Welcome to Contact/Retrieval I! When Ian and Kalina finally manage to establish contact with M4A1, they report the contact and immediately dispatch troops to find her.
Sorry about the small afternote from last chapter, but I was rushing it a bit, which is why the end of Memories II was a bit lackluster in general. And even though I gave canon compliance the finger last chapter, you'll still be getting a fight with Executioner, just not right now and in a different way.
And I think I committed a repeat offense: letting my impatience get the better of me and potentially fucking my story up in the process, the same thing that fucked up SAO: Origin Story.
To Culture-Hunt3r, I'm still here, although Angelia'll have to come much later, as in past Beginning later, and to Paranoid Android 64, I'm looking forwards to writing that whole banquet scene, especially because of how Ian and Yegor would metaphorically clash.
And without further ado, enjoy the chapter, and Happy Late New Year!
(By the way, COD MW2 2009/Battlefield 1/Gears of War's OST kicks ass, and I recommend that you listen to those OSTs.)
Station 794, Sector 09
Ukraine, Neo-Soviet Union
July 11, 2062
Commander Ian Becker
Two hours after they had started to attempt the decryption of M4A1's comms device, in which the sun had reached its apex in the sky, Ian and Kalina were getting more and more frustrated with every minute that passed. While the latter's skills with computers allowed her to get most of the way through the encryptions, they couldn't get past the last bit of it, no matter how hard they tried.
"Blyat, another firewall." she swore, eyes focused on the screen as she worked.
"Another one? How many damned firewalls did that Doll put on a simple comms device?" the Commander asked, rubbing his temples to soothe his headache.
"Quite a few, Probably to keep Sangvis out of it."
Nodding in agreement, he looked to the clock on his wall, which read 12:39 P.M., and sighed to himself.
This shit sucks...
Soon, though, an electronic beep filled the office and Kalina whooped in celebration, shooting her fists into the air as she cheered.
"Hah, I got in!" she yelled, looking at the frequencies present before going to search through them, tuning into different ones and listening on them for anything noteworthy.
And while for the most part it was either static or they wound up eavesdropping on some of his Dolls by mistake, a lucky button press wound up getting them exactky where they needed to go, and this was confirmed when they started hearing an unfamiliar feminine voice on the comms device, distorted by static.
A couple presses later, and it cleared up, showing a portrait of the same maiden-like Doll he'd seen a few hours previously and allowing them to hear exactly what was said.
"M16, SOP-II, AR-15, this is M4A1, if you can hear me, please respond..."
The voice was soft and melodic to his ears, and Ian couldn't help but notice the other names listed as the AR Team leader (according to Skorpion) hailed the owners of those names.
An M16, an M4 SOPMOD II, and an AR-15 of sorts...
"This is M4A1, please respond..." the same voice requested, albeit a little more urgently, just like he himself had after Scarecrow detonated herself.
"Think we should say something to her?" Kalina whispered to him, just as M4A1 hailed a third time, much more desperately than the other times.
"This is M4A1, if anyone can hear me, please respond!"
Nodding to his adjutant, Ian did just as M4A1 requested.
"Hello, can you hear me?"
There was a two-second delay between his call to her response, and the Commander knew she probably dropped whatever comms device she had due to being startled, as the signal Kalina got didn't belong to a Zener Network user.
"H-Hello, who is this?!"
Chuckling at how thouroughly startled the girl was, he simply decided to crack a joke to see if it'd help calm her down or not, although Jack was able to make it work nine times out of ten.
"What, did I catch you in a private moment or something?" he asked, waiting patiently for another response.
"No, not at all!" she replied, a bit hurried but calmer than before. "Um, who is this?"
Looking to Kalina for confirmation and getting a nod in response, the dark-haired veteran turned back to the comms device and responded.
"Commander Ian Becker, Griffin and Kryuger PMC." he told her clearly, waiting for another response from her. "I saw you back at that air raid shelter earlier today, and you dropped a comms device of sorts when you left the area."
"Oh, um... you were the one wearing an OCP uniform with a 1st Infantry Division patch and a United States flag patch, correct?"
So she saw me, huh? Probably did so during the first firefight. I did yell her name out when getting my subordinates to engage, so it was likely child's play for her to ID me.
