Common Denominator - Chapter 7: I came, I saw
Acre sat behind the clinic table in the afternoon sun, her head rested on the tabletop as she waited for her next "patient" to appear. Acre idly tapped her fingers against the tabletop as the looked at the vacant spot beside her; Kia and MX had left earlier to attend some meeting. As Acre continued mindlessly tapping against the plastic surface, she realized that she had been unconsciously tapping to the beat of a song Bluebell played on repeat during their time stationed together. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Acre lazily lifted her head from the table, brushing her purple hair out of her eyes as she looked at the other clinic table set up a few metres away. RFB, GSh-18, and Sten Mk. II were sitting behind the table, completely engrossed in some video game on RFB's phone.
"Hey Acre!" Sten shouted, looking over to the Sangvis doll. "Are you bored? Come on over!"
"What? I-" Acre started to protest, before realising that it was probably better than doing literally nothing by herself. "Alright, fine…"
Acre walked over to the Griffin girls, carefully peering over Sten's shoulder at RFB's phone screen. RFB was playing some RPG, controlling some girl with a polearm fighting against monsters—pretty generic stuff, Acre decided.
"FUCK!" RFB suddenly screamed, forcefully slamming her right fist against the table, startling Acre.
"W-what…?" Acre stammered.
"FUCKING CRITLESS WITCH!" RFB angrily exclaimed, her character seemingly running away from something off-screen. "I CAN'T FUCKING DO SHIT IF YOU HEAL ME WITH YOUR STUPID-ASS JELLYFISH!"
"Hey, hey, let's keep it PG-13 here!" Magic suddenly shouted from down the street, walking over to the group with her hands in her pockets. "Hey, Acre. Hey Sten."
"Hi," Acre and Sten replied.
"What are you doing?" Acre asked Magic.
"Oh, I just finished helping Howl and the others with the cleanup, now I guess I'm just gonna chill for a bit," Magic replied, looking around. The operation in the village was quickly drawing to a close, with most of the groups wrapping up their tasks or already finished. Now, most of the dolls—especially the ones from Sangvis Ferri—were just hanging around, treating the brief lull in work as a short vacation from the fighting and hardship.
"Hey Magic," Acre asked after a while, "Are Kia and the others still talking?"
"Yeah, I passed by them a few minutes earlier," Magic replied, "They've got old man Kirov there too, and even the Griffin Commander—via hologram, at least."
"Wow, everyone's there then," Acre muttered, watching at RFB's game. "Only one missing's Archangel then, huh?"
"Actually," Magic said, "About that…"
"Hm?" Acre asked.
"I've heard rumours from Axiom that Archangel herself is going to make an appearance here soon," Magic told the group in a low tone.
"No way, Archangel?" Acre replied, surprised. "What's she doing coming here?"
"Dunno," Magic shrugged, "Guess she wants to come and check out how things are going, or something."
"Wait, Archangel—the ringleader—is coming here?" RFB absentmindedly asked, still concentrating on her game.
"Mmhm," Magic replied, "Don't worry, she's gonna be coming in peace, like the rest of u-"
"FUCK!" RFB yelled again, "STOP HEALING ME!"
Archangel flew across the cloudless afternoon sky, her black hair fluttering behind her head as lush forests and fertile plains passed beneath her. Two metallic wings sprouted from her back, unfurled on either side of her body like a majestic bird as the pair of main rocket motors on them traced a thin line across the sky. Her legs trailed behind her, the stabilizer fins attached above her ankles keeping Archangel oriented forward as her streamlined form cut through the crisp spring air.
Archangel closed her eyes, tilting her head up to face forward as she spread her arms wide on either side of her body. Archangel smiled, feeling the flowing air run across her figure, intimately caressing her body like a distant lover separated due to war. With a simple tilt of her legs, Archangel eased her body skyward, blasting her rocket motors at full throttle as she rose into a soaring climb. Archangel's wings swept back, feeling the compressive force as she rocketed towards the sky at multiple times the acceleration of gravity. Suddenly cutting the power to her motors, Archangel felt the warm sunlight bathe her face as she twirled high up in the air like an ice dancer in the sky. At the apex of her climb, time seemed to freeze as Archangel momentarily hung suspended in the air, her arched back pointing to the ground as her outstretched arms seemed to embrace the heavens above. A moment later, Archangel's arms and wings were tightly hugging her body like an arrow as her rocket motors roared back to life, plunging her into a nosedive towards the earth below. Her body and rigging shook as she hurtled towards the ground like an re-entrying spacecraft. At the last possible second, Archangel's wings suddenly swept back out from her body, pulling her into a crushing high-g turn before levelling her off mere metres above the treeline. Archangel skimmed across the treetops at hundreds of kilometres per hour, the wind whistling in her ears as adrenaline coursing through her veins (proverbially).
