Welcome to Defense Planning I! After retrieving M4 SOPMOD II, Commander Becker must plan carefully and collaborate with Stations 737 and 601 to prevent the total annihilation of his base by a large Sangvis attack force.
About the story, I feel like my impatience is getting to me, because things are going way too fast for my tastes and I keep forgetting to reference the source material until it's too late to adapt it in, thus leading to my chapters being unsatisfactory to me, and much like the Metro devs, I would rather make something I like so I know that my readers will like it, too.
To Culture-Hunt3r, sorry if I botched SOPMOD's intro, but what I had in mind would have copied Toy Soldiers to a degree, but I'll make up for it later.
Otherwise, I just learned that MICA Team had gone through just as much hell as GFL's characters have just to keep their game from failing or getting cracked down on by the PRC government, not to mention Suisai's hostile departure, StG-940's artist's death, NIXOO (HKM4's artist) getting hit by a car but pushing onward to finish her anniversary dress anyways, and much more.
So turns out that Reverse Collapse is finally accepting sign-ups for the closed beta, despite my skepticism, and a few days before that they did a Tweet in binary text that literally just said "we're back" when translated, so hopefully this means they're getting ready to release it soon, because I'm sick of waiting. Edit: The closed beta went through, and the people who played it are happy with it, so good news for us!
To anyone who has seen his works, Lance Reddick, the voice of Commander Zavala in Destiny, has passed away. I'm not sure how you feel about it, but I broke down crying when I was making a Mega Construx diorama with Zavala in it in remebrance of him. Sure, call me a wimp, but I've been playing Destiny for years, so it hurt me to see that it'd happened, so to those who played Destiny or saw one of his movies, please pay your respects to Reddick in some form.
Tons of credit to Reddit user u/Mechasaurian for assisting in the planning of the chapter.
To CCTReconnli: Glad you liked it, it was honestly a bit awkward since I was making shit up on the fly, and while Dolls don't always need body armor since their frames are bullet-resistant, it's still quite useful and Dolls like M1911 would definitely benefit from it. Not to mention the fact that anime girls in military gear's got a certain appeal to it.
To AmythestPone: Thank you for the corrections about the grenade-tactic stuff I was doing, and I was not trying to do protagonist-centered morality, so I'm sorry if that point in Raid I looked like that. If you haven't gotten the notifications yet, then I sent PMs to you in reply to your reviews.
Station 794 Helipad, Sector 09
Ukraine, Neo-Soviet Union
July 13, 2062
Commander Ian Becker
Standing at the main helipad in the courtyard Ian watched impatiently as the Blackhawk carrying M4 SOPMOD II and his team approached the base, the news that AR-15 got captured stinging at him greatly as he tried to think of where Sangvis Ferri had taken her, pacing back and forth across the helipad as the calm winds blew against him.
Despite the fact that she typically accompanied him to the heliport to welcome their returning teams back Kalina had been stuck doing Combat Reports in the Data Room, which was regrettable since he'd liked to have her with him so he at least wasn't by himself.
"C'mon, hurry up..." he muttered as the Blackhawk finally got within distance for the signalers to see it and start waving the helicopter down with their batons, the thumping of helicopter rotors audible as it descended and pushed its powerful winds against him, making him take a step back and wait for the helo to land before he dared approach it.
And as soon as the door opened a black-and-pink blur shot out and pummeled him to the ground from its momentum.
"Argh, fuck!" he swore as his back hit the ground, stinging painfully as he looked to the figure— who he dreadfully recognized as M4 SOPMOD II, as she pulled him to his feet. "What was that about?!"
"Sorry Commander, but I don't have the time to explain!" the AR Team grenadier told him as she tightly grabbed his arm dragged him to the Blackhawk she just left. "Just get in the helo already!"
"Why should I?!" he shouted, attempting to wrench himself free from the Doll's tight-as-hell grip to no avail.
"SOP-II, what are you—?!" M4A1 tried to cut in only for her panicking sister to speak over her.
"Sangvis is on its way to blow this place to bits and me and M4 can't hold off 400 or more Sangvis at once!"
"How can you be so sure?!" the Commander asked, seeing if the Doll's message wasn't just a false alarm of sorts— although her behavior certainly said it wasn't a hoax.
"I overheard their communications earlier, and like I said, me and M4 can't take them all on—!"
"But me and my forces can! We're not just a couple guys at a surveillance outpost, we're a frontline base for God's sake!" he shot at her, still attempting to free himself despite the very real risk of dislocating his shoulder like his classmate Hsu had back in WW3. "I'm not leaving my people for dead, and that's final!"
"But—!"
"SOP-II, it's not like the old days anymore! We have friends to fight alongside now!" M4A1 cut in, finally quelling her sister's desperate efforts to get him in the Blackhawk and freezing her up.
"W-We have friends now...?" she asked uncertainly, as if the mere concept of having permanent friends was the most foreign thing in the world to her. Then again, considering the AR Team's reputation, that was likely the truth.
"We do, just like you always wanted..." her leader confirmed as she helped Echelon One's members out of the helo one-by-one. "Just give us the order, Commander, and we'll do whatever we have to in order to stop Sangvis' advance."
Without SOPMOD's horrifically tight grip on his arm the Commander readily nodded and pulled his transponder out, linking it to the base's speakers to address the entire base at once.
"This is Commander Ian Becker to all personnel, I have just recieved actionable intel that Sangvis Ferri has assembled a sizeable attack force to wipe us out again, so I want all Echelon leaders to report to the Command Room to aid in defense planning immediately." he ordered, his voice magnified by a lot by the speaker systems as he spoke.
Putting his radio away, he then turned to SOPMOD again to address her.
"Do you know any details about this attack?" he asked her seriously.
