there was still her left leg, which had been replaced by that of a ripper's and stood out like a sore thumb. As Acre was eyeing Sophie, Sophie took a glance back at Acre.

"Your arm…" she said, having noticed Acre's damaged shoulder.

"Aha… yeah." Acre meekly replied. She tried moving her left arm, wincing from the pain. Although it still had a limited range of motion, she wouldn't be able to properly wield her rifle in this state.

"You should probably go to Maddie… Err- I meant Dagger 2-Delta, to get it fixed," Sophie suggested, reloading her gun. "Anyway, I gotta go. Our fodder on the south side just got taken out. Gotta go patch the hole in our defense."

"Yeah… Good luck," Acre said as she watched Sophie get up and walk over to a wall. With a graceful leap, Sophie easily vaulted over the 2-metre barrier and began running. "Wow," Acre muttered to herself, "Guess the new leg fits her pretty well."

"Acre, this is Castle," Castle's calm voice appeared over the radio, "What's your status?"

"I, uh- My left arm is a bust," Acre responded, "I'm gonna head back to get it repaired."

"Good, now's the perfect chance to do so," noted Castle, "Griffin forces are pulling back across the board."

"What?" Acre asked. Casualties had been quite even on both sides, but Griffin had superior numbers to begin with. "Why?"

"Unknown," replied Castle, "Could be that they're regrouping for a concentrated push."

If that were so, then now would be the perfect time to get her shoulder fixed, thought Acre as she began moving towards the temporary command outpost. Just then, the familiar scream of plunging mortar shells pierced the sky.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" cursed Acre as she dove for cover. To her surprise, however, she wasn't rocked by any explosions. In fact, the Griffin bombardment seemed to be missing the Sangvis frontline entirely. Acre was beginning to wonder if they got lucky when a panicked voice erupted over the radio.

"A-all units!" shouted Dagger 2-Delta, "W-we are under-"

Dagger 2-Delta's voice was cut off as a deafening roar emanated from the radio channel.

"Dagger 2-Delta!" shouted Castle, "Dagger 2-Delta, SITREP!"

"Uh- Fuck!" came the panicked response, "We're getting bombed here! I-"

Another explosion cut off 2-Delta's communication as Acre watched a cloud of dust erupt from near the command outpost.

"Get out of there!" Castle commanded as another shell obliterated a small house beside the command outpost.

"But what about Kia?!" Dagger 2-Delta shouted once again, "I can't-"

Just then, 2-Delta's voice suddenly cut out into silence. Acre's eyes widened as she saw an explosion engulf the command outpost.

"Holy shit! No!" cried Castle over the radio in disbelief.

"M-Maddie? What happened?" Sophie stammered. She could no longer feel Dagger 2-Delta's presence on the Mobile Task Force battle network.

"Dagger 2-Delta! Katana 1-Alpha! Respond!" demanded Castle to no avail. The Sangvis signals in building had vanished.

"Castle…" Acre mumbled over the radio, not knowing what to say. A deathly silence swept over the Sangvis comms as the three attempted to recover from the sudden shock.

"They're gone…" sighed Castle in defeat. Even until then, she had clung onto hope that Kia would pull through and survive. That hope was now shattered into a million pieces much like the building she laid buried in.

Acre dipped her head, mourning the loss of her two comrades. Although both would be revived back at base, seeing their deaths first-hand was still a traumatic experience, one that many T-dolls never get fully used to. However, Acre didn't have much time to grieve before gunshots began to echo from the Griffin lines once more. Numerous hostile markers appeared on her tactical map as the Griffin dolls revealed themselves. With less than a squad's worth of fodder units and three SFMTF members to defend against them, Acre knew they wouldn't be able to repel the Griffin advance. All they could do now was to just survive and buy as much time as possible for Archangel to arrive.

"Here they come!" Sophie reports, "Castle! Orders?"

There was no immediate response. After a few seconds, a quiet, uncertain voice appeared on the radio.

"I… I don't know…"