"That was indeed me. Um, can you tell me where you are?"
"No, I think I'm being hunted..." M4A1 replied fearfully, her voice small. Of couse, Ian knew the Doll was being hunted by Sangvis, which was exactly why he was currently talking to her on a private channel.
"By Sangvis, correct?"
"Yes, and they've compromised the Zener Network somehow, so I can't contact anyone that way without Sangvis knowing."
Kalina and Ian shared a worried look. The Zener Network, IOP's near-infalliable information network, compromised? That was very bad news.
"Fuck. Could you find a place where my forces could come pick you up?" the Commander asked next.
"Um, I think so, but I can't give an exact location in case they get there first. How about... somewhere near Seredyna‐Buda?"
The indecisive manner she spoke with, as well as the impracticality of the location she picked, made him question how she was a team leader, but he pushed that aside in favor of making a better desicision.
"Negative, the city's an SF hotspot. What about the abandoned little neighborhood about seven miles south of Griffin FOB 794?" he suggested instead, bringing the map up on his projector and finding the area in question. "It's rather isolated, and the latest sattellite scans showed a rather small number of SF present around that region."
"Hm... maybe... Even if things go south, then I could run to 794 on foot, but it hasn't been in any position to mount a proper defense since the attack in April, so if Sangvis follows me there..."
Considering that said base was now (with the addition of the Dolls they'd saved) a little under twenty-strong in Dolls as opposed to only seven, equipped with much better gear, properly supplied, and preparing to recruit more human servicemen soon, that wasn't exactly true, although if an attack force the size of the one that killed Prokhorov came along, then he'd be in trouble.
"M4A1, I'm in command of that base, and I've ensured that we have rebuilt a good bit, so it depends on the size of the attack force they may send. Anyways, how long will it take to get there?"
"Hmm... about seven hours on foot, I'm rather far away from that area."
Seven hours? That's a bit long for my tastes, but it'll give me time to organize and deploy units to her location...
"That's a bit long, and SF could catch on, but I'll try my best to pick you up." he told her. "That sound good to you?"
"Y-Yes."
"Good to hear. Keep your head down and don't stop for anything on the way to the exfil zone, I'll contact you again once my team is in place."
"Understood, Commander. M4A1 out."
As the comms link died, Ian got up from his seat and started to go through the roster on his projector, looking for the base's most experienced Dolls. M1911 and Springfield were obvious choices thanks to their experience and the latter's marksmanship, and Howa Type 64's Forewarning could help them ID the VIP or detect enemy forces heading their way, assuming the conversation was bugged by them. Finally, MP5's defensive capabilities and AK-47's incendiaries/throwing arm would earn them spots on the extraction team.
"Sir, are we going to report our contact with M4 to Helian?" Kalina asked, storing the comms device in a drawer in his desk.
"Yes, we are. I don't wanna get jumpy and screw it up because I wanted personal glory, plus she could provide us with support." the Commander replied, isolating his chosen Dolls' rosters and going to the call function, putting a call out to HQ.
Said call was answered a moment later, Helian's holographic form appearing on his desk and bearing the serious look he'd grown used over the course of his week of service with Griffin.
"Hello, Commander, have something to report?" she asked.
"Affirmative. After a couple hours of headaches, we decrypted M4A1's comms device and made contact with her. According to her, though, she believes Sangvis managed to compromise the Zener Network, which is likely why Scarecrow got the truth from Skorpion back during Uproot, but she gave a general location for us to go to."
"Hmm... That's good to hear, but if Zener is no longer secure, then that complicates matters. How long will it take for her to reach the area she designated?"
"Seven hours, long enough to mobilize an extraction team but also long enough for Sangvis to mobilize as well, provided they bugged our conversation. Could I possibly get support from Station 601?"
Helian thought this over, cupping her chin in thought, then replied.
"Their sniper teams are top-notch... Any particular reason you want their support?" she inquired.
"Kamalov's still a rookie, but Shi Jun was my old squadmate back in the war, so he'd be a good choice." the Commander replied evenly.
"I understand. I'll leave the details to you, but I'll get Commander Shi Jun to aid you. Be careful, though. This is the most important task you've had so far, so you can't afford to make mistakes."
