"M4! M4!" While M4 was extremely grateful to have one of her sisters back, she couldn't help but feel like SOPMOD was far too loud, especially compared to the dour personalities that seemed to populate Sector 9. It just brought attention to them, attention she absolutely did not want. "What do you think about them?"

"I don't know." SOPMOD looked up from the pile of parts, pout on her lips, obviously unsatisfied with M4's honest answer. "I've only been with them for a few hours, and we spent a lot of that time fighting." She fished for something descriptive to say. "The Commander is nice?" Nice didn't fit the man, but M4 struggled to find a better word that didn't carry some other implication.

"Grumpy." SOPMOD suggested after a moment's thought. She returned to sorting the pieces of Sangvis units. "AR-15 will like him."

"Maybe." M4 wondered about that. Some part of her believed they would clash, AR-15 and her insistence that they were merely tools, a viewpoint that M4 didn't see the Commander agreeing with. But, AR-15 might also appreciate the clipped, controlled approach in turn. "We need to find her first."

"She'll be fine." SOPMOD waved her hand, tossing a few broken fingers as she did. "It's AR-15, she's amazing! No stupid Ringleader is going to beat her."

Burned into M4's mind was the flash of worry, born unprompted from the moment when the Commander said they couldn't contact AR-15. "I hope so." The niggling doubt remained, and M4 glanced at the three Echelon leaders from Sector 9. They were scattered about the area, tending to a variety of problems left by the battle at hand. Occasionally one of them would glance at her and SOP, then quickly look away again. All of them were obviously uncomfortable with her sister, and M4 didn't know what she felt about that.

As her assessment continued, M4 caught the eye of Skorpion, her previous temporary companion waving to recognize the gesture, enough that she couldn't immediately hear what they said. Eyes drifting farther across the group she caught Skorpion's eyes, receiving an enthusiastic wave.

M4 returned the wave, unsure quite what it meant. SOPMOD caught the motion, looking up and following M4's gaze. "Who's that?"

"Skorpion. I found her while running." That seemed to be the best explanation of the situation, without provoking an angry response, or getting SOPMOD to ask questions.

"Ooh." Nodding, as if that explained everything, SOPMOD waved as well, and Skorpion appeared to take that as a cue to make her way over. Picking over a shooting field, M4 realized that Skorpion's movements seemed stiff, and just a bit slow. SOP, with no such concerns, bounced to her feet, still waving. "Hi!"

The cheerful greeting, or perhaps that raw enthusiasm, seemed to catch Skorpion completely off guard. "Hi?" The sheer bemusement managed to pull a giggle from M4, which seemed to be enough reassurance for the eyepatch wearing SMG user.

Now that they were closer, M4 could see the patches in Scorpion's skin, and spots where it simply didn't exist at all. "Are you alright?"

Skorpion looked away. "I'm fine. Miss Groza is very nice." That did not answer M4's question in the least. "Sorry, Miss M4."

"F-for?" A pit settled in M4's chest. SOP went still, eyes alert, and tracking back and forth between them, but not saying anything.

"I didn't-" Skorpion caught herself. "She-" A few more haphazard stops and starts followed. "Scarecrow caught me. She-she- '' And all of the pieces settled into place, Executioner's words, and the little tidbits from Skorpion's words, the stumbling and refusal to meet her eyes.

"It's alright." M4 really didn't know what to say, or even how to say it, but felt like she had to say something. "They didn't find me." Or, rather, she killed the ones that did. M4's eyes instinctively flickered to her sister, still remembering that the final taunt before she killed Executioner. "I don't blame you for anything, Skorpion."

Skorpion's eyes rose, meeting M4's, wide, surprised, even confused. "You…don't? But-"

"Of course not." M4 tried to smile, fumbling over what words should follow that.

"How'd you find M4?" Luckily, SOPMOD came to her rescue, at least somewhat.

"She found me!" Visibly glad to be on safer ground, Skorpion started to regale SOPMOD with their short adventure hiding from Sangvis.

-Faded Glory-

Groza didn't know how she found herself standing next to Suomi, surveying the carnage they had wrought. KSG had been speaking to the Sector 2 Echelon leader, and when Groza came to ask her a question, the white-haired Doll provided the answer before slipping away citing some excuse that Groza realized she didn't remember.

