"Now that you have been brought up to speed, I suppose the obvious question is, who might we be able to drag information out of?" The Commander leaned back in his chair, surveying the ten Dolls organized before him. FAL, Ballista, Five-seveN, FNC, and FN-49, sat in a cluster, his original squad similar, although there wasn't any animosity he could see, just the expected comfort of familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting. Fleur lingered at the edge of the situation, feigning attention to her phone, but he saw the telltale flicker of her eyes up to him

FAL glanced at her second, an unspoken command passing between them, and Five-seveN leaned forward. "There are a few politicians, officers, and others, but it depends what precisely you want to know, Commander?"

What did he want to know indeed. He could see the shrewd calculating nature of those eyes, both her, and her leader, even Groza's stare bored into him, the questions layered there, that none of them would ask. "We'll start easy. Why are the Soviets moving in on Prague, and why is that Mayor letting them?" Those two things would lead well. "And where is all the money going."

Five-seveN nodded a few times, before snapping her fingers. "I know just who to ask." Her smile did not bleed warmth. "Three or four different people, if you wish."

"Start with the most likely to be of help, and we'll work from there." He instructed.

"Yes, sir." Five-seveN nodded, and rattled off the names. "The first is most likely to be useful, although might require some convincing." The tone implied plenty.

"Understood."

"I suggest two groups." Groza spoke up at last, having gone quiet for the time being. "Five-seveN, FAL, OTs-39, Ballista and PP-2000 will attend to the first individual, and I will take the rest to the second." A typical Groza plan. It split the number of armed individuals between teams, which wasn't ideal, but did prevent anything from happening.

"They should be willing to talk to you." Five-seveN agreed with a motion he interpreted as a casual disinterest in the particulars of the talking.

"Works for me." FNC flashed a thumbs up. Ballista nodded, FN-49 shrugging softly. All eyes turned to him.

"I will defer to you for field command." He replied evenly. No reason to dictate to them when they could solve it themselves. FAL met his eyes, and some unspoken agreement that she wanted to speak lingered, and as the chaos of one team leaving began, FAL remained sitting, Five-seveN moving to sit on the arm of her chair, while the OTs-39 and PP-2000 started to prepare to leave.

For a moment, quite lingered, and he felt no reason to wait.

"You fought here." FAL asked it, tone soft, questioning.

"I did, for a time." He'd play the information game, that felt only fair. Behind her, the two Russian dolls stopped, listening closely. "After the end of the battle I moved elsewhere." Nods all around. "Yourself?"

"Belgium." FAL leaned back, every bit in control of both herself, and ostensibly of the situation. "We were redeployed to Berlin, following the invasion of Belarus." That tracked with the Belgian ease and integration of armed forces, and the quick deployment to reinforce potential targets behind lines. She'd both told him quite a bit more than she likely intended and not much of anything.

"I presume you saw the Riots then?" FAL's eyes flashed cold, and he knew he was right.

"Unfortunately, we did." Ballista answered for her leader. "Sir."

"Mm." He said nothing else, just waiting.

FAL didn't disappoint. "And what of you, Commander? Groza seems quite hesitant to provide details about your past…and you know things you should not."

He offered a light shrug. "What can I say. I had friends in high places, and I knew how to listen." He paused to give FAL a hard stare. "And you'd be surprised how many people know about what happened and either believe it to be lies, or know better than to ask. Hell, I know of Russians who knew about it, but thought it was a lie dreamed up by their propaganda agencies." FAL offered him a stiff, cold nod in agreement. "Regardless, I'm just an old soldier with a few bones still to pick with the world…and a rather strange idea of friendship."

"Understandable." FAL nodded, her eyes telling him she'd not forget this, but also that she understood the game being played. "And do tell what your strange idea of friendship is Commander, I find myself intrigued."

"A trade. My story for the story of how you ended up in your previous situation? Given your evident skillset it seems quite odd."

"Easily done." FAL nodded, before putting a hand on Five-seveN's leg as her second's eyes flashed. "That story is longer, and more involved than we likely have time for at the moment, Commander."