"Understood, ma'am."
"Good. Call me when you retrieve her, Helian out."
As that call ended, the Commander shut the projector off and made to leave the office, hand landing on the doorknob and twisting it as he prepared to leave, only to be stopped when someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"G36. I have come to inform you that the Dolls rescued by you and the Soviets have arrived at the base, along with their supplies." the German maid replied dutifully, causing him to sigh.
"I hear you, G36, but I've got an operation to organize. Can you deal with the newcomers for me?"
"Jawhol."
"Thank you."
Opening the door, he waited for the maid to turn back towards the lobby before he left the office properly, heading towards the Command Room to get everything put together.
Why do I feel like this is gonna go south somehow?
Tactical Doll M1911
Due to the Commander's punishment, instead of relaxing in her dorm or training for her next mission, M1911 was currently standing in the lobby with her hands clasped together, her usual outfit replaced with a "proper" maid outfit, albeit one that was a bit tight on her, had a somewhat low-cut collar, and had a shorter skirt than a true French maid's uniform, somewhat like a Japanese maid café's employee. It also came with white stockings, black shoes, and short sleeves with a frilly headband that sat right on top of her head, completing the look of a dutiful maid.
Thankfully though, she didn't wind up with a dog collar around her neck like AK-47, who had burned a dorm room down only a year previously, so despite the embarrassment she felt at her outfit, she at least didn't have to deal with that shame.
Still, the feeling of the eyes of nearly everyone in the room staring at her was like torture, and the Doll wished she could just sink into the floor and disappear.
Why did he have to do this to me?!
Soon though, footsteps alerted the embarrassed blonde to the decontamination hall as a trio of Dolls walked out of it, all three of them unrecognized by the veteran.
The first one had the classic blond hair/blue eyes combo most Dolls that wound up at Station 794 seemed to have, with her hair flowing freely down her back and a pair of dog-ears accompanying her normal ones, along with aviator goggles. Her fair-skinned frame was rather shapely and clad in a white button-up shirt that was tied at the front under an open leather aviator jacket with a fur collar, jean-shorts with a red, white, and blue striped cloth tied around two of her beltloops, tipless black gloves, and black running shoes with armor plates covering everything but the front uppers of said shoes. A furry canine tail protruded from the base of her spine by the looks of it, and a slab of armor plating was attached to her right hip, along with spare shells on her left thigh and next to the plating.
Her weapon? A stockless M500 shotgun, no attachments. That made her a Shotgun, a recently-established Doll class responsible for heavy-duty crowd control, house clearing, and defense.
The second one was also a blonde, but with her hair in a long plait and an MG3 on her back. Similarly, though, she was also curvy, but wore a grey sleeveless hoodie with a red beret, yet another skirt (although she couldn't complain about that as she too wore a skirt,) colored black with a gold trim, black knee-high boots, black/gold stockings with one of the links to their garter belt undone and allowing the left one to be rolled down, and numerous belts of ammo were wrapped around her torso, an elbowpad on her right arm and tipless gloves on her hands.
Number three, a Doll with short dirty blonde hair and almost teal blue eyes, was undoubtedly a Nazi German weapon, her petite frame clad in what looked to be an SS or Gestapo uniform of sorts with short sleeves and a white skirt under it, red lining on it along with a blank red armband, probably because the symbol that'd usually occupy it would get her slaughtered by any Israeli or Soviet Doll she encountered, along with the modern German or Neo-Soviet militaries. Back to the Doll, she wore black boots with detached white cuffs on her wrists, an officer's cap, and she had an older-model camera hanging off of her neck, going with a leather bag full of files and an MP41 sub-machine gun hanging off her shoulders.
Oh God, it's one of those snitch Dolls... M1911 groaned in her head, recognizing the kit.
"So this is Station 794, huh?" the M500 asked, taking in the view before her. "Guy in charge's got his priorities straight so far..."
"I wonder what dirty little secrets everyone here has~" the snitch Doll remarked with a rather thick German accent, earning her a swat on the head from the MG3.
"Oy, don't go poking into people's lives as soon as you get here." the MG Doll (a class of Doll intended for suppressive fire and "high burst damage") reprimanded in a lighter German accent as the three of them saw M1911 and the snitch of the group snapped a photo, embarrassing her further.