"Yeah, they're deploying about 400 units or more in waves, deployed by helos and transport vehicles sometime after nightfall, no artillery except for Jaguars as far as me and AR-15 could tell, maybe some armored units 'cause it's a nighttime raid, and there's a good possibility a Ringleader's in charge of the attack but other than that, not much." the pink-haired girl replied carefully, which contrasted with her file's personality paragraph.
"Thank you, that'll help a lot." Ian told her before snapping and pointing to M1911. "Show SOPMOD where the armory is to restock then report to the Command Room."
"Yes, sir!" the HG replied crisply, motioning for the grenadier to follow her and leaving the heliport.
"Everyone else, follow them, M4, you're with me." he added before walking down the stairs to head inside.
"Yes, sir." M4A1 replied as she followed suit, her face set as she followed him down the stairs as well. "Commander, what do you think our odds of success are?"
"If they don't decide to hit us right now, and I can get help from 737 and 601, about sixty-seven percent." he replied evenly. "M4, you've had a lot of experience with modern Sangvis, correct?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then I'd like your help in planning the defense."
The declaration thoroughly startled M4A1, who'd never made plans like the ones he needed in her past operations.
"Relax, I've got experience with this kind of stuff, so don't be afraid to ask me for advice." he reassured her as she went to tell him some reason why she wasn't fit for the job before continuing towards the base itself, already thinking of the best way to repel their incoming attackers.
Now standing within the Command Room, Ian carefully counted each Echelon leader out to make sure everyone was present, with M1911 and M4A1 (who was stood beside him) still clad in their camoflague uniforms as they were still perfectly useable but Springfield and M500 clad in their usual clothes. However, they were all at attention and ready to be assigned to their posts.
"Is everyone here? Good, let's get to business." he said after he finished his headcount, bringing up a holographic map of Station 794. "According to M4 SOPMOD II, Sangvis Ferri plans on launching a nighttime assault on Station 794, likely with the intention of crippling it again and capturing M4A1 here."
After saying that he swiped at the areas around the base and simulated hostile signals appeared in a circle around the base.
"Given that Sangvis preferred to encircle the village and close in on the church like a boa constrictor would its prey, it's safe to assume that they'll do the same here, since they'll be under the impression that we're undermanned and low on supplies. However, with reinforcements in the form of the other Griffin Dolls saved during the joint operation with the Soviets coming within the hour and support from the other Stations, we should be able to keep a consistent defense line established around the base's perimeter."
With that in mind, he started planning his defense.
"Since there's a watchtower in each corner of the base's perimeter inside the walls, we could get a Rifle put in each one with a spotter to support them to serve as lookouts and provide fire support, and we could station MGs on the main building's rooftops to fire down on approaching infantry units..." he murmured, tapping each location and inputting the corresponding units. "We should probably station each Echelon at each side of the base and order some Dummies from IOP, although those would take at least a day to get shipped here, so they'd be too late for the attack..."
"In that regard, you should probably put the teams with Dummies in the areas you think the enemy would send the most units to attack." Springfield advised, pointing to the more vulnerable parts of the base's perimeter.
"Good idea. Unlike the Dummies, the other bases can get their reinforcements here in under four hours at the minimum, since Kamalov shipped me some ammo a week ago and it took about two-to-three hours for it to arrive, and it's only 3:25 right now." Ian told them before returning from the map. "That's where we'd get the sniper and MG teams from, although Helian said there'd be two Rifles and an MG coming in that deployment."
"Nice..." M1911 said in response.
"Concerning the time this attack's taking place in, we need NVG equipment and/or flares, although according to Kalina, Kamalov is a night-op specialist, so he'd have both of those to spare..."
"What if Sangvis decides on only one axis of attack or decides to prolong the battle?" M4A1 asked sensibly.
"If they go with one axis, then we can keep our defenses focused there. If it turns into a battle of attrition, though, then it'd be quite difficult to beat them back, considering that I don't have the resources they do." he replied grimly, thinking of just how unprepared they were for the situation. "Maybe if I had more time to prepare, then we could get a reasonable defense set up..."
This time, it was M500 who stepped up.
"Assuming they're pressed for time, it'd be best for the enemy to try and attack one sector of the base with everything they've got, and if they have time those mortars could keep hammering us for as long as they need to. One thing you could do is get HQ to send a dedicated team to disrupt their mortars and keep them from receiving extra supplies." the Shotgun suggested, pointing to places the enemy would likely set up Jaguars, which were all in the forest encircling the base.
"Thanks for the idea, M500." he said gratefully before looking back to the map. "Sucks that we're smack-dab in the middle of a forest, so they have tons of concealment as they get closer to the base, and even if we fired flares they could hide from them."
The more that he thought about it, the more he could see that he was in a horrible position, no matter what he did. Evacuation? He'd be tossing away the lives of fifty human beings and twenty-five Dolls for nothing, or if he could get them all out safely, then Sangvis could repurpose the base for their own purposes and have a clear shot into Russia proper. Defense? He had no idea if SF was pressed for time or was able to carry out a prolonged siege, and either way he was horrifically unprepared for it. Assassinating the Ringleader in charge of the op? He had no idea where she was, and the only two Dolls that could act autonomously were both highly coveted by Sangvis and weren't prepared to deal with whatever defenses the Ringleader had.
"Haah, it'd probably be best if we eliminated whoever's calling the shots before they can make the battle drag on longer than needed." he decided anyways.
"Good idea, but we'd have to find the fucker first." M1911 told him grimly. "We might have a drone we can use, but SF Command Posts can transmit signals from miles away, so we'd need satellite support to find them."
"Thankfully, we at least have that. Plus, HQ could get a strike team in to take it and the Jaguar teams out once we find them. Now that I think of it, given that the base is sandwiched between forestry from the east and west, the enemy will surely use them to cover their approach, so in that regard, we could just do it like the Russian Federation did in the Chechen Wars and just bomb the shit out of it so they can't hide in it."
