"ETA ten minutes." PP-2000's voice cut the quiet that lurked beneath the noise of passing air and struggling engines. "Commander, please confirm situation with Sector 14."
"Copy." They wouldn't be patched into the Sector 14 network until they landed, something about needing a handshake to complete the attachment. Groza didn't quite understand the terminology, but it didn't stand out as exceptionally weird to her, so she wouldn't ask questions. The line stayed quiet for about a minute. "-scheming bastards." She suspected they weren't supposed to hear that bit.
"Who is a scheming bastard?" Of course, that didn't mean Groza wouldn't have a little fun.
"Sangvis." The connection rattled with a deep breath. "Apparently the offensive schedule changed last night. They launched an assault eighteen minutes ago." That gave everyone a reason to curse, which several of the others took. "Two casualties already, expect the LZ to be hot."
"Understood." PP-2000's voice tensed. "Should we reroute?"
"Nearest available insertion point is a klick and a half back." 74M tossed out. "That's a long time if they are already taking losses."
"And landing in an active firefight is asking for us to start taking losses from the off." KSG countered. "Sprinting a klick and a half is less of a risk for everyone than potentially getting two helo's blown to bits." That got a string of agreements as well.
"Commander?" FAL cut off the brewing debate.
"2000, 39?" And he turned the question to the pilots, surprisingly. Or, perhaps not so. They were the ones at greatest risk, and the least experienced with making this kind of call. "This is broad daylight and they obviously know you're coming."
"I'd rather not." OTs-39 spoke first, with PP-2000 eventually giving an indifferent answer.
"KSG, M4?"
"We're going in with no intel, friendlies on the ground aren't exactly first-rate troops, and enemy capabilities are largely unknown. I'd take the run on foot any day." KSG went first. "Also gives us the chance at our arrival being a surprise."
M4 took longer to find her response. "Land and run."
"We're not exactly experienced airborne soldiers, landing and moving seems safer, given we lack our usual intelligence." FAL covered any argument Groza would have made, and she merely indicated her agreement.
Either they convinced the Commander, or he agreed with their position, as the only order that followed was, "2000, 39, adjust accordingly."
The rest of the flight went in a grim silence, as each of them went through their own last-minute checks of equipment. Groza let her head rest against the thin metal of the airframe, mind wandering. She saw no point in worrying about the shift in operational parameters, as they were as well equipped as they could be, and the odds of Sangvis turning this into a full field battle seemed low.
A part of her mind kept track of KSG pushing out information and maps, while the rest focused on how KSG kept all that information organized and handy. Projected movements, enemy positions, time taken for each operation, and other likely hazard spots were detailed along with. Few people could keep that much straight in their heads, much less prepare all the annotations in such short order, unless KSG already prepared ahead of time, and they were seeing a paranoia that Groza didn't expect. Whichever reason, Groza admired the efficiency even if the results worried her.
"Why change the timing?" FAL broke her train of thought with the other question that bubbled at the bottom of Groza's thought process. "Sangvis isn't human, they aren't going to just change things to see what happens."
"I don't know." Answers ranged from bad to worse, and Groza didn't want to think about that part right now. "Although they are not entirely rational, no?"
"If you mean Scarecrow, I suspect that decision was rational to her." FAL shifted her weight, their shoulders touching. Groza glanced over, surprised to find a grim frown on her girlfriend's face. "She wanted to save her own skin and did what she thought would achieve that. Quite amusing, considering." Groza could not dispute that point in the least.
-Faded Glory-
A trio of figures stood atop a hill looking over the ongoing battle, in varying states of annoyance. The first, leaning against a massive sword, bounced from foot to foot, obviously far more interested in getting involved in the fight than watching. The next, best identified by her long white hair, stood arms crossed, with an expression that suggested she wanted to be anywhere but where she was. The third, floating a few inches off the ground and surrounded by a swarm of small drones. A gasmask disguised her expression, leaving the impression of indifference, if not for the occasional twitch of an eyelid.
"Alright, just spit it out." The other two did not miss it, and the white haired woman finally lost her patience. "Something is obviously annoying you."
"She is an idiot." The words were only somewhat muffled by the gas mask, and it did little to disguise the seething rage they contained. "We should have crushed this position days ago. Letting the Griffin Dolls live only served to heighten the risk of additional forces arriving and complicating the battle."