"Don't think about it." Suomi broke the silence, seeming to sense the direction of her thoughts. "She probably doesn't even mean anything by it." Groza couldn't tell if the words were reluctantly respectful, or grudgingly unannoyed.

"Probably." Groza repeated, making no effort to hide her disbelief. Suomi nodded, a terse, direct movement. They lapsed back into silence when no further information was volunteered, broken only occasionally by noises from inside the building, or further down the street, where M4 SOPMOD II was trying to excite OTs-39 and FN-49 about a collection of what looked to be Sangvis fingers.

Eventually Suomi caved again. "I don't suppose you will tell me what is actually happening here?"

"No."

Suomi crossed her arms. "Of course." Venom laced the two simple words. "My Commander isn't going to like it. We can talk him into a lot of things, but ignoring weird psychotic Dolls appearing mid battle is not one of them."

"I will pass the message on." The gesture seemed meaningless, given the Commander's tendencies. The end of the sentence did bring a different question to mind. "What's he like?"

A burning stare followed, contrasting with the frigid words. "Why do you care?"

Groza pushed back at the pit that preceded a confrontation, before pushing on. "Because I would prefer to understand?" For a brief second, rage flashed across Suomi's features before they returned to merely annoyed. "From the moment KSG explained that you do not like us, I have been attempting to wrap my head around why you are working for Griffon. From what I understand this company is the embodiment of everything you hate."

"Astute."

Groza ignored the pointed word. "That leaves only a few options as to why you would stay, and one of them is the Commander."

Suomi turned away, fiddling with one of the pouches on her belt. "He's fine. Not worth staying here for."

"Then?"

Suomi took long enough to reply that Groza started to think the conversation had ended. Eventually however, she did speak, emotion simmering just beneath the surface. "You are really going to sit here and claim that you don't know?"

The gap in conversation had gone long enough that Groza had to take a moment to recall just what might be involved, before settling on her best guess as the conflict with the Finns. "I know that there was a brief period of fighting along the northern border. Officers refused to talk about it, and it isn't as if we got much news in western Poland. We were eventually told it ended, and that we'd be receiving a few new units from those initially sent to handle whatever happened up there." Groza snorted. Even back then she knew it was lies. "The bullshit answers that political officers give."

"Bastards." Low, nearly inaudible, Suomi's reply seemed to be directed elsewhere, although the anger rolling off her was more indistinct. "And Griffon is a way out."

Groza jerked, the shifting topics seeming far more capricious than normal. "What?"

Suomi shot her a nasty look suggesting the need for an explanation was not welcomed. "Griffon is big enough, international enough that one of these days I can get out of…" A gesture to the world at large. "And my Commander isn't a Russian."

"Neither is ours." Groza returned without the heat, although Suomi just shrugged the point off. "Griffon as a ticket to the West seems like a longshot, I can't see the idiots at the top letting them start working with the West."

Suomi shrugged, the motion both uncaring and dismissive. "If KSG is to be believed, Griffon is branching into the rest of the world as fast as possible. She might have poor taste in siblings, but her information is usually good." Groza took a quick glance at the white-haired captain, who was currently speaking with said sibling. "And if I'm here, I can shoot Sangvis in the meantime."

The quip made it out before Groza realized it might have been a bad idea. "And Sangvis is Russian enough for you?"

"Yes." The softening of Suomi's expression seemed to indicate that they'd reached some kind of common ground, even though Groza found the implications of that exchange to be incredibly unsettling.

And again, they were quiet, and Groza decided that she would actually take the chance to flee the situation before Suomi found something else worrying to say. She turned to leave

"Groza." Freezing, Groza turned her head, giving the other Doll a sideways stare. They didn't have anything else to say to one another.

Suomi had turned, facing Groza directly. While they had traded some intense looks before, those paled in comparison to this one, which proved far more familiar. Instinctively, Groza shifted her weight, tensing in preparation for a fight. Logically she doubted Suomi would pick a bit, but she knew a challenge when she saw one.

Suomi uncrossed her arms, one hand resting perilously close to a knife, the picture of relaxed and in control, but from her stance, and eyes, Groza knew this could escalate to violence.

"Captain!" A different voice cut in, sharp, commanding, and controlled. They both snapped to the side, where Desert Eagle was approaching as a swift walk, positively glaring at Suomi. "The Commander wants to talk."