"Better yet, use landmines, that's more subtle and they're a bit more legal than the heavy artillery the Federation had." Springfield suggested.
"We should also put landmines in our own perimeter in case they breach the base walls, and we should get turrets placed."
"Automated?"
"Preferably. That way, we don't have to have someone manning it. In another case, we're gonna need mortars of our own so we can shell them with artillery and a reserve team to keep them from getting too far into the base."
"While they are legal, mortars require a horrific amount of time to acquire a license for them, and the government constantly runs inspections on the bases to check for any unauthorized heavy artillery." M1911 stated grimly. "However, last I checked, longer-serving Griffin Commanders tend to have those licenses..."
"Shi Jun's served Griffin for a while, so he ought to have such a license." the Commander replied calmly. "Speaking of, I ought to go ahead and call the others and ask for support. 1911, get SOPMOD here and ask her for all the details on this attack."
"Yes, sir." the HG said before leaving the room to retrieve the grenadier. Of course, she was not the brains of the AR Team by any means, but she did have the most intel on the enemy's movements.
With that in mind, he quickly dialed not only one base, but three bases in total, and one-by-one, the holograms of Feodor Kamalov, Shi Jun, and Helianthus appeared in front of him.
"Commander, what's the meaning of this?" Helian promptly asked once she noticed the other Commanders' presence.
"Is something wrong, comrade?" Kamalov asked as well.
"Haah, let's just say that my current situation is very, very FUBAR." Ian replied before Shi Jun could say anything.
"Did Sangvis capture any AR Team members?" Helian asked, and while she wasn't wrong on that, it wasn't his biggest issue at the moment.
"AR-15, but I successfully found SOPMOD, who has actionable intel that Sangvis wants to attack Station 794 again, not even a month after I was assigned here."
"Shit... What do you need?" Shi Jun asked, getting straight to the point.
"I need a sniper team from you, including anti-materiel rifles since they're attacking after nightfall and thus will likely be deploying armored units, and if possible, a mortar or two would be appreciated with HE and illumination shells, I need NVG equipment and flares from you Kamalov, and I also need your MG team again, and I need whatever support you can provide, Helian."
"Got it."
"Understood, whatever you need."
"Thank you all. The enemy plans to attack after nightfall, so if you can get that stuff shipped over now, it'll arrive in time to make use of it. Also, if things go to shit, how large of a batch of reinforcements can you send, Helian?"
"Hm... About twelve Echelons' worth without leaving us with too many absent units, all equipped with the maximum number of Dummies, but we likely won't need that many units deployed at once." the Sub-Director replied.
"So that would be about... three hundred extra units, right?" he asked, wanting to be sure his math was right.
"Yes. Do you require extra Dummies for your troops as well?"
"If you can get it here before seven, then yeah, I'd like some."
"Acknowledged, Commander."
"Thanks. Could I also get a batch of landmines to place in the forests surrounding the base, so that the enemy can't use them for concealment?"
"Hmm... one of our patrols did relieve a hostile militia of their mines recently, so we could send those to you..." Helian told him carefully.
"Thanks again. Anything you two could send me?" the Commander directed to Kamalov and Shi Jun as he started planning where to place his upcoming mines.
"I have a dedicated night battle team to lend you for this." Kamalov replied readily.
"Other than the mortars and the sniper teams, not much else to give you, unless you want me to assist coordination." Shi Jun offered, and with how hectic things would undoubtedly get, he appreciated the offer.
"I'm gonna owe you guys quite a lot after this." Ian chuckled before checking his map again, marking down where he'd place the MGs and Rifles to provide overwatch for the other forces. "Does anyone happen to have turrets available? Preferably automated?"
"We have some M134s rigged to bipods with automated targeting systems..." Helian said, looking through her tablet.
"Shit, your funds are gonna be going down the drain for that." he realized, knowing just how much it cost to fire an M134 minigun for twelve seconds straight.
"If it helps you stay alive, then it's worth it." the Sub-Director assured him. "Anyways, we have six of them to spare, and I've already sent them and the other items you've requested on the way to your base."
"Thank you again. Hey, could you send a team or something specifically to deal with the Jaguars once we find them?"
"We can deploy FN Squad to your position, as well as Grizzly MkV to give them a fifth member..."
He immediately perked up at that, as FN Squad was one of Griffin and Kryuger's finest Doll Echelons, lead by the famous FN FAL and specializing in tackling unusual events or focused strikes on the enemy.
"Nice..." he trailed off, referring to his map again before the door opened and M1911 returned with M4 SOPMOD II in tow, the grenadier now cleaned up and fully restocked.
"So you wanted me, Commander?" she asked, cocking her head at him.
"Yeah, I'd like for you to tell me absolutely everything you know about this attack." Ian replied. "Anything helps."
"Mm-kay. First and foremost, when we heard about it on the comms, the Sangvis in charge was telling another Ringleader that she'd wanted to get the base destroyed before HQ sent reinforcements, so I think she wants it done quickly." she started, the news that his enemy was being impatient putting him more at ease.
"Good, that means they'll bumrush it and we'll actually have a chance to do this without requiring reinforcements or a steady supply line. Anything else?"
"Yeah, they had a force of about 400 units, about triple or quadruple the base staff's size."
"They're probably gonna send units to patrol around the base and prod at your defenses while making it look like they're just passing by." Shi Jun advised.
"They had a bunch of Prowlers to go with their infantry units, too." SOPMOD added, pointing to where he planned to place his mines. "In that case, they'll probably send them in to soak up bullets and clear up whatever traps you've got laid around the base."