"Just means more bugs for me to squish." The first jumped in. "I need to do something to work out the kinks in this new body. Just sitting here staring is pissin' me off."
"And how do you propose to convince her to let you do that?" Without waiting, the third forged ahead. "And what evidence exists to suggest you would not manage to get yourself killed by some spineless girl yet again?" Pulling her sword from the earth, the first snarled, then deflated, driving the blade into the earth at a different point. "As I thought."
"It remains a waste." The white haired one in the middle did not seem as willing to let it go. "Any of us could defeat this bunch in moments, so why throw drones at them. What manner of punishment keeps us here?"
"I believe that is the point." Drones whirling around her, the third shrugged. "We failed." The way she spat the word 'we' made it clear she didn't enjoy being included.
"As if that brat knows any better." The first grumbled. "Put her in a fight, see how she does."
"She plays to her strengths, just as we do."
"She is a sadistic little shit, that's what she is." The first insisted. "Don't tell me you think she isn't." Her companions made no move to argue about it, content to watch the bloody show beneath.
"They are resisting more furiously than expected." The middle one murmured. "This attack should have broken them." The third didn't speak, her head shifting to the side, and squinting, before going stiff. "What did you notice?"
"My scouts are dead." She floated up a few inches. "Without any identification as to the attacker."
"More lambs to slaughter." The one in the middle drew her pistols, eyes lighting up, before seeming to remember that she could not in fact, leave her post..
"Perhaps." Drone's spinning, the third pulled a baton from her coat. "If they are, this bunch is-" her words cut off. "
"They are what?" The first pulled her weapon free, sensing the change. "They around here?"
"Obviously not." The one in the middle still brought her weapons up in a fighting stance. "Otherwise, she'd be shooting like a lunatic."
"Suppressing a hostile position is important to tactical flexibility." Came the immediate retort. "And Griffin has brought our old friends to play."
"Oh yeah?" A manic grin started to form before the figure with a sword slumped. "And we're stuck on this damn hill watching, while those rats kill everything."
"That is unusually quick on the uptake for you."
"Even an idiot can figure out that we're not going to be able to jump in and do something about it." Taking her sword to a nearby tree in frustration the woman turned to leave. "Anything else you're finding?"
"No." A pause. "She is going to get us killed."
"Huh?"
"She's going to get us killed." The floating woman repeated. "She will underestimate that human, and we are the ones who are going to suffer for it." Disgust dripped from every word, although who she seemed to be targeting, her companions weren't entirely sure. "I suggest you two make your peace with death." Stopping for a beat, the other two got the impression she might have been smirking. "Again." Drones swirled. "I will provide the update."
She started to float away. If the other two focused, they could tell a conversation was happening on the network, but both parties were trying to conceal it, and neither felt it worth the effort to intrude.
"You get the feeling she's more pissed that she's going to die than that Griffin is here?" Flexing her fingers around her sword, the woman kept glaring at the ongoing battle, displeasure at being relegated to a watcher starting to properly boil over. "And the hell's she thinks they're bringing that we can't beat them?"
Glancing at the floating woman, the white-haired figure shrugged. "Her anger is likely more at a perceived overall stupidity of the situation, and the fact that someone she feels is stupider than her is going to get her killed. Or perhaps going to get us killed so she gets more work." Her conversation partner flicked a glance to the side. "And as for what she thinks is coming, her words suggest the enemy is not the trash, but their Commander."
"Doesn't matter how smart some human is, if I get up close to 'em, they're dead." She hefted her sword, giving it a few good swings to prove her point.
"And how do you explain your absolute failure to apprehend a single, cowardly girl?" Their third companion rejoined the conversation, glaring down without any sense of remorse.
"Yeah, well screw you!" The sword pressing against the floating woman's throat didn't seem to bother her. "So, what's the brat have to say?"
"Our attack is to continue." Her brow twitched. "Additional Griffin Dolls should not impede our progress."
"And this one is supposed to be the meathead." The white-haired woman muttered. Her floating companion pretended not to hear, raising her baton to direct yet more drones into the battle.
-Faded Glory-
Kicking the corpse of a Vespid to the side, KSG let her eyes drift beyond the carnage just in front of her, taking in the updates to the battle on the map. To the credit of the defenders, they'd picked good ground, and the piled corpses attested to that fact. But numbers were numbers, and without heavy weapons or other advantages, that ground slowly lost its value, and they were pushed back, and back.
