Welcome to Chapter 7! At this point, I have decided on doing a second Intermission chapter, which will introduce Springfield and our new T-Doll to the story.
In terms of the new Doll, as much as I want to introduce my first 5-star, I've already got a plan for her later down the road. Anyways, Station 794 does need T-Dolls that aren't German or Russian.
Thank you for reading!
Station 794 Commander's Quarters, Sector 09
Neo-Soviet Union
July 04, 2062
Commander Ian Becker
After a somewhat long night, the Commander slowly awoke to the sight of G36 picking up his dirty laundry he'd left on the floor from the last two days, her face stoic as she did her work to tidy up his room.
"Good morning, G36." he greeted with a yawn, getting out of his bed to start his day.
"Wha- oh, guten morgen, Kommandant." the maid said offhandedly, putting his old coat in the tall basket she had in hand. "Why is it so hard for you to pick up your laundry?"
"I was really, really tired when I dropped all that stuff off, but I'll make sure to put it in a basket from now on. Either way, I need to get ready for work." Ian told her, walking over to the tall, dark-wooded dresser in the corner of his room, only to stop and pause for a second. "Wait, there wasn't a dresser here when I was in here yesterday..."
"I know. I had some of the service personnel put it here." his assistant explained politely.
"Thank you, then."
He soon reached out and opened the dresser's top drawer to find a collection of neatly folded white button-up shirts in it. Pulling one out, he set it down on his bed and soon opened the second drawer, finding black pants in it. Like with the shirt, he grabbed a pair and set it on the bed with his shirt. After grabbing underwear and socks, he took his new clothing with him to the bathroom (that he missed on the first day as well) and promptly shut the door to take a shower.
Seventeen Minutes Later...
Leaving the shower and quickly putting his new set of clothes on, Ian left the bathroom to find a clean, ironed-out uniform coat on his bed, along with a porcelain plate with sausage, scrambled eggs, and biscuits on it.
"Thank you, G36." he thanked the maid despite her not being there, taking the plate and the accompanying fork and digging in. Like with her stew the previous evening, it was rather delicious, and suddenly feeling ravenous, he gobbled it all up so fast it was almost to the point where he didn't know he ate it all. Where the plate was sat before he devoured the whole damn thing, a snall note had taken its place. Setting the plate down, he grabbed it and read it quickly.
"I would have stuck around, but Fraülein Springfield returned from her mission, and she wanted to see me first-thing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the breakfast, sir, and I'll see you later. - G36."
Nodding in understanding as he picked up the new coat, he quickly put it on and secured the belt, then he placed his beret on his head and left the room, slipping his gloves on in the process as he stormed down the hallways.
Tactical Doll M1903 Springfield
"Thank you for the transportation, sir."
"You're welcome, miss. Kind-hearted people like you just aren't that common anymore."
Waving goodbye to the man who was generous enough to take her home, the elegant Rifle Doll quickly got out of the man's worn truck and allowed him to leave the courtyard through the security gates, soon turning towards the base as absolutely every staff member in the base burst through the front doors to welcome her home.
Of course, Springfield had expected to have a welcoming committee when she returned, but what she didn't expect was for the entirety of Station 794's staff to be there for her. Standing up front was Kalina, who had a very bright smile on her face, along with G36, who smiled at her as well, but not as warmly due to her generally strict demeanor. Behind the two women were the three surviving members of Echelon One, who happened to have a new member from the looks of it, and the human service personnel even further behind them were just as delighted as Kalina and the other Dolls were to see her again.
"Welcome back, Springfield!" they all yelled at her, with M1911 and MP5 running up to her to be the first ones to welcome her home.
"You have no idea how delighted I am to see you all again." Springfield replied warmly as she tightly hugged M1911, pulling the shorter American close.
"Same for us. You've been gone for a whole week!" M1911 told her as she broke away from the hug.
"And G36 couldn't look after you lot? Looks like someone's been slacking." the Rifle directed at the maid as she gave MP5 a hug of her own.
"That statement is incorrect, Frau Springfield." she shot back. "Anyways, the newly-assigned Commander would like to speak with you now."
Remembering her contact with the man, the Doll perked up at his mention and started to look around for him.
"Oh, that's right. I spoke with him yesterday evening. He sounded rather friendly, and his opinion on our staff seemed to be good. good."
"That notion is not wrong, and Frau 1911 took a great liking to him."