"And since our base's walls are pretty damn tough, they'll probably send Nemeums to blow holes through it to let their grunts through." M1911 told him, pointing to the places the Nemeums— or SF's automated flak cannon units— would be deployed, mostly forested regions to the east and west.
"Sounds like those AM rifles'll be useful after all. If I'm not mistaken though, they're pretty weak under that armor, so some C4 in the barrel should take care of them. Anyways, is a Ringleader directly leading them?"
"No, but they have one overseeing the battle from afar to make sure it goes well, based on what we heard." the AR Team grenadier replied to his question. "They're probably using a Command Post to direct them, so you should send me and M4 to clear it out before things get too hairy."
"Sure, if we can find it before we get killed or wipe them out first." he told her before returning to the map. "Additionally, it's a pretty good bet they'll divert some of their forces to provide fixing fire around the northern and southern walls, and since there's a forested area on the west side of our perimeter, it's also likely they'll hit it as a backup plan or a diversionary tactic to draw our forces to the wrong areas."
"And in the event that the enemy gets inside your walls, you should do everything you can to prevent them from grouping up into big chunks, then eliminate them in detail." Shi Jun added.
"And we can set up chokepoints and stuff in the base to funnel them into killboxes."
"Indeed. Your biggest worry, though, is the fact that the enemy has a lot of artillery at hand, so you have to worry about that while you're dealing with the infantry." Helian said.
"In that case, they'll probably either hit around the middle of the base to try and cave the building in or hit the outer defenses to soften us up for the infantry." Ian murmured, drawing a circle around the area the Jaguars would potentially fire on and marked it as "interdicting fire."
"If they bring enough Jaguars, then they can use a creeping barrage to close the distance and pummel us into bits, then the infantry mops up whoever's left." M500 noted grimly.
"Don't worry, I didn't see enough Jaguars for that, at least." SOPMOD reassured.
"Good. I'm going to place our mortars on the rooftops here and here, covering each approach and allowing us to either shell them or pop a flare on them so we can see them better." Ian said next, pointing to the eastern and western sides of the main building's rooftop. "We should also place a bunch of tripmines in the entrances and the hallways, and set up chokepoints in the lobby, Forward Basecamp, and the west entrance to funnel them in. "As for the sentry guns, we should place them in aformation similar to a revolver's cylinder, so they can have full coverage of the grounds, and place barricades around them to protect them from enemy fire."
"Even then, there's no guarantee they won't reach the Command Room, so we've gotta get you a bodyguard or something."
"I'll pull Kalina here to assist me and we can set EMP traps in the doorways for whatever SF's stupid enough to come up at us. And if it's Hunter who springs the trap..."
A low chuckle rumbled from his throat at the though of getting an easy payday, or better yet, a prisoner to interrogate, as the NUSSR's file on her didn't say anything about a self-destruction protocol being in place.
"Ooh, we could do a prisoner exchange, trade Hunter for AR-15!" SOPMOD exclaimed a moment later. "Then when we're sure AR-15's safe, kill Hunter!"
"That's... actually not a bad idea, but the chances of her falling for such a trap are slim to none, unless we get lucky or time it right..." M4A1 spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. "Of course, it also counts on Sangvis caring enough about her to work, but if we were to interrogate her, we could locate her position through her Neural Cloud, then stage a rescue mission... Of course, that also brings the risk of getting AR-15 killed by mistake..."
"Are we talking about saving AR-15, or saving my base?" the Commander cut in, stopping the AR Team leader's rambling. "Anyways, as I was saying, the hallways are pretty ideal for placing chokepoints or traps, and we should fortify the underground structures in case we have to go below ground."
"Considering the fact that you don't have many underground facilities, it'd be best if we could prevent that from happening." Helian advised him.
"Uh-huh..." he hummed, returning to the map to plan possible contigencies in case things went wrong. "1911, I need you to go inform Kalina that we're about to recieve a large sum of supplies and troops."
As M1911 left again, he couldn't help but think of how dangerous the upcoming defense would get, or if evacuating everyone before nightfall was the best choice to make, but after reasoning that Sangvis would just blow the base up anyways and push through to the Russian mainland, he simply cast the thought off as a last-ditch contigency and got back to planning his defense.
Forty-Five Minutes Later...
After finalizing his plans for the defense with the other officers' help, Ian was now overseeing the placement of the defenses they had, numerous barricades being placed in the base's perimeter, the four watchtowers, and each entrance, not an iota of complaint coming from his subordinates despite the weight of the concrete walls and metallic barriers they were pushing into place.
"Okay, lookin' good, guys, now you just gotta get some sandbags in place around there, since we don't have enough barriers to block that area off!" he called out to a pair of men in grey uniforms as they finished setting up mobile barriers.
"You got it, Bossman!" one of them yelled before he and his friend set off to get the sandbags in question from the base's warehouse.
"You, I want roadspikes set around the base to pop those Prowlers' tires as they pop up!" he called to another serviceman, who promptly turned a one-eighty degree angle and ran forth to fetch the spikes in question— and the radio on his person came to life.
"Sir, there's an IOP truck at the gate." the security guard informed him. "Scans indicate that it contains seven Griffin Dolls."
Right on time...
"Let 'em in." he ordered, and the security gate opened to allow an IOP transport truck into the base's grounds, stepping out of its way as it slowed to a stop and the driver got out, looking at the work he'd accomplished so far.
"Looks like you're turning this place into a fortress." the man noted as he went to open the back of his truck. "You get attacked recently?"
"I'm about to in a few hours, so whoever's in there needs to get out so you can get back to your workplace."
"Got it." the man sad as he opened the back of his truck up and beckoned its occupants out.