"FAL, Groza, circle around the flanks. We're going to have to clear what's still standing the hard way." Giving herself one final moment to push aside the rising memories, and the mild trepidation at going into an urban setting without proper intel, KSG finished giving orders. "Alfa, Honey Badger, same thing. M4, follow up as you see fit."
"Roger!" The other echelon leader confirmed, leaving KSG with the thankless task of waiting for others to complete their tasks before she could advance. Marking the last known position of the Dolls they were there to save with a green dot on her map, KSG started trying to work out where she expected them to retreat, as the indicated position didn't seem practical to hold forever.
"For a bunch of rookies, they fought like hell." Alfa spoke up from her left. "Looks like someone took an axe to this lot."
"Desperation." Whether an explanation or a statement from MG4, KSG elected not to decide. Plumbing the depths of MG4's experiences in urban combat proved enough to unsettle even hardened Marines and Army veterans, and didn't need to be added to the tension now. Instead, she valued the pile of rubble serving as makeshift cover, leading the advance into the ruins of a village. Dolls fanned out around her, into buildings, and alleys.
In the distance, bits of gunfire stuck out, relevant to tracking enemy and friendly positions alike. SRS dropped a Jaeger on a roof, the enemy not even looking in their direction. Honey Badger kicked another into the street, where it ate an M203 round, the resulting shrapnel pinging off KSG's shields harmlessly.
All of it just reinforced how deeply KSG hated urban warfare. To many angles, so many hiding places, and far too many hotshots hiding above with rifles. Even if her body was specialized for the sort of multi-threaded data processing brought on by these scenarios, thinking that hard, for that long wore her out. And KSG could already tell she's been thinking a lot for a while.
"No sign of them here." Alfa reported, having pushed ahead to a point that seemed to contain heavy fighting previously. "Another casualty."
Of the ten dolls sent defending this little ruin, that made four they knew for certain to be dead. KSG gripped her weapon tighter, dropping to one knee as a Jaeger took a shot. It hit her shield on the left with enough force to rock KSG back on her heels before AR-15 removed the shooter. "Grab her core, mark the spot, and hold until we catch up."
Gunfire sounded, including the brutal crunch of a head. "Bastards. Waiting around the corpse." A beat. "Core retrieved. Designation, R5." KSG relayed that back to the Commander, as Groza sent a report that they'd cleared another building without finding anything.
Then, a burst of rifle fire that did not type to any of them. KSG's eyes snapped to the side. Shifting mental gears to triangulate as the others picked up the same, she marked a new set of points on the map. "Artemis, Lightning, advance towards marked point. AR-team, push up. Wolf, regroup on me."
More gunfire followed, as they pushed forwards. The grinding howl of Striker miniguns filled the air, answered by the cracks of rifles. However, the barrage did not appear to abate, suggesting that what defenders remained were flagging. Yet, if they moved faster they'd risk ending up just the same.
"I don't suppose anyone has visual on those?" KSG asked the question, already knowing the answer, and already trying to work around it. Before she got very far, another Jaeger shot slammed into the top of her shield, then a second the middle, and a third the bottom. Without bracing she staggered back, and only avoided landing on her ass by planting the other shield in the dirt, and bouncing off it roughly. "Damnit!"
Another grenade blew them away, as a pair of Brutes leapt from the alleyways. Honey Badger got the first one, but the second evaded the shots, and closed for melee, knife gleaming in the early sun. KSG pulled her shields back, letting the knife slip past harmlessly, then killed it at point blank.
"Heavy resistance encountered!" All three other team leaders were saying the same thing, and KSG could already feel the mental overload of trying to track a battle like this piling up. In groups they were dominant, and she didn't want to change that. While she could tell the Commander kept half an eye on things in the background, from what KSG knew, he wouldn't step in unless he felt they were missing something, or there needed to be a change, which meant he didn't have a better solution than she did.
"OTs-39, PP-2000 are you still on station?"
"We are."
"Is there anything on those birds that passes for imaging?" KSG blasted another ambushing Brute before having to duck into cover as a trio of Rippers opened fire. "We need something to speed this up if we want to get anyone out of here alive."
"Nothing." PP-2000 took a moment, meaning she at least did a cursory check. "Outside of binoculars and our eyes."
For a brief moment, the professional and Marine within KSG warred over how to respond to that revelation. Professionalism lost, as did the Brute that took a shot to the shoulder and kept charging her. KSG could have shot it, but smashing the thing in the face with a shield, and then shooting the twitching corpse felt much better. If anyone else heard her swearing, they were polite enough not to comment on it.