"Understood." And at once, Suomi melted back to her former stance, sweeping past Desert Eagle, who caught Groza's eyes with something that seemed like an apology, before following her superior.

-Faded Glory-

"Target has stopped moving. We've lost visual contact." Lena trailed off, a string of curses in her native tongue following, registering in the part of Ian's mind that took in information but the precise meaning getting filtered out. "Hostile forces are still massing."

A bad start. "North?"

A few clicks. "Still advancing, no change."

A worse addition. "Contact time."

"Eight hours."

Ian licked his lips. "Fuck." Seven hours to recoup, rearm, and retrieve the third target. Seven and a half if he wanted to cut it close on the evac. Too close for comfort on either number.

"Sector 2 on Comms." Aleksander reported, making it Ian's turn to mutter profanities. There were enough problems to handle without having to try and dance around the truth of this operation. KSG reported that the Sector 2 Dolls would try and head things off at the pass, but it seemed that hadn't happened.

Still, no need to take that out on his subordinates. "Understood. Put video through, audio to my earpiece only." Hopefully this would be short and to the point.

Aleksander nodded along. "Sir."

A crackle in his ear, then the window with proper video connecting them. Helpfully the system displayed 'Sector 2 Commander: Leon Sauer's at the top of the window. A relatively unassuming man, the other officer's only distinguishing features were his harsh chin, and gray hair on a man no more than thirty.

"I'm guessing you just got the same report I did." Once the connection stabilized the man didn't beat around the bush.

"Two companies Sangvis, mixed light and heavy infantry, probably directed by a Ringleader, one hell of a firefight?" Ian rattled off the salient points, leaving out the ones that pertained only to Sector 9, mostly curious if the other man would bring them up.

"Among other things." Leon crossed his arms. "How much resistance were you expecting?"

In this, the truthful answer seemed to be best. "Two companies for the entire area, at most. Ringleader was a possibility, but no hard data one way or another, all of our intel said they wouldn't be in the city proper." His counterpart frowned. "Yours?"

"Couple patrols, light skirmishers maybe." A sigh, followed by a head shake. "When Suomi reported that there was trouble, I figured that would be the end of it, and that some combination of our two groups caused them to gather up to try and squash one of us."

The basic logic checked out, although it did seem somewhat narrow minded. "A brute force approach but fitting for Sangvis, particularly if they have not brought in any leadership to the area."

"Everything I've been told indicated there wasn't a Ringleader." Leon rubbed his chin. "And until six hours ago, I'd have agreed with those reports, but RFB reported that Sangvis has new core orders." While the implicit question hung, Ian found the idea that RFB had been the one to report that more interesting.

Ian did some quick calculations. "That would roughly coincide with our arrival in the area, although we hadn't pushed anywhere near the south of the city at that point." A variety of likely scenarios presented themselves, although none of them completely aligned with the provided information about Sangivs. The deranged AI would likely have flunked officer training, although that didn't offer much consolation.

"I see." Focus shifted to other things for a few minutes, Ian still analyzing the situation, Leon giving a new indistinct order, before turning back to the video feed. "Question for you, Blackwood."

Ian matched him, head cocking to the side to give some more support to his curiosity. "Go on?"

"What the hell is going on here?" The question ran deeper than its surface meaning, everyone could tell from the tone. "Normally, when Suomi tells me to 'Not to worry about it', I don't worry about it but something about this rubs me wrong."

Two extra sets of eyes pressed down on Ian, as he weighed his response. Based on the limited public information, Leon hadn't been a soldier, which meant that he couldn't lean on the usual reasons to push the man into safer territory. That left stalling for time. "Why's that?"

"Every bit of training I've received tells me that a pair of people telling me without prompting that I shouldn't ask questions is the time when I should be asking the most questions."

"Training?" Training could mean any number of things, from spending time in intelligence services, to work in the civilian sector, and none of them, in Ian's opinion, were good.

Leon waved a hand. "Spent a few years in the police force, after you Westerners got kicked out of Berlin." A pause, followed by the rushed addendum. "Not Stasi."

Given the nature of both Griffon and the relationship between the Soviets and the East Germans, that seemed an obvious conclusion. "In that line of work, I'll give you, questions are usually worth asking." He left the statement open, content to take what he was given.

Leon pounced. "You agree something is off?"