"Excuse me, coming through!" a masculine voice suddenly shouted as a young man in a Griffin Commander's uniform broke through the crowd and stopped in front of her. He had dark brown hair that seemed a bit messy, a roughish face with a nasty scar on the right side, luminous green eyes like her own, and paleish skin. A quick bioscan on him revealed that he was rather thin under his coat. She would definitely cook something hearty for him later.
"Nice to see you in person, Miss Springfield!" he greeted her as he stopped in front of her.
"Yes, although just Springfield will do." she replied to him.
"I'm Commander Ian Becker. Nice to meet you."
The new Commander held his hand out for a handshake, and Springfield happily accepted, shaking his gloved hand in earnest. As they did so, the new T-Doll made herself known and approached the Rifle, smiling earnestly as she stopped in front of her.
"Hello, Miss Springfield! I'm Sten Mark II, and I'm happy to make your acquaintance!"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Sten."
The Commander then cleared his throat, getting the senior Rifle's attention.
"Do you need any repairs, Springfield?" he asked politely.
"No, why?" she asked him, causing him to gesture to her body with his gloved hands.
"Because you look like you've seen better days."
Looking down at herself, the Rifle noted that she had indeed seen better days. Her favorite coat, pants, and long skirt were burnt and torn up beyond repair, while plasma burns from grazes marred her otherwise perfect skin. Her hair was slightly singed and the blue ties she used to keep her coppery hair pinned up had fallen out entirely. Her namesake weapon itself was fine as far as it went, but its bayonet had been dulled severely and was stained with purpleish black oils.
"Yes, I have seen better days." Springfield agreed, nodding to him.
"Yup. Let's get back to work, people!" the Commander suddenly yelled towards his subordinates and service personnel, who quickly began to head back to their respective posts at a steady pace. "Why was literally everyone outside to greet you? Are you really that popular around here?"
"Obviously."
"Anyways, you need new clothes, and I need to see if HQ called again."
Commander Ian Becker, a half-hour later...
After meeting Springfield for the first time and getting her back inside, Ian soon walked into his office for the first time that day, his right hand automatically reaching for the black holographic projector on his desk and turning it on. To his relief, he wasn't called by Helian again, but a notification for the new T-Doll's arrival had appeared on the thing's display.
"A few hours from now? That's plenty of time for us to prepare." he said, dismissing the notification as someone knocked on his door.
"Go ahead."
The door opened to reveal a fully-repaired Springfield, dressed in a white button-up shirt with a blue bowtie, a brown apron, blue jeans, and flats, carrying a plate of steaming food in her hands as she gracefully approached him. Her long, coppery brown hair was also up in a ponytail secured by a black-white trimmed cloth, unlike the first time he first saw her where she was wearing a torn dress uniform.
"I noticed that you were a bit thin when we first met, so I cooked something that will certainly put some meat on your bones." she kindly explained as she placed the plate on Ian's desk, revealing its contents to him: a well-cooked, medium-rare seasoned steak, along with sliced potatoes, some carrots, and a fork and a knife. The smell was mouth-watering, and Ian's stomach grumbled loudly in response to being faced with such delicious-looking foods.
"Thank you, Springfield." he told her politely, picking up the silverware to cut a piece of meat off to eat.
"You're welcome, Commander." Springfield replied in a similar manner as the Commander ate the steak bit he cut off.
And instantly, the vividly scrumptuous flavor of the steak flooded his tongue, causing him to hum a nice, long hum in approval as he ate the morsel. After swallowing it, he then gave the Rifle a thumbs-up and told her exactly what he thought of her cooking.
"In all the twenty-nine years of my life, I have never tasted a steak this good. Not even my old man could cook like this."
"Why, thank you~" the cook replied, flushing lightly at the praise.
"You're welcome. Hang on, do you know what happened to M1895 and P38?"
In response to his question, the graceful Doll merely shook her head and sighed as she replied to his question.
"We were sent on different missions, so I unfortunately don't know about them."
"Damn. Anyways, I'm sorry that the base is such a mess, Springfield. I just got here three days ago." Ian apologized, shaking his head as the sheer FUBAR-ness of the base reared its head again.
"It's fine. Now that you're here, we can get the place back the way it was. Before Sangvis attacked us, that is." she quickly added.