"We could try lobbing grenades at them?" Caught up in her frustration and attempting to problem solve KSG didn't catch who suggested it.
"No target reference, no point." Groza beat KSG to the punch on that, but she agreed. "High arc means accuracy would be terrible as well."
"Sounds like you've tried." M16 prodded.
"You try invading Poland, and tell me you don't get desperate to avoid a direct fight." SV-98 shot back. "More coming. North."
This time, KSG didn't try to hide her frustration. "SRS, clear those damn Jaegers off the top! MG4, find a firing position." She didn't need to elaborate on that part. The smaller doll just nodded, diving into a building that had not been cleared yet. Honey Badger made to follow but KSG shook her head. "Badger, I need you here." She marked the spot, and after a pause, the reckless idiot obeyed.
M4 took a moment to catch on, but it took only a few extra seconds for her to have her teammates clearing. Kneeling beside KSG, the younger doll spoke aloud, in a low voice. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Yes." KSG took the time to reload and let her mind rest. "It isn't about what we're going to do, it's about making these fucking rust buckets do something." M4, either in confusion, or at the shocking change in her demeanor. "Ivan knows one way to fight a war, and he programmed his murderbots to fight a war that way. So far, we've more or less let them have their way."
"I don't understand?"
"Sangvis doesn't really fight this knife fight, urban conflict well, and they don't tend to have the tactical thinking to make it more than one or two minutes ahead. So far, we've been letting them have their way of things, and we need to change that." KSG checked her weapon, glancing at M4, finding the other doll staring at her with confusion. "What?"
"You're very different." M4 flushed as she said it, as if realizing how bad her words sounded.
"If I had my way, M4, we would have marked the spot the friendlies were in and sat up in the helicopters while artillery and airstrikes flattened the rest. Failing that, I'd have a strike package on standby to send these tin cans to hell." Turning back to the impending fight and letting the chatter of gunfire wash over her KSG shook her head. "This house-to-house shit kills people, no matter how good they are."
"It feels like more than that." KSG swallowed the sort of reply she'd have given in the Marines, knowing that calling M4 anything of that sort wouldn't go well.
"You remember SV-98 talking about memories that don't go away?" KSG assumed M4 nodded, having turned her attention to the streets again. "We've all got those kinds of memories from this sort of situation." Sangvis troops poured out buildings further down, immediately falling as those on the rooftops took over the shooting. "Most of my mental ability is going into trying to plan, counter plan, assess, and analyze this mess. A good chunk of that includes things that I logically know aren't a threat. Sangvis isn't going to come around a corner with a Typhon, but I'm still checking for the sound of the hover system constantly."
"Oh." M4 stepped up, using KSG's shield as a brace to shoot from.
"For MG4, it's Berlin. For Alfa and I, it's Munich." KSG paused. "Munich before it got blown to hell. For Groza, it's probably Krakow. FAL and company it'd probably be the defense of Nuremberg." Shaking her head, KSG let the map spin up in her vision, tracking progress, against the roar of Striker weapons. In that moment, she made her choice, as the street cleared of hostiles once again. "M4."
"Yes?" The other Doll stopped shooting.
"I'll take over this mess. Grab your team, and haul ass to these coordinates." KSG didn't wait for confirmation, vaulting her cover and firing at one of the last still moving enemies.
-Faded Glory-
"Damn she's different in a fight." M16 made the same observation M4 did minutes prior, as they pushed up ahead of KSG and her team. "You wouldn't think 'stern and cold' would turn into that." M4 didn't want to mention that she'd already asked KSG, and kept her mouth shut. "Wonder what happened to her?"
"Probably a war." AR-15's deadpan response, and M4 forced down her smile at the absurd yet obvious answer.
"Ah, maybe." M16 didn't sound convinced, and from the sidelong look, M4 guessed that she knew, but they didn't have time to talk about it, as they reached the objective. Dozens and dozens of Sangvis filled the area, either watching for new attackers, or attempting to breach the building.
From an upper window, someone took a shot at one of the Strikers, and a hail of fire answered them.
M4 took only a second. "M16, cover SOP. SOP, grenades on the Strikers." M4 pointedly ignored the bloodthirsty grin that formed as SOPMOD considered that idea. "I'll take AR-15 around the side and try and find the others."