"Of course." Performatively shrugging, Ian gave the video feed his complete attention for the first time. "But I'm also quite aware that I'm not going to get answers by asking questions." The other Commander opened his mouth to interject, and Ian pushed through the half-formed words. "Kryuger is military, which means he spent years getting info-sec beaten into his skull, and that carried over into this organization. Every soldier, officer, and enlisted, got drilled that all it took was one Doll being hacked, one poorly worded statement, and a spy could get access to battleplans, troop movements, supplies…hell, given them the right access they'd flip every Doll in your company."

From the corner of his eye, Ian could see his staff flinch, and even Leon seemed taken aback by the blasé reference. It seemed that even those well outside of the front lines heard about that particular incident.

Regaining his composure, Leon followed the dangling question. "So, what. We're not being told because we're security risks?"

Ian made a show of considering it, before shaking his head. "Each part of the plan knows what they need too, and little beyond that. As far as I can find, it's been standard operating procedure within Griffon." Two truths, and a lie, as an old officer said.

Leon mulled that over, before visibly conceding the point. "True. We've never known much about what's going on outside our own areas."

"Precisely. Military life was the same way. Nobody liked it, everyone complained, but we all lived with it." Feeling the point had been made, Ian elected to stop there.

"Speaking from experience?" Surprise and interest dashed across Leon's features, before he caught it, schooling them back to neutrality.

"American. Prague, North Africa. It was a favorite pastime of the infantry, bitching about command level choices when they thought the officers couldn't hear."

Leon glanced off to the side, seeming to listen to something offscreen. "I may have been told that a few times."

"And now you can enjoy the experience firsthand. I can't promise it gets better, just that it becomes familiar."

Narrowed eyes accompanied a sharpening tone. "I don't find that encouraging Blackwood. I've just sent my best squad into a situation that neither you or I understand, and I'm just supposed to accept it?"

"You shouldn't." Still, it wouldn't do to leave the man entirely out to dry, and he probably should provide at least a bit of help to one of his Echelon leader's friends. "I can give you my best guesses at least." Leon nodded his agreement, and behind him, Ian met Lena's eyes.

This is going to end badly. She mouthed. No way he's going to buy it. Ian shrugged. What he lacked in charisma; he could make up for with lies.

-Faded Glory-

"Groza? FAL?" M4 had abandoned SOPMOD to her parts gathering, instead following Skorpion back to the other Dolls, who gathered near those needing field repairs.

"Yes?" Both turned, giving her a searching stare, before stepping away from their companions, giving the three of them some space to speak.

M4 steadied herself. She'd thought she'd been ready for the intense scrutiny of the duo, but at the moment it still felt overwhelming. "What happened with Skorpion?" A knowing look passed between them, so far that if M4 wasn't used to reading her siblings she'd have missed it. "She says that Scarecrow captured her, and Executioner's taunts tell me how that went, but something else happened."

A look turned into an entire conversation, complete with the subtle shifts in posture and change in expression that seemed to be the best way to read the other women. In the end, Groza spoke, words heavy with consideration. "I would suggest you ask the Commander yourself."

"Why?" M4 expected them to dodge the question, or to be incredibly blunt. Simply pointing her at the Commander hadn't been one of the options.

"Because both Groza and I have very strong opinions about the choices made." FAL took over, more guarded that M4 had yet seen her. "And it is better if you hear this from him." She glanced back at the rest of the group. "Maybe you can get through to him."

"FAL?"

The other Doll broke eye contact, already starting to turn away. "Whatever you want to do, make it soon. We'll be moving before long."

"U-understood." M4 failed to catch her stammer, letting the other Dolls go, taking a few seconds to survey the rest of the group scattered about the area. She could see SOPMOD showing off a string of Vespid fingers to OTs-12 and FN-49, both Dolls seeming quite keen on finding a way out, but trapped by her sister's enthusiastic explanations. KSG and Suomi were addressing their respective teams, neither even looking her way, making it easy for M4 to find an unoccupied corner to sit in.

Despite their brief conversations, M4 couldn't say she felt comfortable reaching out to the Commander. While she doubted that he meant too, he could be surprisingly intimidating, and some part of talking to him always felt a bit cold. Still, she wanted her answers, and it felt like having them now was important.

Static filled her ears as the connection established itself. "Commander?"