Yeah, fuck you, Commander! she grumbled, having been seen in a tight‐fitting maid uniform rather than her usual one. Regardless, she stood straight and bowed respectfully at the new arrivals, just like G36 instructed.
"Welcome to Station 794, one of Griffin's oldest bases." she told them, standing straight again. "My name is M1911, temporary maid for the base and the main combat team's leader."
"Temporary?" the MP41 asked. "Did you get punished for something~?"
"MP41, stop it. Anyways, I'm M500, pleased to meet you." the Shotgun Doll in the group said, holding a hand out.
Shaking said hand, the Doll looked to her left and right, noting how MP41's hand almost instinctively reached for her camera only for MG3 to swat it away.
"Pleased to meet you." she told M500 before diverting her attention to the others and holding her hand out for them, giving them both a handshake with the snitchlike German in the group nodding to herself and murmuring under her breath.
"Um, so where's your Commander?" the dog-eared Shotgun asked, looking around the lobby.
"Either his office, the armory, or the Command Room, prepping another op." M1911 replied, pointing to the general direction of each location. "Why?"
"I wanna give him my thanks for saving me and the others at the shelter."
The HG knew what she was talking about, having heard of the Soviet operation's results from Cheeto when she went to the garages to chat up Grizzly, although something bugged her about the assessment.
"Hamg on, weren't there supposed to be like fifteen of you?" she asked.
"Ehh, some us went to other bases, some of us are still in repair or psychological evaluation, and the three of us are here."
Now that I think of it, we can now have a full Echelon Three...
"Ahh. Glad to welcome you here, you three, I'm sure the Commander'll appreciate your presence here." the HG told them, smiling. "Um, as of right now we only have two furnished dorms, as our other ones were fucked up by an attack a few months back, so you'll be sharing with the others here for now."
"That's fine." MG3 replied, just as her comms crackled to life.
"1911, report to the Command Room ASAP." the Commander ordered.
Excusing herself rather quickly, M1911 immediately ran out of the room, eager to escape from the lobby and the pairs of eyes that accompanied it.
As soon as the door opened for her the HG knew she'd fucked up, intimately feeling the eyes of everyone in the room focus on her rather intently, lighting her face up red and making her wish she could sink into the floor once more, especially when she suddenly heard laughter erupt from within the blue-lit room.
"Haha, what the hell are you wearing, comrade?! Hahaha!" AK-47 barely got out, clutching her sides as she laughed and furthered the shorter blonde's embarrassment. Similarly, Springfield was attempting and failing to suppress laughter, although MP5 and Howa 64 were simply confused by the looks of it.
However, it was the Commander who was the most surprised by her attire, and she could feel his eyes on her much more intently than the others, going from head to toe and back up.
"Did G36 literally put you in that?" he asked curiously, locking his gaze onto her face as opposed to her chest, thankfully.
Nodding in embarrassment, she quickly averted her gaze and gave her commanding officer the bird in embarrassed anger, causing him to chuckle in amusement.
"You know, if you were to flip my old CO off like that, he'd have you shot immediately." he told her with a small smirk on his face. "Consider yourself lucky that I'm not him. Anyways, back to business."
With that being said, the Dolls in the room gathered their bearings and stood straight, their amusement or confusion subsided in favor or attentiveness.
"After a couple hours of decryptions, I managed to crack into a comms device owned by Tactical Doll M4A1, the leader of the spec-ops AR Team, and contact her. After some conversation we set a meeting place seven miles south of our base in an abandoned village." the Commander started, indicating the area in question on the map. "Your job is simple: get to this area and ensure that M4A1 is safely extracted from the area. There are numerous vantage points to exploit in the area, and the skillset the current team here has is a good fit for this mission. However, there will be a backup team in place in case of failure or the situation going FUBAR, consisting of Dolls from Station 601 and stationed on this hilltop in the southeast."
A medium-sized hilltop was summarily highlighted green, showing the support Echelon placement in question.
"Any questions?"
"Can I get out of this damned outfit?" M1911 asked, tugging on the fabric covering her midsection.