"Fantastic." AR-15 didn't sound pleased, and M16's lips thinned, but she didn't argue, and after giving M4 a look that insisted they would be talking later, turned to cover SOPMOD as the first grenade went flying.
M4 picked her away around the carnage that SOPMOD created, heading for the small side entrance marked on the map they'd been given. Sangvis appeared to have missed its existence, and M4 would take any way to slip in without being seen that she could get.
Fortunately, that initial assessment proved good, and with a little effort, M4 and AR-15 managed to shove it open and slip inside. M4 wanted to say something to AR-15, but any time she tried to find the words, they got caught in her throat. Outside explosions and gunfire reigned supreme, making it hard to worry about trivial things.
Signaling for AR-15 to advance, M4 put those thoughts to the back of her mind, instead wanting to keep her focus on the task at hand. They could only move so quickly, but could at least take some comfort in the fact that someone above them remained to shoot back.
AR-15 took the lead as they ducked and dashed through the hallways. Whatever the building had been, it long since rotted away, with only dust, and debris remaining. With every door AR-15 prodded open with the muzzle of her weapon, the tension mounted. No Sangvis leapt at them to meet them, and they climbed the stairs to the 'main' level, and finally met resistance. Bullets and plasma sailed overhead.
"Damnit!" AR-15 took a few quick shots before dropping down, as bullets whizzed overhead. "They're inside!"
M4 risked a quick look and dropped two more targets before they caught sight of her in turn. They couldn't easily push up from this position, and outside of taking quick potshots at the remaining dozen or so Sangvis. Indicating AR-15 should move, M4 stuck her weapon over, firing 'blindly'. Network information helped, but she doubted she hit many. As her weapon clicked empty, AR-15 popped up, precision fire removing seven, before she had to duck.
M4 took over, pulling targeting data from her sister, before dropping the remaining threats.
Watching the last Sangvis unit drop to the ground, a small smoking hole in its head, M4 tried to push down her panic. Dropping another empty magazine, and reloading, she glanced to the side confirming that her sister was, in fact, unharmed.
"Upstairs." She nodded to AR-15. "Watch our back." A sharp nod followed, as they started up the stairs. No Sangvis followed, but M4 still felt worried. The first hallway sat empty, and M4 pressed against the wall, advancing slowly.
"Nothing." AR-15 muttered, and M4 let her take the lead again, as they approached a juncture in the hallway.
AR-15 checked the line, before dashing across, and M4 made to follow. But a small sound sent her instincts screaming, and M4 managed to drop enough that the blow to the back of her head only made her stumble.
Rolling, she avoided the next hit on instinct, before using her weapon as a crude club to hit her attacker in the midsection.
A yelp of pain sounded, and they hit the floor rolling in a tangle of limbs, before her attacker went very still.
"Not very nice to try and beat the tar out of the people coming to save you." AR-15's frigid words gave M4 time to catch up with the situation. Her attacker was indeed a Griffin Doll, rather unassuming although it took M4 a moment to put a name to the face.
"Super Sass, right?" None of the other faces matched, at least.
"Eheh, sorry?" The girl scrambled back. "It's just-"
"Save it." AR-15 snapped. "M4, let them know we found them."
"Already know." KSG's voice crackled on the radio. "M4, link them up with us, and see how many of them are still fighting fit. Hostiles bearing down on your position, working to get you backup."
M4 held out her hand. "Are you-"
Super Sass glanced down, then recognition hit. "No, the others are hiding there-" She pointed down the hall, accepting the hand. Information flooded the network. Of ten dolls, three were still fighting fit, two were heavily injured, and now five were casualties. Three out in the fighting, and two more fighting here.
"SOP, M16, get inside. We're going to hold here." M4 grimaced, already knowing this had a chance to turn extremely ugly. "KSG, we'll need to get them out." The reply consisted of a very graphic description of what KSG wanted to do to the Ringleader in charge. M4 decided not to question whether Sangvis had the relevant anatomy to make KSG's threat possible, or how KSG intended to bend a body made of metal in that fashion.
AR-15 gave her a look that made it clear that she didn't think they could pull off that much of a miracle.
"We can still fight." Super Sass's voice wobbled slightly, and M4 suspected she didn't quite believe that herself.
"Says the girl who just tried to club M4 to death with an empty gun." AR-15 countered.