"M4." Cool, clipped, and lacking much in the way of inflection, M4 couldn't help but compare him to AR-15 in her mind. That caused the worry to spike once again. "What can I do for you?"

"I- '' The words closed in her throat, leaving her lips working but no sound following. The Commander didn't speak, seeming content to let her figure out what she wanted to say. "Executioner said that you abandoned me, traded my life for Skorpion's." The moments she said it, M4 felt like the words sounded accusatory, but the Commander made no verbal comment. "And I was told to ask you."

"I see." He didn't sound upset, but there was more to that M4 found herself unable to pick through. "I would infer that exchange, coupled with Skorpion's obvious injuries and her time in Scarecrow's custody, you are not sure what to think."

"Y-yes." M4 hated that she stammered. "Skorpion doesn't want to talk about it, and I don't want to make her."

"Understandable." Chatter in the background. "It is not an unfair question." He seemed to be speaking to the other person, not to M4. "It isn't." A longer pause, then an exhale. "While interrogating Skorpion, Scarecrow contacted Sector 9, seeming intent upon taunting us for failing the mission. At the same time, she began throwing waves and waves of trash at Groza and FAL who were closing in upon her location."

"To slow them down?" A guess, but she felt confident in it.

"Indeed." For some reason he sounded pleased that she'd figured that out. "Scarecrow's skills are in recon and intelligence gathering, in a straight fight, they would put her in the dirt. Given that she wasn't keen on dying, she offered a compromise. Give us Skorpion, who had your location and radio frequencies, but might be dead before we got her back to base, in return for withdrawal from the previous area of operations."

M4 bit her lip. She could understand why the others did not want to say anything. "That is why they are mad at you?"

That drew a laugh from him, although he didn't seem to find any part of it funny. "Partially. If you want that full story, they should tell it, putting words in their mouths will only make it worse." M4 said nothing, trying to decide what this new information meant. "If it is any consolation to you, I had no intent of upholding my bargain with Scarecrow. I merely needed to know your location before I acted."

"Oh." It did not help settle to gnawing anger in her chest in the least. Another question occurred, one that sat at the back of her mind for most of the day. "Then why didn't you-"

"Send someone to retrieve you immediately after we ID'd you?"

She nodded, even if he couldn't see. "Yes."

"Two reasons. First, you were in good health, and I had limited ability to contact you, or to track anything that might have been following you, making coordinating any contact with you difficult to impossible." M4 could concede that made sense, even after spotting the Griffon UAV, she still kept running. "Second, as you may have guessed, the previous topic had considerable fallout and I needed to address that, along with bringing KSG and her Echelon up to speed on the situation. Given that I had visual confirmation of your status at a regular interval, along with tracking on Sangvis units, waiting until Skorpion woke and provided us with the ability to connect with you directly made the most sense."

"I see." The more they talked, the more M4 felt conflicted. The Commander had answers ready for all of her questions, but some part of the conversation left a sinking feeling in her chest, as if some element were missing. "And my sisters?"

"Until earlier today, I had no means of contacting, or tracking your sisters." A pause, another burst of static, broken several times, as if he wanted to speak but changed his mind. When the Commander spoke again, some measure of resignation slipped into his tone. "And to be blunt, I was informed that you were the priority for retrieval."

"What?!" M4 shouted, every eye snapping to her. Cowering back into the corner, she focused on the Commander, and eventually the others turned away.

"From Persica herself." The words sounded like a shrug. "That however is a conversation better had in person." Once again, it seemed to M4 that he had multiple meanings, but she struggled to truly guess at any of them. "You are certain the other contact we have is AR-15?"

"Yes. That is hers." Shaking off the abrupt change of subject, M4 could think of only two reasons he might ask. "Has anything-"

"No change for now. She's been in the same area for about an hour." More background noise. "Let the others know that PP-2000 will be arriving at Point Beta in twenty minutes with resupply, and I will have additional orders and information at that time."

"Yes, Commander." M4 pushed herself back to her feet. She didn't know why the man put that task on her shoulders, but she could worry about those problems later. After she sorted out just what she felt about anything that had just happened.

-Faded Glory-

FAL checked her equipment a final time, glancing up at the setting sun with a deepening frown. Nighttime operations were not her preferred situation, but they had been in worse corners, with worse help in their service. Her team was calm, sitting in a loose group each consumed with their own rituals to settle nerves. PP-2000 had left her vehicle, coming to talk with Ballista in low tones. It felt oddly nostalgic, in a way that FAL didn't exactly like.