The first Doll to get out was one with brown-to-red hair tied in twintails, vibrant hazel eyes, and a "balanced" frame clad in a tan/navy blue trim sailors' jacket with numerous ribbons on it and a white shirt underneath it, a blue pleated shirt, white thigh-high socks with blue cuffs, and brown shoes, an M14 battle rifle hanging off of a sling as she approached him with a great big smile.
"Hello, mister Commander!" she greeted cheerfully, waving at him.
"Welcome to Station 794." he greeted back, shaking her hand once she reached him. "What're your specialties?"
"Um, we're good at providing suppressive fire, but it's a bit hard to hit the enemy with how much the gun kicks..." she replied uneasily.
"M14, that thing's not an Assault Rifle, so just keep it on semi and stick to high vantage points to snipe them from afar, like that guard tower up there." he told her, pointing towards the nearest tower. "Speaking of, I need you up there looking out for hostiles."
"Yes, sir! We won't let you down!" the M14 replied as she ran to her new post and climbed up the ladder, his attention shifting to a new girl as she left the truck.
Like M14, she was a Rifle, but the similarities ended right there, with her long, pinkish hair, blueish green eyes, red star earrings, and the Soviet imagery decorsting her outfit, which consisted of a white blouse with a cleavage window and a brown corset over it, a matching miniskirt (why must it always be a fucking miniskirt?!) pink-to-black gradient thigh-highs, black flats, ammo pouche kn her waist, black gloves, and an Old Soviet soldier's cap. Her rifle of choice was the SKS, and with that in mind, he realized that he'd utilized this model of Doll quite a lot in the academy days.
"Hello, miss. What's your name?" Ian asked politely when she turned to look at him.
"SKS. A trump card like me is worth a hundred soldiers, so take good care of me!" she greeted confidently, but not in the "overconfident asshole" way.
"That's a rather big game you're talking, SKS." he replied playfully. "So you better be ready to prove it. Anyways, I want you in that tower providing overwatch for us for the next few hours."
Pointing to the southwestern tower, he saw SKS nod and head off towards it, promising that she'd prove herself as soon as she could. With that in mind, the Commander once again turned to the truck to see another Doll step out.
This one was undoubtedly Communist Chinese, with lightish brown hair also in twintails and matching eyes, along with a curvy, but slim figure. She wore a pale green turtlenecked tanktop with a cleavage window and a collar design reminiscent of older Chinese clothing, dark brown shorts with a pair of straps around the waist and a pouch on her rear, assymetrical-length black stockings with white stripes that visibly dug in to her thighs, brown boots she left unbuckled, leather tipless gloves, a pair of goggles in her hair, and Red Stars holding her long twintails in place. Her weapon looked to be a Kalashnikov at first glance, but a more thorough look allowed him to see the full-loop front sight, non-AKM bayonet, and RPK-style rivet pattern and ID the weapon as a Type 56-1— China's clone of Mikhail Kalashnikov's design.
"Zhǐhuī guān nín hăo!" she greeted in Chinese, which fucked him over since the language was so hard for him to understand that he couldn't even discern the syllabes spoken in their words.
"English, please, I can't speak Chinese." he told her politely.
"Oh, forgive me, Commander." the Doll apologized, her Chinese accent rather heavy and seemingly of a specific dialect, but he couldn't tell which dialect it was since he didn't fight against China in WW3. "I'm Norinco Type 56-1, it's a pleasure."
"Commander Becker, likewise. Anyways, I want you to go inside and talk this Doll, she'll tell you what to do."
Pulling his phone out, he selected the gallery and scrolled to a photo of G36 to show it to her, and after getting a good look at it Type 56-1 departed to find her, allowing him to get a look at the next Doll sent his way.
Standing at a bit shorter height than M1911, this Doll was undoubtedly an HG, with long, flowing blonde hair, big red eyes, and a cute, rounded face with a sleevele black layered dress with a black bow tied around it and a red upper layer, brown lower layer, and a black interior with black pantyhose, black shoes, a brown holster on her leg containing an M9, a puffy white detached sleeve on her left arm, a single cuff on her right wrist, and a red headband. She also looked somewhat busty, but as her bust size didn't line up with her petite frame, he guessed that she'd padded her chest.
"M9 here, I'm suuuper popular~!" she sang with an Italian accent as she approached him, her voice a rather high pitch.
"Sure you are..." he said with a smirk, rolling his eyes as he shook her hand. "I'm going to go ahead and assign you to spotting duty for M14, so go up that ladder and help her."
"Huh? Is someone going to attack us?" she asked, not sure who she recieved such an order mere seconds after meeting him.
"Yup, which is why I told you to do that." the Commander told her, pointing to the tower in question.
"Oh, okay!" M9 said as she ran up to M14's post to assist her, allowing him to greet the fifth Doll.
She had long, silver-to-red hair in twintails (a seemingly recurring theme in this batch of Dolls,) teal eyes, a fair complextion, and a tall, slender frame clad in a white cropped button-up short with a red leather jacket over it, jean-shorts, asymmetric black socks, black combat boots, numerous pouches on her waist and strapped to her legs, black general-purpose gloves, and a green headset on her head. A LWMMG hung from her shoulders with a black sling.
"Hello, miss." he greeted politely. "What's your name?"
"Lam, but you can call me Lem too, it's fine..." she told him, the two nicknames much less of a mouthful than LWMMG.
"I'll do that. Anyways, I want you to set up shop on that rooftop, provide covering fire for everyone else when the enemy arrives."
"Understood, just don't get me a spotter, I work better alone." Lem told him before fetching a duffel bag with .338 Norma in it and heading to the rooftops, allowing him to look to the next Doll in the bunch.