"Right. Oh, we're expecting a new Doll in a few hours, and I was gonna get the base cleaned up before she got here, because if I'm gonna start a reconstruction project for this place and start hosting new Dolls and human staff, then it's gotta get cleaned up a good bit."
"Would you like for me to spread the word?"
"No. I'll do it myself." Ian told her as he pressed the button to the base's loudspeakers and spoke through it. "Attention cleaning crews and T-Dolls, our new Doll will be here in a few hours, and with how bad things have gotten, this base has become an absolute pigsty. And as such, your orders for today are simple: clean the base up to the best of your ability so we don't have to worry about pissing off a potential clean freak and so we can hopefully begin reconstruction."
Finishing his food, the Commander stood up and wiped his mouth off with a napkin, thanked Springfield for the food, then he opened the office door and swiftly left the room.
Tactical Doll G36
Dorm Complexes
As she worked in the hallways, G36 smiled a little as she watched MP5 and Sten work together to clean up the messy second dorm room, a room that hadn't been lived in for a whole week. It had been nine days since its inhabitants were sent on a mission, and not a word was heard from the Echelon's two HGs for those days. As a result, the maid was exceptionally worried about them.
She herself was cleaning up the long hallway outside the dorms, as the mixed internal fluids of dead Griffin and Sangvis T-Dolls had stained its floors, as well as the walls, and some of the stuff was.
"What's up with this microphone?" G36 heard Sten ask her teammate.
"P38 was a singer before joining Griffin. Her songs are really good, by the way!" MP5 replied, leaning forwards. "Speaking of, she could perform for the Commander when she gets back!"
The maid smiled at the thought of the German HG singing her heart out in front of the Commander. If only she'd make contact with the base so they could get her back home.
Tactical Doll M1911
Atrium/Lobby
While the Germans and Sten were cleaning up the dorm complexes, M1911 and AK-47 were currently in the entrance lobby, cleaning the place out while their teammates cleaned up the dorms. While they weren't specialized cleaning or maid type Dolls in the past like G36 had been, the two were doing pretty well with the room (although human workers aided them throughout,) and it looked like the room would be fully cleared within the hour.
"Who do you think will be coming here, AK?" M1911 suddenly asked, sweeping up a particularly dusty part of the floor with a blue-handled broom.
"I dunno. I hope it's another A-91 or an SKS." AK-47 replied offhandedly, mopping up after her leader with a wet mop.
"Why, so you can have a drinking buddy?"
"That would be nice... What about you?"
"Another American would be nice. There's too many German and Russian T-Dolls here." the HG told her friend matter-of-factly.
"You are the only one of us who was built in the West... Unless Springfield is a Western-manufactured Doll as well..."
"Last I checked, she was."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot."
The admission caused M1911 to turn to her with a deadpan expression.
"AK-47, stop drinking. I'm serious."
"Or what?"
"Vodka bottles make great targets, you know~"
In response to her statement, the HG got an earful of angry Russian curses and a sopping-wet mop to the face.
Kalina
Storeroom
While the Dolls were busy cleaning up the base, Kalina instead had a different task as she walked down into the storage room with her tablet in hand, checking on the base's inventory before she checked on the cleaning crews and T-Dolls. As Station 794's logistics officer, it naturally fell to her to keep an eye on resource usage of any kind, including construction materials, food, and ammunition.
Speaking of ammunition, the base's 30.06 and 9x19 Parabellum rounds were dangerously low, and they were nearly out of 5.56x45 rounds for G36 and the Commander's preferred weapon (an M4A1 Carbine, according to M1911.) 7.62x39 was somehow in a better state, if only because of how many bandits used AK-derivative rifles, and their 7.62x38mmR supply was left untouched thanks to its only user being MIA.
"I ought to request more ammo..." the ginger told herself, marking each low-supply ammo down on her tablet as she passed by the stored rations and, displayed on her tablet, the gas supply.
"Hmmm... looks like we're good on food, but we're severely lacking in gasoline, though." she muttered to herself thoughtfully. "We're gonna need a lot more gas now that we have a Commander and are running missions again. Speaking of..."
Kalina then called the Commander on her tablet to report their supply shortages, patiently waiting for him to respond. After a few seconds, his face filled her tablet's screen.
"Oh, hey there, Kalina." he greeted from his end. "You already checked our inventory?"
"Yup. We need 30.06, 5.56mm, and 9mm ammo. Our food supply is fine, but we're in desperate need of gas."