So, a sore spot for her subordinates, as FAL didn't seem that bothered. "Of course." He'd ask later.

"Thank you, Commander. I will not keep you." FAL nodded, respectfully, and he obliged her intent but terminated the call right away, just as Kalina stepped into the room.

"Commander." She offered him a tablet. "I've got good and bad news."

"Bad first." He accepted the tablet, setting it down with a quick glance to ensure there wouldn't be any major surprises. There weren't, luckily for him.

"Oookay." Kalina took a deep breath. "I think Miss Helian is really quite annoyed with you."

"Eh, expected that." He glanced at the line on the tablet about revenue. "We'll make do. She shouldn't have made me a Sector Commander and given me that power, if she didn't want me doing it." Well, Groza was doing it, but it'd fall on him, so he'd take that backlash. "I have a call with her later, I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it."

Kalina shivered theatrically. "Good luck, Commander. Just let me know when, I don't want to be anywhere near here when that happens." He laughed, deep and honest. "It's not funny, she's terrifying!"

"I don't deny she is." Ian crossed his arms. "What the good news?"

"We received a sudden deposit of payment for a 'debt collection' operation?" Kalina arched an eyebrow, seeming to ask the question with her eyes.

"One of Groza's…unconventional schemes, shall we say." Kalina blinked, then her eyes narrowed, the Commander easily able to see the gears turning in her head. "Her recruitment of FAL involved what I am choosing to believe is entirely legal and uncoerced monetary transactions." Kalina didn't look impressed. "We all know she bribed, threatened or blackmailed someone, but no one is going to say that. As far as the paperwork is concerned it was all legitimate and above board. Enough at least to satisfy anyone who asks."

"If you say so." The Logistics officer didn't sound convinced, but he didn't mind. "Anyways the rest of the reports."

-Faded Glory-

"So, who exactly are you meeting?" OTs-39 asked over the radio. At Five-seveN's request, FAL dispersed the Dolls at her command around the area; Ballista was sitting at a nearby café appearing uninvolved, OTs-39 and PP-2000 both fully hidden in alleyways. While an open-air memorial park was hardly the safest place to meet with someone about how to bring down a government figure, this was the requested location, and she'd accept it without too many questions.

"A client." Five-seveN's giggle never failed to set FAL on edge, her long time second rarely emitting that particular noise unless she intended to do something FAL always didn't like. "They wanted to meet here, and believe they are only meeting FAL and I."

A long pause from the SMGs. "Got it." PP-2000 spoke first. "Appearance? Other relevant details?" FAL upped her opinion of them slightly at that. While Groza's military background could not be argued, her subordinates were a bit more nebulous, but at least these two had some experience.

"Tall, blonde, a big pudgy, has a penchant for rather garish colors." FAL leaned back on the bench, trying not to hide her smirk at the description Five-seveN rattled off. "You can't miss him."

"He is a visual offense, to be certain." While FAL tried to avoid mocking people without a reason this particular individual did deserve every bit of it.

"A better question." OTs-39's voice took on a more serious tone, and FAL shifted in her seat, something telling her that the serious tone wasn't merely. "Are there usually a dozen or more soldiers patrolling around here?" In FAL's experience, no, but that didn't mean there weren't, as working for Novak left less time than she liked for exploring the city. She glanced at Five-seveN, who shrugged, lips pulling into a thin line. "I count thirteen on patrol, one leaning against an alley and maybe more."

"There has been a lot of talk about increasing security, so it is possible they are simply a result of that." Ballista offered up after a few seconds of quiet. "Although it is an odd place to do so, few people visit here, and those that do are only here for the memorial."

"Noted." A synchronized reply from the SMGs. "We'll keep an eye out."

FAL didn't reply, settling into her seat a bit more, seeing no reason to comment when her help handled things on their own. "Opinions?"

For a while Five-seveN said nothing. "We can trust him." The handgun hummed before folding her hands on her lap, a picture of pristine calm.