Unlike the others he'd seen so far, this one definitely fit the "big-titty-Onee-sama" category Super SASS mentioned when they were talking about her boss, with her long, creamy-blonde hair with a black headband in it, light blue eyes, warm smile, and her very curvy body. She wore a grey blouse with a large cleavage window and a white underlayer covering her bosom, a black necktie, a low-cut vest that sat under her endowment with black straps holding it and spare magazines in place, a tight black skirt, smooth black stockings, knee-high leather boots, black gloves with a red covering on the underside, and a black blazer with a red interior. She looked to be carrying an AK-looking rifle of sorts, but he couldn't identify it even as she got close enough to him for a greeting.
"Hallo, Kommandant. StG-940 reporting. You may call me Vig, but of course it's better to call me big sis Vig~" she told him in a singsong voice, her German accent a bit light but enough for him to ID her nationality— alongside the white German Democratic Republic sigil on her headband.
"Did you happen to serve in childcare, Vig?" he asked offhandedly as he checked his tablet.
"I sure did, Kommandant." StG-940 told him happily. "I heard you mention we'd be under attack soon, so where do you want me?"
"Mmm, I'd like it if you'd assist everyone in preparing defenses, then dig in at the eastern perimeter."
"Jawhol!" the sisterly Doll replied before running towards the nearest group of servicemen to assist them, allowing him to look to the final Doll on his list— one who he'd instantly recognized on sight thanks to her model's prevalence in Griffin.
Bearing short, well-kept blonde hair and lively red eyes with a black cap atop her head, the Doll's short figure was clad in a black Nazi German tanker's uniform with numerous medals on it and a black tight-fitting skirt under it, black gloves, grey/black pouches on her waist, black knee-high boots with red socks sticking out from under it, and a saber on her left hip. An MP40 submachine gun hung from a sling as she approached and greeted him with the discipline and temperament of a soldier.
"Hallo, Herr Kommandant!" she told him once she was within knifing distance, popping off with a crisp salute. "Um, forgive me for asking, but what happened to Kommandant Prokhorov?"
That question made him raise an eyebrow. She was part of the 794 staff? And why did she not know that Prokhorov was KIA?
"He's been dead for months, I was sent to replace him." he replied honestly. "If you want more details, seek out M1911 and AK-47 in the base and they'll tell you."
MP40 cupped her chin in thought, muttering to herself about the familiarity of the names he mentioned before running off towards the base.
Did she have memory loss or something? That was weird...
Shaking his confusion over MP40's behavior away, he simply resigned himself to prepping the defenses in preparation for the attack.
Three Hours Before The Attack...
By the time Kamalov's reinforcements and supplies came in, Station 794 had become decently fortified with numerous barriers and traps laid at each entrance and chokepoints partially established in key areas, a defender in place at each hardpoint to further fortify the positions and to disarm the trap when an ally passed by.
Stepping aside to let the 737 supply truck in, Ian watched as it stopped next to Garage 03 and its back opened up, allowing the members of Kamalov's Support Echelon to get out.
"Hello again, DP!" he greeted as the scantily-clad MG helped her teammates out of the vehicle.
"Ah, privyet!" she greeted, waving at him as he approached.
"Good timing, I was just about to run out of stuff to use. Did you bring anything else with you?"
Nodding, DP-28 motioned for someone to go into the back of the truck, and Ian couldn't help but whistle as the serviceman dragged out a pair of Kord MGs, visibly havig trouble with the weight of the machine guns.
"Nice... We should put those in the lobby and the west entrance where the turrets can't cover. Anyways, can someone help this guy get these MGs out?!"
At that call two servicemen rushed to help the guy, allowing the Commander to assign the 737 Dolls to their posts.
"DP, RPD, I want you to station yourselves on the rooftops and provide covering fire for the others when the time comes." he ordered the two MGs, pointing to the roof of the main building.
"Yes, sir!" they replied as they ran towards the ladders, not asking for directions to them as they ran by.
"Mosin, Tokarev, I want you two to assist setting up defenses, then dig in around those barricades where the sentry guns are gonna be placed right around there." he told the other two, pointing to the barriers in question.
"Understood, comrade!" Mosin replied as she and her companion went to help the others, allowing him to update the fortification process on his tablet, as well as make a few minor changes to his plan.
Before he could head back inside, though, he felt tapping on his arm and turned down to see a short, petite girl with lions' mane-esque white hair, red eyes, and a rounded face, with a large blue hat bearing a large red star on its front on her head, a blue/white trimmed shawl over a matching long-sleeved shirt, a white pleated skirt with a brown belt holding it in place, black leggings, and knee-high brown boots. She carried a Makarov PM in a waist holster placed on the same belt holding her skirt up.
"Oh, hello, miss."
"Hello, comrade Commander." she greeted him back, her voice bearing an accent that sounded like a Muscovite. "I am Makarov PM, and I'm here to assist you in coordinating your defense from the frontlines."
"Thank you for that. I'll need you on the rooftops with DP-28's team so you can see the perimeter better." he told her.
"Understood, comrade Commander!"
Now I just wait for Shi Jun and HQ's care packages to arrive. he thought as the dimunitive HG left for the indoor elevator before following hrt inside to oversee the interior fortifications.
Two Hours Before The Attack...
Leaving the lobby and stepping out into the courtyard, Ian watched as a pair of servicemen lifted a pair of M2 mortars out of a transport vehicle from Station 601, visibly struggling with the weight of the ordnance.
"You need help with that?" he asked, approaching the men.
"Yeah, but I don't think you wanna break your back lifting this thing." one of them replied, and while he was used to wearing 20-plus pounds of gear on a daily basis, he knew it'd be best if he didn't try to carry a 33-kilogram mortar.
"Oy, you! Mind helping these guys?!" he called out to a passing M500 as she was setting down a box of munitions, prompting her to run up to the men and pick one of the M2s by herself, visibly unbothered by the weight as she went inside to use the elevator to get to the roof.
"Doesn't matter how much I see it, but it's just unreal how much weight they can handle." one of the guys said in awe.