"Actually, I'd prefer if you borrow some of the camoflague cloaks from the armory, since the area has tons of foliage you can use to your advantage. Also, bring your Dummies if you have them. Dismissed."
Nodding in understanding the HG gladly retreated from the office, her team following close behind as they headed towards the armory.
An Hour Later...
Now clad in her usual outfit with a camoflague-patterned cloak wrapped around her shoulders as she rode in a Blackhawk, M1911 looked to the rest of her similarly-outfitted team and their Dummies as they talked about their new mission: extract a High-Value Individual from a pre-designated extraction zone before Sangvis Ferri gets their grubby claws on her.
Sure, it was an easy job on paper but there was always the chance that Sangvis had bugged M4A1's comms or the extraction area contained sentries to report the HVI's presence and/or perform a capture themselves, and even if they did succeed in recovering her, what were the chances of not getting friendly casuslties during the op?
"Okay, we're almost to the pickup zone and Station 601's units are in place." the pilot told them, cutting her inner thoughts off.
"Uh, got it." she said before sitting up straight as the helicopter began its descent, and soon they got close enough to the ground to deploy safely, allowing them to open the doors and jump down onto the grassy grounds, absorbing the impact with their feet as they hit the ground and looked around the walled-off village.
The term village was very apt due to it only having around twenty or so buildings, but there were plenty of hiding places they could use to their advantage in both the buildings and the vegetation, and the ten-foot-tall makeshift wall surrounding it made it a little resistant to ELID hordes. However, it looked as if the village's population was exterminated rather than evacuated, numerous bodies of various humans (mostly armed militiamen) strewn across the area and in various states of mutilation; Sangvis Ferri's plasma/particle weapons were never known to be gentle towards human flesh.
Similarly, there were a few dead SF Dolls strewn in a similar manner, showing that these men didn't go quietly at the very least.
Shuddering at the sight, the IOP Doll then contacted her Commander.
"Commander, we've reached the AO." she said into an old radio, having been told to use it due to a potential Zener Network compromising.
"Good. Have Springfield go up into that church tower, then put MP5 and AK in the marketplace. After that, you and Howa 64 set up shop in the houses closest to the village entrances to the east and west, and 601's Support Echelon will provide overwatch for you. Any questions?" the Commander told her.
"What if things go south?"
"The church is decently fortified and SF for whatever reason left the village's ammo supply alone, and said supply includes ammo for your weapons. Commander Becker out."
As he winked out of existence M1911 addressed her team on the radio, ignoring the stench given off by the dead.
"Springfield, get in that church tower, AK, MP5, take each end of the marketplace and hide behind the food stands, Howa 64, take the western entrance."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Understood!"
"Acknowledged."
As the others took positions, the HG was joined by Howa 64, who wore a foliage-coated cloak over her outfit and lacked a Dummy, and as directed they ran to the houses near the eastern entrance and hopped into them through the windows, smashing the glass in the progress as she landed in the empty room.
Whoops, my bad. she thought as she landed in the house, ignoring the glass that poked her shin as she took a knee behind cover and her own Dummy joined her. After everyone else reported that they've taken position, she sighed and mentally prepared herself for the wait she'd endure.
"SF better not crash this."
Commander Ian Becker
"We're in position, Commander. When will M4A1 arrive?"
Sipping a cup of coffee G36 had made for him the Commander carefully watched the holotable's map as M1911 reported her status. Of course, he'd already known they'd reached their places thanks to their dots, but it was always nice to hear verbal confirmation of it; fancy tech wasn't always reliable in his experience, after all.
"Good, and she'll be there around six. M4A1's signal won't show on the tacmaps, so you'll need to either have Howa pulse her or get a visual on her." he told her. "Key things to look for are silky dark-brown hair with a green stripe and brown eyes, a tight-fitting sleeveless top, a green armband with what I'm guessing is a stylized A and R on it, and a white-ish jacket tied around the waist."
"Understood, sir. 1911 out."
As the Echelon leader cut the comms link someone knocked on his door, causing him to verbally let them in, the door soon opening to reveal the same curvy dog-eared blonde he saved mere hours ago.
"Welcome to Station 794, miss...?" he trailed off as she saluted him and introduced herself.
"Tactical Doll M500 at your service, sir!"