Turning her attention away from her own subordinates, FAL couldn't help but be amused by the stark contrasts between some of the others. Groza's Echelon sat in three groups, SV-98 and Groza, with SV-98 cleaning her rifle, and Groza watching FAL closely. OTs-12 and 39 were talking, while Skorpion sat beside M4 and SOPMOD, visible chattering away. Meanwhile, KSG's Echelon was without their leader, listening to some story from Honey Badger, while Suomi's squad pretended they were not listening.

That of course, left KSG herself, who was in the process of replacing her protective plating, something that seemed to be infuriating her considerably. Even at a distance one could hear her muttering invectives. Still, it offered the best chance to speak to her before they continued fighting.

Groza caught her eye, and FAL nodded. They both broke away from their respective groups, moving to speaking to their counterpart.

Finding a good spot in the muttering to interject proved tricky. "KSG."

"Piece of-" Cutting herself off, the shotgunner looked up. "FAL. Groza." A brow rose, the question implicit, but in what seemed to be KSG's fashion she did not verbalize it.

FAL put a bit of thought into the opening statement, before deciding that bluntness would be best. At least, KSG seemed to appreciate it. "We may have a problem."

"We have a number of problems." That reply came as a bit of a surprise. "Most of which have a limited impact." Again, she seemed content to let them provide the information, and if the slight twitch of her lips was any indication she could that they planned for her to be more forthcoming.

"The Commander's willingness to leave us our own devices in combat." Groza took up the thread, sparing FAL the need to contain some mild annoyance. "While being given the freedom to operate on our own is a nice change, without some chain of command we are relying on luck, and implicit understandings."

"True." KSG looked between them, seeming to weigh what to say next. "Luck should never be relied upon, and implicit understandings are functional until met with someone like her." A nod towards Suomi. "That aside, I will gather one of you has an idea."

They didn't have time to play coy, so FAL forged ahead. "One of us should have the priority when giving orders, and reacting to changes when in the field." FAL paused, watching closely for some reaction from KSG.

"And at risk of playing to the stereotypes of my country, it seems best that decisions be made at least somewhat communally."

"Indeed." A twitch of the lips betrayed KSG's amusement. "You have not brought this to the Commander."

"We wanted to float the idea with you before approaching the Commander about it." Approaching the man with a plan already made, and cohesive arguments seemed more likely to convince him. "I don't think he would object but I suspect his first question is 'and if everyone is in agreement'."

"Reasonable." KSG again seemed amused, but as her anger at her equipment faded, she became harder for FAL to read effectively. "The idea is good." That left the question of how

"I would rather not." FAL couldn't blame Groza for that, given both her history, her tendencies, and the mess that lurked beneath the surface of her team.

KSG's eyes turned to FAL. "I lack much relevant experience. I am used to dealing with my own group, but even during the war, I did not have a substantial leadership role."

Something flashed behind KSG's gaze, annoyance, resignation, perhaps amusement. "A clever ploy to get me to reveal my history." FAL smiled, hoping it seemed remorseful. Truthfully, she didn't want to play this game with KSG, but they didn't have time. "Cute." KSG gave her gear a final check, patting down the plates, before picking up her weapon and starting to chamber fresh shells.

Groza's pointed look very clearly conveyed the 'I told you', to FAL, before the Russian took over. "You aren't good at answering implicit questions."

"Not really." For a moment, FAL wondered if they'd managed to actually annoy her, as KSG rolled her shoulders, eyes narrowing. "Assuming that the Commander has no issues, I'm willing to put up with this, but I'm giving the job to someone more qualified the moment they arrive." There were several qualifiers to that statement, but it was enough for FAL.

"I can live with that." Groza nodded along.

As she stood to leave, a sudden look flashed across KSG's face. "You just want to make me deal with Suomi."

"You already have been." In FAL's opinion Groza's reply was just a smidge too fast. "And you saw our confrontation earlier…"

"I did." Dipping her head in both agreements, and to throw her weapon sling over her head, KSG released a long breath. "Freaked RFB out, so well done." KSG seemed to steady herself, drawing inwards. "Gather everyone, we're supposed to be getting new orders soon."

FAL offered a relatively crisp salute, spinning on her heel.