After a few seconds, Archangel eased off on the throttle, slowing down and rising back up to her previous altitude. She let out an satisfied sigh, feeling so agile and light without the burden of her weapon and ammo. Archangel's face turned a melancholic tone as she reminisced about the time she spent with Dr. Mikhailov and the others before the Butterfly incident. Everything was so much simpler before the war, Archangel realized, remembering all the times Dr. Mikhailov and her sneaked off to let Archangel take to the sky like a carefree bird under the pretense of "equipment testing." Archangel deeply missed it all, Mikhailov and the others, the carefree naïveté, the excitement for what the future held… But all of that was in the past, and there was nothing Archangel could ever do to bring it back.
"Archangel," Venator's voice suddenly crackled over the comms channel, "Last chance to turn back."
"I can't turn back now, Venator," Archangel replied, "Not after we've come so far."
"It's too dangerous, damn it!" Venator's exasperated voice shot back, "There are better ways to do this; all it takes is one bullet to end everything, I tell you!"
"Relax, I'll be fine," Archangel tried to console her adjutant.
"How can you know that?" Venator demanded, "You don't know how those Griffin dolls will respond."
"That's the point," Archangel responded, "I need to know what the Griffin dolls will do. It's a risk, yes, but it's something I've got to do sooner or later."
"Archangel," Venator said with a worried sigh, "We're all just concerned about your safety…"
"It's something I'm going to have to do sooner or later," Archangel reasoned, "Besides, if that's what it really comes down to, then perhaps I've been fighting for the wrong thing all along…"
Archangel closed her eyes in a pained smile, savouring the feeling of flying unencumbered once more—an opportunity that was few and far in between due to her never-ending air patrol responsibilities. Now, all Archangel could do was to keep the memories alive, deathly afraid of losing what little connection remained with her previous life. At least, that's what Archangel used to think. After all, there was a reason why Archangel was flying across Sangvis territory unarmed, the ringleader thought to herself, eyeing the village coming into view in the distance. And if Archangel ever wanted to return to the life she had back then, this would be the first step in doing so.
Acre stared as a figure descended from the skies onto the intersection in front of her, the whistling of its rocket motors ceasing as the winged doll gently landed on the ground. Standing in front of the awed group of dolls, the newcomer's dark-grey wings folded in half and swiveled behind her back to resemble a pair of elytra, or perhaps a long cape. As the dust around her settled, she levelled her eyes onto the group of dolls in front of her.
"A-Archangel!" Magic stammered, "You actually came!"
"Wait, you're Archangel, the ringleader?" Sten choked out, taking a step back from the doll whose cannon had been trained upon her not too long ago. Sten suddenly felt an immense pressure emanating from the Sangvis ringleader, remembering the terrifying creature that ripped apart a certain Griffin assault team weeks ago.
Archangel gave Sten a polite nod, her body remaining motionless as she slowly looked over the dolls behind the table in front of her, all in various stages of disbelief.
"What are you doing here?" RFB cautiously asked, her hand unconsciously reaching for her rifle leaning against the table beside her. She could feel her judgement and self-control being muddled by the fearsome reputation the Sangvis ringleader had quickly garnered. In less than a month after her initial appearance in Sector S09 airspace, Archangel laid waste to Griffin's unprepared logistical network, plucking several unsuspecting helicopters out the sky and converting entire motorized convoys into fire and ash with sheer impunity. However, the ringleader's current behaviour stood in uncanny contrast to what RFB expected, and that made her very uneasy.
"RFB, what are you doing!" Magic exclaimed, alarmed by the Griffin doll slowly grasping the grip on her rifle.