Chuckling at her enthusiastic greeting, the Commander simply said "At ease" and caused her to stop saluting.
"I'm Commander Ian Becker, the commanding officer of this Station, as well as the one that saved you during that op a couple hours back." he then introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, and thank you for saving us."
"You're welcome, M500. Concerning your placement in an Echelon, I'll either assign you and your friends to Echelon Three or make an Echelon Four, as well as get work started on repairing another dorm room."
"Thank you, Commander!"
As he spoke to her Ian couldn't help but notice how her tail wagged and her ears perked up rather realistically, as if IOP had taken notes from both species in designing this Doll, and he made a mental note to ask M500 about it later.
"Least I could do. Dismissed."
Snapping one last salute, the Shotgun Doll turned around and left the room, the door opening for her and shutting itself once she left. Without the new arrival in the room with him it was much easier to focus on the task at hand, paying intense attention to the holotable-map as his troops began to report their status once again.
This better not fuck up. he told himself as he grabbed his coffee cup to drink from it again.
Tactical Doll WA2000
Station 601 Forces
Laying flat on her stomach with her rifle propped up on its bipod, Station 601's premier marksman watched over the little village downhill with a keen eye, ready to strike down whatever stupid fuck was dumb enough to enter the village with a single well-placed bullet.
Thanks to orders from her Commander, she and her spotter were wearing drab-colored cloaks over themselves, blending into the foliage occupying their hill with ease. Similarly, the Dolls they were covering for had similar cloaks (once again due to camoflague concerns) and were stationed throughout the village with two in the oddly-large marketplace, two covering the east and west entrances, and one in the church tower.
"Fraü WA2000, what are we doing here again?" her spotter C96 asked, scanning the area with binoculars.
"From what I could gather, we're here because we have to watch over Station 794 troops while they extract some kind of elite Doll." the German explained idly, her thick accent audible as she brushed her wine-colored hair out of her face. "I have no idea why they didn't use another one of their teams to do this, but for a high-priority mission like this I suppose their Commander wasn't taking any chances."
"Yeah, and the two Commanders fought together in World War 3, so they have a lot of trust in one another." Super SASS added, adjusting her position kneeling behind a fallen tree.
"Mein Gott, does that mean they're both idiots?" WA2000 sighed.
"Commander Becker isn't too bad." the American defended the rookie Commander. "I actually think you would get along with him pretty well."
"You sure? Last I checked she never got along with anyone." Super SASS' spotter Colt SAA stated, the loli-like Doll's Southern drawl making itself known.
"Most people don't give me a reason to be kind to them."
"Not even me? I'm hurt, Wa-chan~" a mock-hurtful voice told her on the comms, startling the sniper thouroughly.
"Gah, what're you doing on my comms, Springfield?!" the wine-haired Doll squawked.
"I was going to ask if you've seen anything head towards the village." her senior explained, turning to a more serious tone.
"In that regard, not yet. As for that other thing, y-you don't count in that..."
"I knew that~ Just felt like messing with you, that's all~"
"W-Why, though?"
"Because you're so cute when you get embarrassed or flustered~"
Turning her head right to avoid her teammates seeing her blushing face, WA2000 cursed the American out under her breath in embarrassment.
"Focus on your mission, dummkopf!"
"Alright, Wa-chan."
"Hold up, I've got eyes on a hostile patrol east of your positions." SAA suddenly declared, tagging the hostiles she spotted with her binoculars and causing the others to look at the patrol: four Rippers with two Vespids and a couple Prowlers as backup.
"You've got enemies approaching your position, we'll take them out for you." WA2000 told her senior's team, shifting her weapon to the Sangvis patrol downhill: their slow, methodical walk ensuring that leading her shots was unnecessary.
Without any words said between them the 601 snipers ran the ballistics calculations through their heads and lined up their shots, mindful of the Corolis effect and the slight wind, then at once they fired, striking the Vespids down and causing the Rippers to try and disperse; AR/SMG fire from an AKM and an MP5 stopping them from doing so and making them easier targets for the sniper team to hit, their heads splattering oils and coolants from taking fully-powered rounds to the head and their bodies slumping to the ground from the force.
"Targets eliminated, but who told that AK and MP5 to fire?" the wine-haired Rifle asked.