"I left the ammo with the others." For a brief moment, Super Sass's eyes were hard, cold, then she returned to normal. "They need it more than me."
"Whatever." AR-15 rolled her eyes, but M4 saw her tense as well.
SOPMOD and M16 came up the stairs a moment later, and M4 started handing out orders. An update came, that Groza's team broke off their engagement and would be falling back to assist, which made the situation substantially better.
"KSG and FAL linked up, they have a defensive position that KSG thinks isn't awful." Groza reported.
"That's a start." M4 mumbled, looking around at the assorted Dolls of Sector 14. Super Sass was the only one without a major injury. Of the rest, they could shoot, but mobility was limited, and the walls weren't exactly in good enough shape to take fire. Despite Sass's protests, her group did not have much in the way of supplies, and Sector 9 didn't come with enough to equip them at all.
"We're in bad shape but we can fight." Fedorov took her position next to Super Sass to argue the case. Giving how beaten up she looked there wasn't much of a
"Sure, you and her can." AR-15 pointed at Super Sass. "Everyone else here is dead weight in a fight."
"You've survived this long, which is impressive." M4 tried to temper her sister's vitriol. "We can take over from here."
"There's only ten of you, what makes you think it'll be different?" Fedorov snapped.
"Because unlike your incompetent lot, they are professional soldiers." PPD-40 proved a surprise to cut the tension. "Since apparently my effort to instill some manner of usefulness in you was questionably successful."
"Don't be too hard on them." Groza followed behind. "Last this long is an achievement." She looked around. "M4 and AR-15 are correct. None of you are in a position to fight, not with those injuries."
"If they can shoot, they can hide where we tell them and shoot what we tell them." SV-98 cut in. "Although not sure they're good for that much."
-Faded Glory-
Ian stared at the tactical map, fingers drumming against the ridge in frustration.
"The change bugs you that much?" Lena seemed to have taken it upon herself to be his minder, sitting at her console, with arms crossed in amusement.
"Doesn't just bug me, it doesn't make sense. Sangvis attacks every fourteen hours for a week, then, without any warning attacks after only ten?" He shook his head. Years of experience and training screamed that such a change didn't make sense. "Even if whoever is in charge over there is a human, that change doesn't add up. I'll give you I'd be less worried if it was a human, but this just doesn't line up at all."
"Ever considered that maybe you think too much?"
"My job is to think too much." That exchange felt uncomfortably familiar, although the form it took in the past remained
"Alright, Blackwood." His name made him look up, taking in the deep frown on the Polish woman's face. "What's your gut say? Not, you thought for six hours. If I asked you right now to explain why Sangvis changed the plan, what'd your answer be."
"Change in tactical conditions."
"Too vague." Lena shook her head. "You're a specific person, what's the specifics?"
"Change in commander or a fresh assessment of losses to friendly forces." He tapped the screen. "Couple dolls went down and looked out of the count in the last fight, so it's likely they assessed friendly forces as being depleted enough to be overwhelmed with fresh attacks." Pulling up the data, Ian sighed. "The problem being my gut feeling is that answer is wrong. It matches up with all the data I have, it agrees with the theory that Sangvis is just a very angry computer program. It even passes the question of sound military theory. But I can't shake the feeling it isn't right."
"Sounds paranoid to me." Lena flicked her hand. "and if you tell me your job was to be paranoid-"
"No, paranoia was a good way to get pulled." Ian cracked a smile, then it faded, looking down at the map. "Sauer agrees with me, even if he won't say it."
"Yeah, we heard. Man sounded wound tight." Lena stood. "And you're hardly much better."
"Perhaps." The fighting settled into a lull based on the map.
"Friendlies found." KSG's voice crackled, the connection far from stable. "They're beat to hell, five down, most injured."
"Copy." As KSG said that the display updated with the new dolls in the system. "I doubt we can bootleg a link to Sec14, so we'll have to make do. Can they be pulled out?"
"Not with another company and a half marching into town." He could feel the annoyance from the former soldier. "They're insisting they can fight, and M4's trying to talk them down."
"If they are half as beat up as this readout says, I don't want them anywhere near a gunfight." Ian shook his head. "And I'm sure their Commander agrees."
"I don't want them anywhere near a gunfight." KSG agreed. "And Groza thinks PPD can set them straight."
Good enough for Ian. "Anything else?"
"No." A pause. "Unless you can explain why this all feels like I'm walking on a landmine?"