Internally rolling her eyes, "That isn't what I asked."

"But it is what you meant." The other Doll met her stare, daring her to argue. "A test, that's all it was. He wanted to know something, and that told him what he wanted to know." FAL muttered something rude. "He fought here, which means he is either native, or one of the small numbers of special forces units assigned to Prague, Oui?"

FAL nodded. "Special Forces. The Germans quashed all talk of the Riots very quickly." It helped, of course, they had Dolls handle a lot of it. Humans might talk. Dolls, dolls got mindwiped, and nobody would object to it. "It won't be questioned for now." She felt the look, one of an old friend would couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We are the newcomers to this situation, we cannot afford to stir things too much, especially given that Groza stuck her neck out for us."

"You just don't want to jeopardize your chance of getting in her pants, FAL." The deadpan reply came immediately. "And I notice you do not mention the Commander in that."

There was, unfortunately, no dignified way to answer that so FAL didn't. And the universe helpfully prevented her from needing to, as the radio crackled alive.

"FAL, get-" And then static cut Ballista off.

She did not live this long without trusting her instincts, though, so FAL threw herself into a roll, as a bullet exploded through the back of the bench she'd been on, and Five-seveN yelped, now sporting a very clean, if small hole in her right shoulder. A stream of French profanities was drowned out by screams of surprise from nearby civilians, and the cry of alarm of the man they came to meet, previously walking up at a leisurely stroll, now sprinting up towards them.

FAL blocked him out for now. Time to get control of this mess. "Where the hell did that come from?!" Gunfire rattled from the left and right, quick, controlled bursts, both SMG dolls apparently engaged.

"Rooftop, not sure which one!" OTs called it out, then vanished into the sound of gunfire. "The soldiers opened up on us without any warning!"

"Injuries?"

"Good!"

"Fine."

"Safe!"

"Going to kill whoever shot me!" It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out who was who, or even the years of knowing them.

"Right. Ballista, lay low if you can take one or two out, do so. OTs, PP-2000, best guess what rooftop they shot from." FAL rolled to the side, already knowing she needed to keep moving before one of those snipers got lucky. "Ignore the gibbering idiot, we need to move!" That statement turned out to be rather pointless, as the second set of rifle cracks rang out, and said gibbering idiot's torso contents exploded out his side. "Damnit!"

"Sniper, left window, center, blue brick building." Ballista reported. "Second sniper, same building, different window. They are not changing positions. Building appears largely abandoned."

"Understood." She pulled her second to her feet. "Windows." Five-seveN's eyes darted to the side, and she nodded. "Go left."

The snipers, whoever they were, couldn't be considered good at their jobs, as the next shots missed, Five-seveN taking cover behind a tree, while FAL took cover behind a concrete monument. Gunfire continued, although in more sporadic bursts. Glancing to the side, FAL could see a few soldiers lying dead in the street, beyond the trees, as puffs of dust signaled that her position would not hold. Also whoever they were being attacked by, didn't care about local monuments.

Another bullet hit, and she darted for fresh cover, muttered obscenities about needing a sidearm at least. Something exploded, which FAL's mind filled in as a grenade.

"Stop them!" She could hear someone yelling now. An officer probably panicking, as he realized Dolls didn't have the same restrictions humans did. "Two of them are still in the trees, find them!" Rolling from cover to cover, FAL stopped for a moment, eyeing the door to the building in question. Ballista was kneeling in the entrance, obviously having escaped notice from the snipers.

"You're clear, ma'am." Came the call out, and as she dove in beside her, FAL found Five-seveN already there. "The other two are holding their attention." Somewhat self evident, given the sporadic burst of gunfire. "Snipers are on the third floor."

"See if you can't find a way to subdue the leader. I can hear them shouting, so they will be nearby." FAL commanded, before opening the radio again. "OTs, PP-2000, try and keep civilians out of the fighting."

"Trying!" OTs's voice strained a bit. "They aren't making it easy!"