"They were gonna run and call backup, and seeing as you guys have scoped rifles, it would've been difficult to readjust your aim so quickly." the AKM-wielding Doll explained rather sensibly.
"Oh. Still, you ought to preserve your ammo in case SF followed your VIP here."
"We'll do that, might be another Ringleader following her. Anyways, gotta go."
"Tell Springfield to stop being a dummkopf, will you?"
After acknowledging her request the 794 AR shut the comms link off, leaving WA2000 alone with C96 and the other sniper pair, and without any further thought on them she continued with her mission.
Tactical Doll M1911
Station 794 Forces, Four Hours Later...
"Are you sure she's gonna be here?"
After four hours in the village, the sun had started to set, the stench of death was getting to them all, and the extraction team leader was getting worried the HVI wasn't going to show. Hell, they'd encounter seven different Sangvis patrols over the course of the hour and they still found nothing!
"Hey, anyone on your end yet?" AK-47 asked disinterestedly.
"Nope, not yet. You think Sangvis got her before us?" M1911 replied over her radio.
"Have some faith, Boss. This is an elite Doll we're talking about, they're known for being self-capable badasses."
"Yeah, I guess so... Howa, scan the area again." she ordered idly, scanning the forest for contacts with a set of binoculars.
"Understood."
Even though she felt she'd wind up finding nothing, she still waited for the golden wave to pass over her— and nearly did a double take upon seeing a lone friendly signature walking towards the east entrance. Looking towards the signature, she immediately saw almost everything the Commander told her to look out for: long, silky dark brown hair with a green stripe poking out from a hood with a sleeveless ribbed top that looked more like a leotard based on the cutouts around her curvy-looking hips and its tight‐fitting nature, a green armband, and a jacket tied around the waist with long, boot-clad legs. While a fluffy arctic cloak (that hinted at a mountainous environment for her last mission) was wrapped snugly around her shoulders and provided her with her hood, a tan M4A1 with a 20-round mag was fully visible from beneath it.
"Heads-up, we've got a single hooded individual coming in from the east. It may be a trap, so be careful." the 601 sniper WA2000 reported from her perch, confirming the hooded Doll's presence, and ensuring that the HG wasn't hallucinating (how a machine could hallucinate, she didn't know.)
"Holy shit, she came here after all..." she said to herself right before she pulled her radio up and dialed in Station 794's frequency. "Commander, the VIP is onsite! I say again, the VIP is onsite!"
"Told you she'd be there by six." the Commander told her. "Alright, I'm calling it in. Based on the distance it should be about fifteen or more minutes before it arrives."
"Understood sir, 1911 out."
Tutning her radio off, she turned her weapon towards the cloaked Doll, wanting to be sure it was the VIP especially because she'd already called it in.
"Alright, lose the cloak!" she called out to the Doll.
"O-Okay..." she complied, reaching up to the knot holding the cloak in place and undoing it, pulling the camoflagued item away and revealing her frame in full, her soft brown eyes and beautiful face the first things the veteran noted.
"I take it you're M4A1?"
"Y-Yes." the elite replied, crossing into the village as M1911's IFF systems properly identified her, the manufacturer listed as 16LAB rather than just IOP.
Holy shit, 16LAB? Explains why everyone's so hot on her heels.
With that in mind the team leader hopped out the window and ran across the grassy grounds towards M4A1, stopping just before her and letting her wave at her.
"Look, our Commander just called in an extraction helo to our position, so you gotta just wait with us until they arrive, okay?" the HG explained to her, causing her to nod. "Okay, come with me, I've a good place in mind for you if things go south from here."
The place in question was the old church Springfield was atop, which had numerous barricades around it as well as an intact Kord heavy MG mounted inside with what looked to be a dead man next to it. On top of that, there was a decent amount of ammo left in a crate at the altar, with 7.62x39 and 9x19 Parabellum abundant. Otherwise, only about half of the church seats survived the last attack the place suffered, and it was filled to the brim with with dead bodies, including women and children, showing how the village's own occupants failed to defend their home.
"How's your ammo supply doing?" M1911 asked once they reached it, ignoring the stench of death by looking to the ammo pouches hidden in M4A1's jacket.