"Working on it." Over the table, Lena's jaw tightened. "Any ideas?"
"Nope. We all agree it's not right, but not one of us can put a finger on it." KSG paused. "Was hoping you had an easy answer."
"Afraid not. Be careful." Letting the connection close, Ian watched Lena scowl, before throwing out, "I really wanted her to not say that, for what it's worth."
"Not that much, but it's something." The drone operator sighed. "Don't suppose we can ship drones out with the support team?"
"Not unless we ship you too, and don't think any of the control gear is there." He'd already thought about that. "Connection barely holds for radio, never mind a full data link." Closing the tactical map, as agonizing over it would only stress him out more, Ian turned to leave. "Besides, I need to leave some people here."
"Wait your-"
"I can't lead shit from back here. Relying on experienced soldiers is great, but information delays are too long, and we've already hung this poor girl out to dry enough, don't need to do it worse."
"So, there is a heart in there." That explanation appeared to pacify Lena, who stood up, nodding. "Good luck, Commander."
-Faded Glory-
They could hear the others fighting long before Sangvis arrived at their position. M4 did her best to avoid fidgeting, huddled down behind a pile of junk while watching one of the major approach roads. KSG kept the tactical map up to date, showing that they'd pinned down a large chunk of Sangvis forces.
Nonetheless, the waiting dragged on, and M4 couldn't stop checking the map for every little update. Someone added a kill counter to the screen, one that MG4 ran away with, although FAL seemed to be catching up. In between blinks, someone updated the counter to include the rest of them. Then, someone else updated that counter to include little pictures next to each person. M4 got a cinnamon roll, AR-15 a star, FAL a picture of her mink, M16 a bottle of whisky, SV-98 an angry face, and so on.
"Rather childish, isn't it?" Groza seemed to catch M4's feelings from across the way, a small bit of amusement showing in her eyes. "It helps pass the time when waiting like this."
"Seems morbid, I guess?" M4 kept staring at the battlefield to be. "I know Sangvis aren't people but-" She trailed off.
"Making a sport of killing them doesn't sit right." To her credit Groza seemed to agree with her. "Such practices were frowned upon in actual conflict, but I cannot say they did not happen." Drawing her pistol, and flicking the safety off, Groza let it slide back into the holster. "They try very hard to make us believe our enemy is a nameless, faceless horde, something devoid of empathy or sympathy." M4 got the distinct impression that Groza did not approve. "They did not want monsters, but they did want killers, and the fine line between those two things never came easily."
"So, they frowned, but did not object."
"Oh, if they caught you, you'd be in for it." Groza shook her head. "But no one would ask if you were doing it." The first Sangvis units came charging in, Dragoons, on some kind of mobility platform.
Rifle fire answered them, sending the Doll frames careening headfirst to their deaths. M4 brought her weapon up. "And how does that matter now?"
"Change the things you can, M4, and protest those things you think others can change. But sometimes, you must let things go." Groza paused, taking aim at the next group. This time, they advanced with Guards at the front, and a variety of other units laying down suppressive fire. The dry pop of a grenade suggested that SOPMOD got the first shot this time.
"Eat shit, you tin can bastards!" While they didn't know what happened, Ak-Alfa seemed quite pleased by it. M4 fired her first shots, as the horde of Sangvis grew larger.
"Is that what I'm going to be?" The words slipped out before M4 could think about them.
Groza didn't answer for a long time, placing her shots with care, eyes shrouded by her helmet and hair.
"You are to be whoever you wish to be." FAL broke in. M4 didn't know if she'd been listening, or Groza explained it to her. "We are broken soldiers, discarded by a war that no one wanted. You do not carry our burdens, or our sins. If you wish to become cold, and jaded, that is your prerogative, but there is nothing to drive you to what we are."
Behind the layers and layers of guards, Strikers were moving up. M4 marked them, watching as SV-98 and AR-15 went to work. SOP lobbed another grenade. Limbs flew as the shrapnel did its gruesome work. Jaegers, hidden in windows, started to retaliate, and M4 ducked behind the wall, then dove across to kneel at Groza's side when four shots in the wall where she'd been.
"Just don't end up like the Commander, you'll be fine." Groza advised, as M4 found a prone shooting position and took a few potshots at a Jaeger. The number next to her name ticked up.
"I thought you'd say don't be SV-98."