"And try and take the leader alive. I want to ask him questions." Five-seveN met FAL's eyes, and smiled, the same smile FAL remembered, the one that understood the darker nature that lingered beneath the surface of their jobs. "Now. Let us deal with these snipers."

As it turned out, the snipers realized they were in a bad position, trying to relocate now that they lost track of their targets. They didn't count on encountering two Tactical Dolls in a stairway, and FAL could see the sudden panic in the eyes of both men, one scrambled for his sidearm, the other for a knife.

She hit the closest one square in the chest, wincing a bit as the ceramic plate on his chest absorbed the force, sending them back, crashing into the stairs, a rifle clattering to the side. A second crash indicated Five-seveN hit the other one.

He managed to pull his knife, desperately flailing to hit her side. She caught his wrist, a secondhand effortless motion, squeezing hard. Bones crunched, and the man, no, she realized, boy, howled in pain, knife falling from his fingers. Slamming his now shattered wrist into the stairs, FAL took a deep breath.

"Five-seveN." She spoke low, doing her best to ignore the pained whimpering of the soldier she had pinned down, but there was no sound from the other. FAL turned her head, slightly.

Five-seveN had the other sniper, this man older, face first in the landing just below them. A familiar wooden handle protruded from around his collar bone, and FAL stopped, palm her back, before her eyes narrowed. Blood pooled beneath her second in Command, and FAL turned her attention back to the whimpering boy underneath her. "I'm going to let you up." She spoke with soft, carefully enunciated words. "IF you so much as twitch in a way I do not like, I will break every bone in your legs, and drag you off to somewhere where she..." A nod to 5-7, who had pulled the kukri out of the man she'd just killed and was cleaning it on his uniform, "...Will be allowed to wring whatever information I want out of you. Do you understand this?"

He nodded frantically, eyes filling with tears.

"Good. I really don't enjoy killing people." Her second mused, as FAL took her feet, watching the boy carefully.

"You're Dolls, everyone says-" He stopped himself.

FAL shrugged, spinning, and tossing her hair in a way she knew invoked drama and mystery. "That, I'm afraid, would require me to kill you." No need to tell him that more than a few Dolls didn't have those limitations built in, or had them overwritten for a variety of reasons. Especially those from the War, when shooting humans was a fact of life. "Take care of this one, I will see about the rest." She received a lazy salute in return. Aside from a few squatters now looking out of doors and corners, the building really did appear abandoned, a small boon given the situation at hand.

FAL considered the situation. A fine mess, really. Gunfighting in the street, dead alongside. A least one civilian casualty, possibly more unless the soldiers were more careful than the snipers, a forlorn hope really. "Report."

For a moment, no replies. "Clear." PP-2000 reported eventually. "All hostiles neutralized. No prisoners." A pity. She'd have liked more than a broken wristed sniper. "We've found no explanation for the attack yet."

"Regroup in the building the snipers were in, I will contact Groza and we can proceed from there."

A pause, the radio crackling. "Groza is going to be pissed when she finds out who ordered this." PP-2000 muttered. "Hopefully, they had more luck."

"That would be the theory, yes." She steadied herself for an unpleasant conversation. "Groza. This is FAL."

Seconds ticked by. "FAL. This is a less than opportune time." Gunfire rang behind Groza's words, and FAL put together the pieces quickly enough.

"Handle your gunfight. Then we talk." FAL closed the line. She waited one, two, three seconds. "Fuck."

"Look at the bright side, Captain," Five-seveN called out, "I'm the only person who got shot." FAL grimaced, that would put the other Doll in a positively foul mood for the next few days.

"That is not a bright side." Ten years ago, maybe, when they first met, and the tension between them ran thick. Now, FAL didn't agree, having grown to appreciate the strange partnership they shared. "Groza was attacked."

"Revenge?" Five-seveN offered immediately. "Novak always said if we ran, he'd get us back." He did, but FAL assumed the man's cowardice and fear of her would keep him at bay. Evidently that was not to be. "And he's friends with Russian officers, more than a few of whom frequented you or me. They will not take kindly to losing their favorite 'stress relief' even less than Major in command of the base."