"Only two or three magazines left..." the brunette lamented.
"In that case, if they don't melt it to bits, the Kord's got a lot of ammo left, but there's a dead guy next to it by the looks of it, so tell me if you're uneasy around dead guys amd I'll move him for you."
Nodding in understanding, the elite AR entered the town hall and approached the Kord, taking the time to gently remove the body from its resting place with the utmost care and lay it to rest a bit more properly. She seemingly wasn't done though, and she proceeded to arrange every dead militiaman and innocent to rest in a corner of the church, wishing them well on their way to the afterlife before taking the seats and arranging them as extra cover to use.
"Hey, Miss M1911, when we get to your base, will you get your Commander to help find my sisters?" the brunette asked softly when she was done.
"First off, just call me 1911, and secondly, I think he'd help you regardless." M1911 asked. "He's a good guy, and he was ex-Army, so he's got 'no man left behind' ingrained into his brain, so he'll help."
"T-That's good to hear..."
Before M1911 could say anything else, multiple people tried to contact her on the comms at once, causing her to nearly be unable to understand the voices had her Neural Cloud not separated them.
"Be advised, I have eyes on a sizeable Sangvis force, northeast of your position! I'll try thin their numbers but the rest'll be up to you!"
"1911-san, I've detected over thirty hostile contacts encircling the village!"
"All units be advised, about forty-five Sangvis Dolls are dispersing and approaching the village from all directions! Regroup at the church and dig in, I've got reinforcements on the way!"
"How'd they find us?!" the blonde yelled in anger before she pulled her radio up. "You heard the Commander, all units regroup at the church and dig in! 601, provide as much support as you can!"
"Understood!"
"Acknowledged!"
Putting her radio up again, she turned to M4A1 and sighed.
"M4, what do you think our odds of repelling this attack are?" she asked, causing the elite to calculate it in her head for a moment.
"In the best case scenario, about 72%, but if they brought a Ringleader with them and backup doesn't arrive, only 19%..." the brunette told her grimly. "There's only 300 rounds of ammo in the Kord, and I have only sixty rounds for my rifle, as well as some grenades."
"What kind?"
"Smoke and flashbang."
"We can use that if we need to escape, so keep them handy."
As M4A1 acknowledged her advice, MP5, Howa 64, and AK-47 entered the church with their Dummies in tow, waving to M4A1 and stopping once they were inside the dark, lifeless building, awaiting new orders.
"AK, take your Dummy and secure the main entrance. MP5, go east with your Dummy and hold that entrance. Howa, hold the south, and I'll help M4 hold the north entrance." she ordered. "Any questions?"
Nobody had any questions to ask.
"Good. We've got fifteen to twenty minutes before our extraction bird arrives, so we've gotta hold our ground until then. Dismissed."
As the others ran to their positions and dug in as ordered, M1911 only had one thought in her mind as she followed suit and picked up an AKM off the ground for better firepower.
Someone's gonna die, aren't they...?
Finally... feels good to get past Chapter Twenty-Three in a story.
Anyways, concerning my story progress, I regret to inform you all that I haven't made any further progress on Origin Story. The reasons are either a) lack of interest in SAO at the time, b) IJA war crime ignorance by the modern Japanese government, or c) wacked-out customs by the same government. It's likely reason B, because I was disgusted to find that the horrors committed by the Imperial Japanese were just swept under the rug by the modern Japanese government, unlike modern Germany and its Nazi past (as they have many memorials to honor those wrongfully killed by the Nazi regime and immediately crack down on Neo-Nazi activity whenever spotted, although I'm not sure about the frequency of this thanks to a number of ex-Nazis forming up the Bundeswehr.)
Back to the Recollection, the next chapter will feature the defense of the abandoned village, as well as an opportunity to fix the Executioner fight the anime fucked up (a daunting task, as I've been writing a lot of the more tactical kinds of combat and Executioner's combat style doesn't adhere to that kind of fighting.)
By the way, what soundtrack (from any game, movie, TV show/anime, or just a standalone song) do you associate with the main factions and human NPC characters? (Kalina, Helian, Kryuger, Carter and Yegor, Angelia, the Stasi agents, and Lyons.)
I'll see you next chapter!