"Whuh-" RFB replied, forcing her hand off her gun. "Shit, sorry, I-"
"Don't worry, I'm not here to fight," Archangel cordially responded, carefully gauging the Griffin dolls' reactions. Despite her notoriety, Archangel's calm voice temporarily lowered RFB's guard. "I'm just… curious."
"Curious?" Acre asked, raising an eyebrow. She noticed that Archangel didn't carry her big cannon here. "With respect, don't you have better things to be doing?"
"This is very important to me," Archangel replied with a knowing smile, "Life and death, even."
"What?" Magic asked.
"Don't worry too much about it, just… ignore my presence," Archangel waved, "I just want to have a look around, that's all."
"It's pretty hard for us to just 'ignore' you," RFB frowned, "Considering, well, you're an enemy ringleader who just casually dropped in right in front of us."
"Well, today I come only as the leader of a team engaged in a humanitarian operation, like you guys," Archangel responded, "What's going on here in this village really does warm my heart, and I hope we can all see through each other's affiliations here."
"What's with her?" GSh-18 muttered as Archangel turned and began slowly walking down the street, her metal boots clattering against the ground as her folded wings swayed behind her back. "When she first came, I was convinced she was gonna shoot us all right on the spot. You sure she works for SF?"
"Acre, you better go follow her," Magic instructed Acre, "We don't want Archangel to get herself into any trouble here."
"Right, got it," Acre responded as she slung her rifle over her back and began jogging towards Archangel.
"She's a bit weird, isn't she?" Sten remarked, trying to make sense of what just happened. "Are all ringleaders as weird as her?"
"Hmph, more or less," Magic admitted, watching Acre and Archangel walk off down the street. "But Archangel's weird in like, a totally different way…"
"Archangel!" Kia exclaimed, her face painted in surprise. "Is that really you?"
"Haha… Yeah, it's me alright," Archangel awkwardly smiled, clumsily walking towards a small circle of individuals gathered on the street. Archangel could identify Nyx and Kia seemingly having a meeting with an elderly man and a Griffin doll, while another fiddled with a machine on the ground. Upon her arrival, all of them turned their gazes to the ringleader, with varying expressions on their face.
"Archangel, what the hell are you doing here?" Nyx demanded, walking towards the ringleader with an alarmed expression on her face.
"What do you mean?" Archangel responded as Nyx walked up to her face, "I just wanted to come take a look."
"So you walked unarmed into village with Griffin presence?!" Nyx hissed, putting her hand onto her forehead. "Please, Archangel, you aren't like the rest of us, you can't be doing this!"
"But I am armed," Archangel flashed a cheeky smile, patting a holstered pistol on her thigh.
"Why, you… you idiot!" Nyx scolded, grabbing Archangel by her cheek and pulling her ear towards her face. "Have you finally lost your mind?!"
"Ow ow ow, stop!" Archangel pleaded, putting her hand on Nyx's arm. "I'm sorry, let go!"
"Erm… I thought Archangel was supposed to be the ringleader here? What sort of messed up power dynamic is this?" M590 muttered, raising an eyebrow as she watched Nyx angrily drag the rigging-laden Archangel around. It was only after M590 woke up in the repair bay in a new body when she learned it was Archangel who shot her helicopter down weeks ago; whatever M590 expected Archangel to be like, this was not it.
"Um," Kia replied, cringing slightly at the ridiculous display. "This is just how it works with us, I guess."
"Why have you come here?" Nyx continued, red-faced. "Don't you know how dangerous it is for someone like you?"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Archangel complained, her face also beet-red. "Please let go, it hurts!"
"Kia?" Acre asked, walking over to the group, "Should we do something to break the two up?"
"Eh," Kia shrugged, "It's for her own good."
Suddenly, a flash erupted from the device MX was tinkering on. Nyx and Archangel froze, their heads turning towards the figure now standing over the device. With static disrupting its three-dimensional form, the hologram of the Commander raised an eyebrow as it looked at the two Sangvis dolls standing in front of her. Nyx's left hand was still firmly holding Archangel's right cheek, Archangel's back bent forward with her rigging reflexively tensed in response to the pain.
"Huuuuh…?!" Archangel gaped as her eyes widened, her face blushing into an even deeper shade of red than before.
"Um…" the hologram of the Commander echoed, looking at the Sangvis ringleader that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.
…
"Hello there."