"While true, I doubt they would resort to broad daylight murder. They are looking to win hearts and minds, are they not?" She stopped, thinking. "Unless they don't care?" Surely not, but it couldn't be considered out of the realm of reason or reality.

"Hm?"

"I believe I have a theory. Gather our prisoner, I want to confirm something."

-Faded Glory-

It didn't take much convincing to make the poor kid talk. Another time and place, FAL might have felt bad about that. He babbled answers to whatever they asked, clutching his wrist to his chest and looking fearfully between them all. OTs-39 managed a crude brace to hold it in place, while giving FAL a scowl at the damage.

According to their prisoner, his squad, and one other, had been ordered to capture some Dolls that had been running about and causing trouble, and responsible for some unrest in other parts of the city. According to him they were to 'bring them in to be dealt with, and kill any sympathizers', which explained shooting a non-target in broad daylight.

"And you are not worried about the consequences of committing murder in the streets?" FAL asked the question in a tone of forced calm, finding herself more and more disgusted by the moment.

The boy shrugged. "Some of them have done worse. The government doesn't care, we basically own the city anyways." A pit formed in FAL's chest at those words.

Groza listened to the explanation in silence, her squad having been unable to take one alive, and with equally little explanation for the attack, and thus having rejoined FAL's team, also without managing to meet with their target. SV-98 took a grazing hit, as did OTs-12, but they were otherwise unscathed. With the summary of the situation complete, Groza nodded. "I will contact the Commander." Which doubtlessly would go poorly for everyone involved. FAL got the feeling he would not take kindly to people trying to murder his subordinates in cold blood. "Don't let that one go, he will be useful to us."

"Understood." And then, they were standing in silence.

OTs-39 watched the soldier for a while. "Don't move that arm too much, you'll make it worse." She gave fall another look.

"Given that he was trying to knife me in the kidney, I do not feel sorry for defending myself OTs." FAL refused to back down, and OTs-39 huffed once again, shaking her head.

-Faded Glory-

While she only knew the blonde a few short days, FAL doubted she would see Groza in such a rage again for quite some time. Tension rolled off the other AR in waves, arms crossed, glaring at the room the captive soldier was locked in, under the watch of Fleur who had been told to 'break his legs if he tried to run' by, to her surprise, SV-98. The girl seemed confused but accepted the instruction with some grace. Meanwhile the Commander sat, his expression completely impossible for FAL to read.

"I'm almost impressed with my former comrades." Groza mused at length. "Almost." Her bearing however, suggested otherwise.

"It is unusual for Russian officers." The Commander joined in, gaze shifting into the middle distance, which FAL decided meant he was thinking deeply about something. "But, it is…useful."

"Useful." Ballista's usual quiet broke in utter disbelief. "How exactly is this useful?" All eyes darted to her, but she didn't back down. "What advantage can you gain from this? We have one prisoner, a garrison of soldiers who tried to kill us, and a regime that is unfavorable to your long-term goal. I do not see an advantageous outcome to this situation."

The Commander considered her for a while, before slowly nodding. "Griffon has leverage back in the Neo-Soviet Union. A lot of power and pull, given that Kruger is a war hero, served in the bloody shithole that was North Africa no less. Former FSB…he's got connections, power, and influence. Not the sort of man whose PMC you try and assassinate without serious cause, and not the sort of man your superiors will enjoy having breathe down their necks." FAL opened her mouth to suggest there might be more playing into this than that, before stopping. She would bide her time for now.

"Your point." Ballista notably didn't take the deflection, stony gaze holding firm.

To his credit the Commander held her gaze well, not so much as quailing under the scrutiny of the ten Tactical Dolls in the room. "While you were out, I realized a few things. Firstly, the primary obstacle to dealing with Hrejsa is the military presence. If he feels he has that backing, it's quite possible anything we do will meet with a simple 'get stuffed' And, given what you just told me, he will have the backing her wants. Second, even if we manage to remove him from power, if the military is still in the city, they will just install a new puppet." He stopped, the silence meaningful. "And, this attack, and the complicit nature of the leadership is enough to damn them." True. A silver lining in the messy situation.