"I'll make some calls. Head upstairs and oversee the cleaning." the Commander told her. "Commander Becker out."
"Understood, sir."
He hung up, and Kalina's display returned to normal, and casting one final glance at the supplies to make sure she didn't miscount, the ginger then turned around and promptly left the room to follow her new orders.
Commander Ian Becker
A few hours later...
The work Ian's subordinates put into cleaning the base was absolutely phenominal, the Commander had seen as he toured the base again, but the fact was best shown in the entrance hall. What was once a dusty, hollow-seeming room full of random metal parts was now a shining entrance hall that was fitting for what the base once was as well as the company's ideal of a "shining beacon" as a whole. Griffin and Kryuger's silvery griffin-and-crossbar-embossed shield had been placed squarely on the reflective floor, something that was hidden by all the dust that was caked on the floor, and the few workstations in the room were immaculately cleaned and ready for use again.
As always, Kalina dutifully stood beside him with her tablet held to her chest, but unlike a couple hours ago, her shirt was properly buttoned for once, likely because of the chance that their new Doll might be a strickler of ettiquette.
He pointedly ignored the thought that it'd take a lot more than just that to keep his old Sergeant Major from snapping at her.
"Now this was what the base should have looked like when you came here." she commented, indicating the immaculately-cleaned hall. "It's so much easier to breathe now."
"Everyone did a great job here." Ian told her approvingly, looking around the room as well. "At the very least we'll dodge the 'this base it fit only for peasants' bullet if the new gal's the imperious sort."
"Da. I hope they're not a strickler on the dress code, because this thing's collar's really tight when it's fully buttoned up." For emphasis, Kalina reached up and tugged on her collar to loosen it slightly, thus allowing for better airflow.
"And you couldn't put a T-shirt on under it?" the dark-haired officer commented, pointing out the simpler solution.
"It's July!" she shot back, as if the sweat that glistened on her forehead and stained her shirt wasn't enough of an indication of just how hot it was outside— courtesy of Ukraine's geography despite the fact that they weren't stationed at the coast of the Black Sea.
As she spoke to him though, his phone quickly buzzed, causing him to pull it out and check on it, seeing a text about the new arrival's imminent arrival.
"Looks like our Doll's about to get here. You wanna come with me to greet them?" he told his adjutant, storing his phone.
"Of course! Our Dolls are hella cute, you know?" Kalina replied, indicating the company's Dolls as a whole, and given how adorable (or attractive, in Springfield's case) the base's Dolls were, the Commander couldn't disagree.
Stepping outside alongside the beautiful girl, Ian could see that the sun had just started to set, casting the base in a gorgeous orangeish light, and off in the distance in the forest clearing, he could see a grey truck as it approached the fenced-in base, IOP's logo proudly embossed on its side.
"There she is..."
They soon watched as the truck skidded to a stop at the gate, awaiting authorization for its entry. In response, the Commander signaled for the gate to open, and after it opened, the vehicle rolled into the base's perimeter and stopped at the entrance in front of Ian and Kalina to deliver its cargo. The passenger door then opened and a well-dressed Doll with the body of a young woman, long chestnut brown hair, and green eyes gently stepped out of the vehicle. She wore a sleeveless black and red shirt with a white collar, a white skirt with a longer red and gold sash in the back, dark stockings, and red heels. A cute little hat sat on her head, and she carried an FN-49 self-loading rifle on a sling.
"Okay, let's go say hi." he told his adjutant before making his way towards the truck as two men in IOP uniforms pulled crates out of the truck and the FN-49 Doll thanked her driver before setting out towards the base.
"Hello, there." Ian said to the brunette once she was within earshot, who jolted in startled surprise and, after seeing his uniform, stood straight up to address him.
"U-um, you're the C-Commander, I-I presume?" she asked timidly, her light French accent immediately noted by him.
"I am. The name's Ian Becker." the Commander greeted kindly.
"And I'm Kalina! Nice to meet you!" Kalina added as well, smiling politely.
"FN-49. P-P-P-Pleased to make y-your acquaintance..." the Doll spluttered, holding her slightly shaking hand out.
"Nice to meet you." he greeted, calmly taking her hand and shaking it.
It was obvious to him that FN-49 was shy, and he knew for a fact that her shy behavior could be problematic down the road, but he felt that she was capable of great things, and he resolved to helping her gain social aptitude for later.