"I know, right?" the other guy said as M500 returned to fetch the other M2, hefting it up and heading towards the building as well. "Come on, let's get the ammo up there with them."
As the two guys fetched a set of munitions crates out of the truck Ian shifted his attention to the Dolls that were in the other truck as they left it, his eyes immediately latching onto the wine-haired, slim-but-curvy Doll leading them.
Standing rather tall, her long hair was colored like wine and had a side-ponytail keeping it away from her right ear, and her eyes were a dark, almost bloodred color. She wore a white button-up shirt under a black and yellow jacket/corset/thing with a red necktie and black/yellow gloves, while black pantyhose kept her legs warm and a pair of black shoes with straps going around the lower shins covered her feet. Her weapon was kept within a case, but her thick German accent and somewhat bitchy tone was enough to ID her as WA2000, Station 601's premier marksman.
Stood next to her was a silver-haired petite-bodied Doll with reddish eyes and cross-shaped pupils, a headset on her head and a Nazi German uniform on her body— albeit unbuttoned to reveal a bikini top underneath it, making him wonder if she had a problem with overheating. She wore mismatched monochrome striped-solid black stockings with black boots, carried a Mauser C96 in a leg holster and was chatting with another HG in the Echelon, this one dressed up like a cowgirl, blonde-haired, and carried a Colt Single Action Army.
He also saw Super SASS amongst them, chatting avidly with another Rifle Doll, ableit one he didn't recognize. She had golden-blonde hair in short twintails, deep blue eyes, and a curvy frame with fair skin. She was clad in a brown/black jacket with white cuffs that was slipping off of her shoulders to reveal her white bikini top and a detached collar with a red tie, jean-shorts over black pantyhose, black shoes, and a plethora of bags and pouches on her waist and jacket. She carried a scoped and bipod-bearing AR-platform rifle of sorts on a sling, but with a careful look at it he saw the letters OBR above the magwell.
"Oh, hey there, Commander!" SASS greeted once she saw him, waving before dragging her friend over to him. "OBR, this is Commander Becker, a friend of our Commander."
"Oh, um, hello!" OBR said, waving a bit meekly as she approached with her friend. "Where do you need us to be...?"
"The watchtowers in the northern sections of the base." the Commanded replied, pointing to their general directions. "Bring a spotter with you, and if you can stay here for a little bit after the attack I'd like to speak with you and the others that came here."
"We'll be looking forward to that. Come on, OBR!" SASS replied before taking her blonde friend's hand and heading off towards the towers, allowing him to seek out WA2000 and speak with her one-on-one.
"Oy, Wa-chan!" he called out once he saw her helping another team of Dolls out of a truck, getting the sniper's attention.
"H-Huh? Can anyone stop calling me that damned nickname?!" she groaned as she noticed him.
"Hey, it's what Shi Jun and Springy call you, and Walther WA2000 is quite the mouthful."
"I suppose that's true..." WA2000 relented with a sigh. "What do you want from me, Kommandant?"
"I need you on the rooftop with C96 to provide overwatch from there, since there's already Dolls stationed in the watchtowers. Similarly, who's in that other team he sent here?"
"Haah, firstly, this is NTW-20, from my Commander's anti-armor Echelon." the sniper explained as she pointed to the pink-haired girl in a black schoolgirl uniform behind her as she hefted her massive rifle out of the vehicle, its shape and length highly similar to the Halo 3 Sniper Rifle. "As for your order, I acknowledge it, but don't bother me unless it's absolutely neccessary."
Perhaps she used to be an assassin of sorts...?
"Understood. Who else came with you?" he asked the sniper.
"Zastava M76, Desert Eagle, Welrod Mk. II, and PTRD." she replied. "Thankfully, he had the sense to not bring that bitch MDR with us."
"He has an MDR? Suddenly, I feel very bad for him."
"He deserves it. NTW, bring your team to the rooftops and C96, on me!"
As the sniper stalked off towards the elevator with C96 in tow, another team of Dolls walked by, drawing his eye briefly before he shook his head and returned to planning.
Sangvis Ferri Production Model SP03 "Jaeger"
Outside Station 794's Walls
"SP721, come in."
Stationed at the outskirts of the base and peering through her rifle's scope, a lone Jaeger laid upon an elevated bit of land as she kept an eye on the somewhat-secluded Griffin base the Sangvis Command Doll Intruder would soon have her subordinate attack.
There was one major problem though: the residents of said base were not packing up for the night like planned— instead, they were calling in supplies and reinforcements. Fortifying their perimeter. Laying traps outside of it. Knocking surveillance drones out of the sky.
"What is it?" the voice of Sangvis Production Model SP721 Hunter asked curtly over her comms.
"The enemy may know about the attack." the emotionless sniper Doll replied matter-of-factly. "They're shooting our drones out of the skies and they're fortifying the perimeters. Should we call it off?"
"No, Intruder wants to hit them hard and fast, wiping them out before they can get reinforcements in time." the Ringleader replied irritably. "Why the bitch refuses to attack it herself or take things slowly, I don't know."
Looking into the valley, the Jaeger saw a man in a red coat directing his subordinates in fortifying the base, his position deliciously exposed even with a T-Doll stood by his side at all times standing guard. All it would take was one shot and one of Griffin's advantages would be taken away.
"Their Commander's exposed. Should I kill him?" she asked her superior.
"Hang on, let me check with Intruder."
As she lay in wait she could hear Hunter send the idea to Intruder, then start arguing with her as she presumably denied the request.
"What do you mean, no?! We have a golden opportunity to cripple them here, Intruder!"
"But it wouldn't be very productive to kill him before we know what he's capable of, would it?"
"Intruder, your obssession with human cinema is clearly affecting your decision-making. If I were you, then I'd take the shot then plow through the rest of them with our superior numbers."