"I presume it is better if you don't know whatever is about to happen Commander?" Groza both asked and stated, and with a twinkle in his eye, the man cut the comm feed.

"Great. Now we have two of them." SV-98 grumbled to general, if uneasy, laughter. "Just what we need."

"I don't know, I think it keeps things delightfully interesting, does it not?" The two second in command Dolls locked eyes, as their leaders shared an amused glance in turn. "Things would be dreadfully boring if all just fell into place, no?"

"Boring or not, what exactly are we planning to do?" Ballista cut off the budding argument. "Given that the military commanders are willing to attack us in broad daylight I don't see them willing to talk without some kind of incentive."

"We have an incentive." OTs-12 gestured towards the other room, where the broken wristed soldier sat. "They talk to us; we give them him back."

"Also, remember they just lose almost fifty men without any real gain." Groza tapped her fingers into the table for a moment. "Whoever that garrison Commander is, they will not be happy as they now must explain why nearly four squads are now dead or missing, and high Command will not take it kindly." FAL nodded, willing to trust the other Dolls' knowledge of the military inner workings, given that she served with them for some time. "And I believe we do not need to worry about the problem of getting them to talk."

"Why not?"

Groza stood, expression settling into a cold fury. "SV-98, if you would?"

"Sure, sure." The sniper waved a hand, "Get, I'll handle the talking."

-Faded Glory-

"Why do we work for insane people?" FAL could hear OTs-39 ask, but without any serious answer. Probably asked FN-49 then, the second sniper did tend to keep to herself. "Or at least, FAL seems as insane as Groza is."

"It is not that FAL is insane." Ballista took up the reply. "She merely enjoys unconventional solutions."

"No wonder they get along." OTs-39 muttered made several of them chuckle.

"Halt!" Before more sassy comments could be leveled at either captain, the local garrison troops noticed the approval. Groza barked something back in Russian, and a short argument broke out, before SV-98 added a short, snapped command. The man spoke briefly into his radio, before flinching. "Wait here."

He vanished into the complex, while Groza shifted in place.

"For the record, this is hardly the most insane plan I have participated in." FAL added into the quiet, trying not to smirk at the shuffling when they realized she listened in. "I believe that honor still goes to-"

"Polish Border, that one stupid outpost." Both snipers replied together.

"I don't know, I think that doesn't quite match charging a tank with a grenade." Five-seveN shrugged.

"We're pretty sure Groza murdered a former CO in his sleep." OTs-12 offered up. "At least, that's how SV-98 tells it."

"I did not say Groza killed him in his sleep. I implied it." The other sniper crossed her arms with a huff. "Even I don't know what happened to him, just that he vanished."

"I did not kill a former CO in his sleep." Which, FAL decided, meant nothing. But before more could be said the soldier reappeared.

"The Major will speak with you."

Groza just shrugged, and led the way inside.

The walk went in complete silence. Soldiers going about their days stopped to stare and whisper, or just watch in surprise. If not for the different markings on the uniforms she could have mistaken it for a German base during the war. Even the building internals were largely identical.

"Sir. The Griffon Dolls are here."

"I see." The door opened, and they fanned inside, the armed members of the party fanning out to guard positions, while FAL, Groza and the rest approached the Major's 'desk' which appeared to just be a sentient pile of paperwork. What caught FAL's attention, however, was the man sitting in one of the chairs, wringing his hands.

"Hello, Emile." She palmed the grip on her knife. "I find myself quite interested in seeing you here." If possible, he paled even more than usual, or maybe the lack of sleep was getting to him.

"Ah…FAL it is good to see you, but I must-"

"No." She commanded, and he froze. "You are going to stay. You are going to understand the consequences of your actions, and then I will decide what I am doing with you." He continued to pale.