"Don't be her either." Groza agreed. "It takes a lot of suffering to become SV-98, M4, and I don't think that you'd tolerate that."
"You turn into me, and I'll beat your ass." SV-98 said it with such confidence that M4 could see her at least trying.
"Didn't you lose a fight to 74M?" M16 butted in.
"And she's Spetsnaz." SV-98 shot back. "You think you'd win a fight against her?"
There was a long pause, growing longer as M4 expected M16 to throw out a quip. "There are substantial differences between us." 74M turned out to be the one who spoke first.
"Differences my ass." M4 could image the sniper scowling. "I'll give you that she's probably more of a fight then pinkie-"
"Keep talking." AR-15 hissed. "And I'll put the knife into something more important."
"We are not stabbing each other!" M4 cut in, not wanting to hear SV-98's goading reply. Most of them were reduced to only taking potshots now, as the Strikers and Vespids peppered the building with shots. She marked a spot, and SOP fired a grenade, which helped.
"Why were we stabbing each other to begin with?" OTs-12 pipped up.
"Because Alfa runs her mouth." SV-98 took out a Jaeger, then another, based on the counter. "And that brainless French slag egged her on."
"I seem to recall you being just as much of a bitch."
"And you've got a stick so far up you, I'm impressed you don't taste it." SV-98 shot back.
"98." Groza took her turn to cut something off. The sniper muttered something rude. Time for banter passed, as they all focused on their tasks, taking quick shots, and generally making movements as hard as possible for the enemy. The tension that lingered in the air faded in the furor of combat.
As the fighting continued, they started shifting positions, and M4 found herself with AR-15 at her side again.
"What was that about?" She knew there had been a fight, but not the details. AR-15 glared, and M4 held that glare. "Star-"
"It's not important." AR-15 snapped.
"If you're still this angry, it's important." For a moment, M4 thought that her sister would still resist talking about it.
"Just Alfa running her mouth. Talking shit." M4 let her keep going. "Said that I'm going to get someone killed."
"What?" M4's jaw dropped, even as she shot dead the Brute trying to charge in the door.
"Apparently I'm a loner with a chip on my shoulder who runs off into trouble without thinking." Well, M4 couldn't entirely disagree with that, but she wasn't about to tell her sister that. "That's how people get killed, according to her."
M4 debated how best to answer that as they kept shooting. M16 would have undoubtedly said something sarcastic, probably 'Well you haven't gotten one of us killed yet have you?'. SOPMOD would have just laughed and said that of course STAR wouldn't do that. M4, well she didn't know. She could understand the point being made, even if the person she worried about dying when STAR ran off on her own was STAR herself, and not someone else.
"Hostiles dealt with. Swing back to you." KSG's voice bounced around her head. "Watch your fire."
She could feel the eyes boring into the side of her head. "I'm more worried about you getting hurt than someone else when you go off alone." In the end, the truth felt the best.
"I'll be-"
"Fine." M4 finished. "And what happens if you aren't? What happens if Hunter wants to shoot you instead?" Star's eyes flashed. "Or if I don't have help, and get captured trying to save you?"
"Well, you shouldn't try and save me." Star snapped.
"I'm not leaving you behind!" M4 tried not to yell, but she did raise her voice. "I'm not-"
"Not what? I'm a Doll. My job is to fight and die, isn't it? So why worry about what happens to me, if you are fine?"
"Because I'm not going to leave you behind! You're more than just some soldier I can throw away, you're my sister!"
"And that's your problem." AR-15 snapped. "Why do you think we are here? You're the only important one here, the rest of us are just here to bring you back alive."
"Why would you say that?" M4 shook her head. "If you die-"
"Because it's true." AR-15 dumped the rest of her mag into a Brute.
"That isn't-" M4 tried to object, and AR-15 just pushed a bundle of information at her across the network. "It's-What-Why?"
"Ask Persica." AR-15's hiss made it clear they were done talking.
M4 made a note to ensure she did just that. That information didn't sit right with her, and she wanted answers. Even if they needed to get the wounded dolls behind them out of danger first.
"Check your fire!" KSG's called out, as the rest of the friendly dolls pushed into the square. The remaining Sangvis melted. "Commander, get a bird down here. We're not going to get a better window than this."
"Evac landing now. Marking position."
"Super Sass, get everyone ready to move." M4 didn't leave any room to argue about it.
AN: Surprise, updated quickly because IRL reasons. Not sure when next update is coming.