"Damn Europeans." KSG's muttered insult seemed calculated to reach them, although FAL couldn't be sure, and she felt a brief spike of concern at having annoyed the other Doll before it passed. KSG seemed levelheaded enough for it now to be an issue.

-Faded Glory-

"All Echelons in position." Aleksander reported.

"All scope cams are clean."

"Blueprints and information sent." Kalina had come up from the armory, now standing beside him, tapping away as she passed on information.

"Received." KSG's voice crackled over the comms, the distance to the UAV serving as the relay point making the signal spottier than he would like. "Sangvis patrols remaining constant."

"Patrol routes mapped, intervals set." Ian couldn't help but be grateful for the experience of the teenager, in a strange way. "That place is crawling with issues if they have this many on patrol. They'll be pouring out here, here and here." Points on the map lit red. "Can you get me visual on this, this, and that?" More spots lit up.

"Negative." SV-98, Ballista, and FN-49 in sequence. "Not without getting spotted."

"Damnit." Fleur mumbled, and Ian tuned her out, eyes drifting over the map. Based on the blueprints, they knew roughly where AR-15 was hidden.

"Kalina, is there anything in the files about what Ringleader we might be dealing with?" He's asked twice, but a third try never hurt.

"Sorry, Commander, we just don't know enough. SOPMOD's description of 'A smug jerk' isn't that useful." The logistics officer huffed. "Also, we just don't have enough data about Sangivs."

"Something to rectify in the future." Ian unfolded his arms, opening the channel to the entire force. "All echelons, status."

"Artemis, ready."

"Lightning, clear."

"Wolf, in position."

"Suomi."

Ian considered the map before him one more time. He could guess the Ringleader would be somewhere near AR-15, but without a profile that couldn't be assured. Further, they didn't have the best estimates about the total number of hostiles. To many unknowns, not enough things in his control. "All Echelons, new objective. Retrieval of target. Elimination of hostile Ringleader is not required, nor is destruction of all hostile targets."

"Commander?" The speaker was lost in the general hubbub of his thoughts, Ian doing his best to not sigh.

"We're on a time limit. While I'd love nothing more than to cave in a Ringleader's head, time is not on our side for doing so. Retrieve the target, get out. Eliminate resistance, do not go looking for additional resistance."

"I've updated the interior patrols, or my best guess." Fleur piped up from the side, and Ian hummed.

"Push it to them." He instructed, letting the new information flash out. "I will provide situation updates as needed."

"Sir." This time, the response was only KSG, and in the back of his mind, Ian noted that the newest Echelon leader had been the one doing most of the talking during the organizing of this final phase. "Clean window in seven minutes."

"On your call." He let the comm close, looking up. "Updated ETA on our friends from the north?"

"Three hours, or so." Lena hummed. "They slowed down."

"Copy." They were pushing the limits of what might be safe. "Aleksander, have 2000 start finding closer points to evac from. We're pushing it for time, especially if that northern group changes its mind and starts advancing."

"Sir." The man nodded, turning and speaking rapidly into his headset.

"Kalina, how close to Sevastopol are we allowed to operate?"

The logistics officer tapped her fingers. "Pretty close, although we'll owe some favors when we're done."

"Favors are acceptable." Favors were not acceptable, but Ian didn't have many choices. On the screen below, Dolls started moving, and marks flickering, as the sniper's picked targets, and paths for advancing were marked out, the order in which each Echelon would advance, and one patrol highlighted by symbols that Ian didn't recognize on sight.

"Right!" Kalina nodded. "I'll send some messages, get us moving."

Ian braced for the unpleasantness. "Understood. Let me know what it will cost, I'll find a way to handle it." Seven minutes were almost up, and he focused back in on the movements of all parties. The future's problems would have to be solved in the future. He needed to handle the now.

AN: A small breather chapter before we dive headlong into the fightin once again. Get some looks into the minds of our players, and take a few seconds to breathe. I don't have too much to say about this chapter, most of it handled itself. Should only be one chapter left to retrieve one AR-15, and then we can start winding down this part of Faded Glory, and move on to bigger, and possibly better, things.

Many thanks to Branded King for dealing with my bollocks, and my failure to spell implicit correctly something like 6 times?

As always, questions, comments, and concerns are always appreciated! Next chapter might take a bit, because of how much combat needs to be handled, and the number of moving parts.