"You are not going to be doing-" The Major started to speak, until Groza cut across him.

"Major, are you an idiot, or merely poorly informed of your situation?" He jerked back. "I will be exceedingly blunt. You, or at least, someone under your command has decided to attack myself, and others under Griffon employ." The Major didn't move. "I find myself curious if you are brave or stupid? How do you believe that is going to end for you, Major?"

His eyes flickered to Novak, for an instant, and FAL tried not to laugh. "Did he not mention that detail, Major? That you just opened fire on Griffon Dolls?"

"No." The Major's tone was stiff. "He did not." The gaze on Novak suggested there would be hell to pay for that omission, and FAL shrugged off the desire to point out he wouldn't need to handle it, if Novak didn't provide her with entirely satisfactory answers. "You would be?"

"Groza. Squad Leader, Sector 9."

"FAL. Squad Leader."

The Major grunted. "What do you want?" FAL couldn't help but arch an eyebrow in surprise. "Kryuger's girls aren't going to be in my office without a reason. Crusty bastard doesn't suffer fools to live. What do you want?"

Groza merely nodded. "You will find the political climate in the city shifting within the coming days, in a way that is unlikely to be hospitable to you. You may even get requests for assistance. You will refuse these requests." The man blinked in stupefied shock. "You will, in fact, depart if asked, are we clear? And in turn, I will not pass on to my Commander that you attempted to kill us, and he will in turn not pass it on to Headquarters…" Groza trailed off meaningfully. "Understand me?

-Faded Glory-

The sunset heralded FAL's return. Groza sat at the kitchen table, staring at her phone, thumbing from image to image without really seeing any of them. FAL meandered the room for a while, in silence, putting on a good show of looking for something.

FAL sat on the other side of the table. Groza didn't look up, only glancing at her, grimacing at the other Doll's expression. Considering what she knew of FAL for the other Doll to seem this troubled sparked no small concern in Groza

"You didn't have to stay up waiting for me, you know." It shouldn't have surprised her when FAL opted for teasing, but in hindsight she should have seen in coming. FAL seemed to cope that way.

"I couldn't sleep regardless." Groza set down her phone, clicking it off in the same motion. "I find myself oddly worried about what the next day will bring." She considered it for a while. "I am unused to being unaware of the details of a plan like this." FAL hummed. "Nothing gained by complaining, but…" She sighed. "It is annoying."

"Your Commander is an odd one, to be certain." FAL agreed, a wry smirk on her lips.

"He's your Commander too now." FAL shrugged in reply.

"True." The city rumbled softly in the distance, an uncomfortable backdrop to an uncomfortable moment. "What is coming tomorrow?"

"If I knew, I would tell you." Groza picked up her phone again, flipping through more pages. "But whatever is coming, I can only tell you that it is personal to him, and even that is a stretch to conclude. Records of the battle here are almost impossible to access. I can find lists of units that participated, some reference to officers that lead the fighting on the Neo-Soviet side, but nothing about the defenders." She slid her phone to FAL. "The only things of serious note are the attack that finally broke the defense line was led by a then Lieutenant Yegor, and that there were three Generals killed by sniper fire late in the battle. That's it."

"I see." FAL read in silence for a long while. "Ah well." She stretched, something that lacked the usual grace. "Do not stay up to late Groza. We're going to need someone who is used to these things tomorrow."

"As if you aren't."

FAL only shrugged, not even smiling as she did. Standing, she walked around the table, giving Groza's shoulder a squeeze, before vanishing into the darkness, leaving Groza sitting alone once again.

AN: Hey! So….who survived Isomer and Ranking? Probably not me, or at least, I won't for long given that the war crimes required for ranking might see me murdered by my own army. Enjoy those Core 8 SWAP Strikers while you're at it. Or don't. that's smarter.

Anyways, the usual thanks to Branded King for his beta work, and go read Toy Soldiers if you haven't already. (also go write GFL fics so I have more stuff to read)