"If we were to do that, then we'd run the risk of killing M4A1, and she's no good to us dead."
"So in that case, we should draw the fight out, run their supplies and manpower thin then grab the Anti-Rain wimp. We have the manpower and a consistent supply line."
"And they have Griffin HQ and the Military to fall back on. Even without those factors, my status is in question, and if I get degraded to a lower-end who knows what would happen to you, Executioner and Scarecrow~"
"I'm telling you, you need to reconsider this—"
"Initiate override code L60-T230-M152."
"Understood, ma'am."
Had the Jaeger's emotion module been turned on, then perhaps she'd be concerned about the ethical concerns of overriding a subordinate's will like Intruder just did. But she simply laid in her place with her rifle trained on the facility, watching the enemy prepare their defenses as the human Commander headed back inside, seemingly aware of her presence.
"Hold your fire." Hunter simply told her, still under the effects of Intruder's override code.
"Yes, ma'am." she replied— just as she saw moment right beside her.
And before the sniper could reach for her bladed pistol a boot-clad foot slammed itsrlf into her face, breaking her targeting goggles and disrupting her vision with the powerful blow. Then the sharp metal of a combat knife was jammed into the back of her neck, straight through her spinal cord.
"What's going on?! Answer me!" Hunter screamed on the other side, but her voice was barely audible as the paralyzed, heavily-damaged sniper was rolled onto her back, allowing her attacker to look her in the eyes.
The last thing she saw was a mane of blonde hair and fierce sapphire eyes before the combat knife found itself in her Core.
Commander Ian Becker
Station 794 Command Room
"Snipers are down, but I recommend that you stay inside until further notice."
Stood within the Command Room now, Ian watched on the live feed as AK-47 cleaned her knife of the coolants coating it, a dead Jaeger flipped onto her back with a puncture wound dead center in her torso, her visor broken off to reveal her violet eyes that stared emptily into the sky.
"Acknowledged. Did you pick up any comms traffic from them?"
"Yup. Encrypted, though, and we don't have whatever AR-15 used to decrypt them."
"Damn. Return to base and use the drones to patrol the perimeter."
"Yes, sir. G3, on me."
As AK-47 and her more reserved companion started their trek back to the base Ian looked to the clock to see the time: 7:32 PM, and a look back at the feeds of his various subordinates showed that the sun was almost dowm. Soon, the enemy would make their move.
"Kalina, status report." he told his subordinate over the comms.
"HQ just dropped off those sentry guns and FN Squad's onsite." the ginger dutifully replied. "I'm having some of the Dummies they brought set up the sentries, and the other supplies they brought are being stored away."
"Good. It's almost showtime, so hurry it up and get back here."
"Yes, sir. Kalina out."
As the comms link was cut he returned his attention to the overhead map, the signals of his Dolls returning to Station 794 at a brisk pace as Griffin-owned drones were sent out of the base to survey in their place. Looking to the rooftops, he was pleased to see that according to the live feeds, the MGs, mortars, and other snipers were in place, and not only was a ring of landmines set up around the perimeter (thankfully, the Dolls he sent away knew exactly where they were and how to avoid them,) but the base's inner perimeter was sufficiently fortified as well, with spike strips and mines set to stop the enemy's advance and leave them open to his own teams' fire.
Inside the base, numerous hardpoints were set up at each entrance as well as deeper into the base, Dolls and humans alike manning them dutifully. A reserve force was also built up, so they could quickly plug any holes Sangvis made in their defenses, and every hallway and entrance was rigged with traps. The Command Room wasn't exempt from this, EMP traps set up to detonate whenever they detected Sangvis signals passing by, and if that failed, classic tripwires were hooked up as well.
And if even those failed, he and Kalina were loaded for bear, and would be able to defend themselves until help arrived.
Unless some really stupid bullshit happened, we shouldn't fail this. he told himself, looking over everything in the perimeter with a small smile on his face and pleased with his work.
However, as he looked across it all, he started to think about everything he'd done or would do before and after the current day, about the successes and fuckups he'd made throughout his life after joining the US Army, and he soon wondered if he'd even make it out of the base alive.
"Ugh, just focus on the task at hand, asshole. No time for depresso-expresso inner monologues." he told himself, slapping himself across the face as he performed one final check on his defense setups, making absolutely sure that they would hold against Sangvis' rushed attack.
Now, it was time to sit there and wait for the enemy to show up. He looked forward to it.
Okay, I don't know how long it's been since my last update, but it's been far too long. I originally planned to make the chapter much, much longer, but that was too time-consuming and I couldn't stand it, so I wound up cutting a lot of content out of it (including multiple character interaction moments.) I might make the next chapter involve just those, then do the actual attack chapter, but I dunno.
As for GFL: War, I've got about 7k or 8k words into it, and I'm a little over halfway-done with the premier. Concerning the chapters ahead, there's not much about Russian infantry training (unfortunately,) but Wikipedia thankfully has a detailed article about the United States Army's training protocols and schedules, so I'll probably omit the Russian training and just do the US training in the second chapter.
About my long-ass hiatus, I've been spending my time drawing fanarts, posting shit that gets RWBY fans really mad at me (not complaining, it's actually kinda funny,) and hoping that the GFL 2: CBT 3 announcement wasn't an April Fool's joke. I'm also a bit bummed that the login screen was legit Jefuty and Liga from Reverse Collapse: Codename Bakery (and as I expected, people on r/girlsfrontline started asking who they were.) However, 6P62 getting Yuzhong as a VA was fucking hilarious, especially his little "ha-ha!" in her first (or second) adjutant voiceline, and of course, DEFY Dogs, Dinergate RO, and Cossack Mosin were included.
I'll see you in either the next chapter of this or GFL: War's prologue.