"So... would you like to come inside? I'm sure you need some rest after that long ride." he offered kindly, holding his hand out.
"U-um, sure..." FN-49 replied, blushing demurely as the Commander took her hand and carefully led her inside the base.
"Kalina, go tell everyone that our new Doll's here." he directed at Kalina.
"Yes, sir!" she saluted before leaving for the dorm complexes, allowing him to begin his tour unimpeded.
After giving FN-49 a general tour of the base, the Commander saw fit to introduce her to his other Dolls, as she (hopefully) would have a better time socializing with other Dolls than the humans.
Standing outside of Echelon One's dorm, Ian watched FN-49 murmur to herself nervously, trying to find the best way to introduce herself.
"You ready, 49?" he asked.
"I-I guess..."
Noticing the nervous quivering in her voice, Ian placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and spoke softly.
"I understand that you're nervous, but you can't really socialize with anyone if you don't try. Besides, the others would love to have you here."
"I guess so..." FN-49 mumbled, still unsure about his statement.
Ian offered her another smile and opened the door to the room, revealing Echelon One's four members on the other side as they speculated who the new girl would be. Once they heard the door to their dorm room open, they all turned to see their Commander and FN-49 standing in the door, with the latter giving off a demure aura as she looked at them all.
"Ladies, this is FN-49, the newest Doll in Station 794's roster." he told the four, indicating the shy girl. "FN-49, this is M1911, AK-47, MP5, and Sten Mark II. They'll be your new teammates for the time being, so don't be afraid to speak with them."
Nodding shakily in affirmation, the Rifle Doll turned to the four other Dolls and gave them a proper greeting.
"H-Hello." FN-49 greeted shyly, waving a little as M1911 approached her first.
"Nice to meet you, 49!" the blonde greeted cordially, approaching the timid Rifle and offering her white-gloved hand to her. Taking it in her bared hand, the latter gently shook it and went to the resident drunk next.
"Welcome to Echelon One, rookie." she said, shaking FN-49's hand with a lot more vigor than M1911 had (since said HG was trying to be gentler with her.)
MP5 and Sten greeted the Rifle at the same time, welcoming her into the team just like the others, and he knew she'd be quite welcome in their ranks. But as much as the Commander wanted to watch the Dolls make friends with each other, he knew he had to check on his office to see if Helian called, as well as deal with FN-49's recruitment papers.
"I've got to go, ladies. Take care, alright?" Ian bid them adieu, leaving the dorm complex and heading to the office while leaving Echelon One to their devices.
After reaching his office again, Ian immediately found FN-49's recruitment papers on his desk, along with a pen and a sticky-note with writing on it.
"That's the second note I've gotten today." he said to himself, sitting down at his desk and picking the note up to read its contents.
'Miss Helian called while you were away, so I told her you were getting a new T-Doll assigned to an Echelon. She's waiting for you to call her back right now. - Kalina :)'
Shit, Helian called?
Reaching for the projector with that in mind, he turned it on, then pressed the call node and dialed Helian once he found her contact page. After a few moments of waiting, Helian's projection soon materialized over the plate-sized device and turned to him.
"Hello again, Commander." the senior officer greeted, her arms folded over each other.
"Good to see you, too, Helian. I've been waiting for you to call since yesterday, so sorry for missing your call earlier." the Commander replied in kind.
"It's okay, Commander. Now, to business. Our ingelligence currently indicates that a group of damaged T-Dolls are stranded on the frontline. They are in possession of vital information that is crucial to the war effort, so we need you to aid them in safely returning to Griffin territory."
Search and rescue, then? Just like old times...
"I understand, Helian."
"Good. All the relevant information pertaining to this mission has been uploaded to your systems."
A ping punctuated this, telling him that he recieved new files.
"I got it. When does the mission start?"
"As soon as possible, we don't have time to waste. Helian out."
After the senior officer's hologram dematerialized, the rookie officer soon sighed to himself, then put a call out for Echelon One to start the new operation.
"Echelon One, please report to the Command Room immediately."
Eh, this wasn't my best chapter, but I needed to finish this so I could write another combat chapter. I decided on FN-49 as the second new Doll because she's a common Doll and more Rifles were needed in the cast. Anyways, I have started a new RWBY/Halo project on this account. So far, it's only got a database page explaining basic stuff in it, but I want to make it succeed where other RWBY/Halo projects failed.
See you at Search and Destroy II!