'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring…

Except for the four members of Task Force 404. Night work was their specialty after all. Despite complaining from G11 about lack of sleep, the group of four Tactical Dolls found themselves this Christmas Eve riding an unmarked white van in a blizzard through one of the city's few upscale suburbs.

"This is annoying," HK416 stated from the shotgun seat.

"What, worried about the storm?" UMP45 teased from behind the driver's wheel.

"Nein, I can handle the snow and cold. I mean this damn music." 416 gestured towards the radio. "The only thing all the stations are playing is these crappy holiday tunes." While 416 wasn't a significant music fan by any stretch, hearing the same jolly song twelve times drove the team's grenadier mad.

"You could always turn it off."

"And listen to 9 try to talk G11 into believing Santa is real? Nein."

Shortly before leaving, G11 had asked what kind of holiday Christmas was. Apparently, she didn't have any knowledge of the subject, and 416 was unwilling to explain. UMP9 took it upon herself to tell the narcoleptic sharpshooter all about St. Nick.

"...and he flies all around the world on Christmas Eve, giving presents to all the good boys and girls." 9 happily told G11. They were both in the back of the van with the team's gear.

"...what, how does he do that?" G11 didn't look surprised, but that was only because she wore a perpetually tired expression. "And how does he make all the toys?"

"He makes the toys with the elves, silly~. And as for how he makes it to all the houses, no one knows. He only comes when people are sleeping."

G11 thought for a moment. "So if we all took a nap tonight instead of going on the mission…we can get presents?"

416 groaned. "If you complain one more time about going on this mission I'm throwing you out into the snow."

"But I wanna pillow-"

"NEIN, you are not getting a pillow!" 416 whirled in her seat. "Gottverdammt, 9, stop putting all these childish ideas into her neural cloud. Everyone knows Santa is made up, no reason to tell her otherwise."

"C'mon 416, can't we have a little fun?" 9 replied. "It is the holidays after all."

416 responded by smacking her head on the dashboard in frustration.

9 sighed and turned to G11, who had tears in her eyes. "Don't worry, 416's just a grinch. I'm sure Santa will find a way to deliver your present to Dier's place."

"Regardless if Santa is real," 45 cut in, "none of us would be getting anything but coal from him. Breaking into people's houses and stealing their computer files is not how one gets on the nice list. Speaking of which, we're here." 45 stopped the van.

The team was parked about a block away from the target building. It was a large, two story mansion that oozed luxury. Several stairs lead to a large front door flanked by large windows. These were overshadowed by a large balcony on the second floor. Towering above the roof was a large chimney. Like most of the houses on the street, the front was done up with Christmas lights. Unlike the rest of the street, this house was surrounded by a six-foot wall that surrounded the entire property.

416 and 45 joined 9 and G11 in the back of the van. 404 began their preparations in silence. Each team member put on their tactical vests and inserted armored plates into them. Pouches on each vest were quickly filled with spare magazines, grenades, and other assorted equipment. Finally, each doll grabbed their namesake weapon, inserting a fresh mag in it.

"Alright, ladies, does everyone remember the plan?" 45 stood up once everyone had finished.

G11 raised her hand. "I have a question. What are we supposed to be do-"

*SMACK*

"OWWWW, you hit meeee!"

416 put her hand back down. "You would know what we are doing if you actually tried to stay awake during the briefing."

45 clapped her hands to get both dolls' attention. "Okay, we'll go through it again. Make sure to pull up the map of the house I sent you."

9, 416, and G11 each pulled up a 3D diagram of the target building.

45 then began to explain the objective and the plan. "The owner of the house and our target is a prominent local CEO. He has quite a bit of power in this city, as well as quite a few enemies. One of those enemies is our client. They want us to break into the house, locate the target's personal hard drive, hack into it, and download any compromising files that can be used as blackmail."

"Now, the most likely place for the hard drive to be is in the target's office on the second floor. It's just a regular personal hard drive, so I should have no problems hacking it. The same also applies to the house's security system, so we shouldn't have any trouble with local police showing up. However, the target and his family are inside the home, so we have to be quiet. The target also has hired several bodyguards, but because of the holiday they are likely to not be in the house."

"So a pretty easy mission all things considered," 9 mused, tapping with her fingers on her SMG.

"A bit too easy," 416 added.

"Well, I decided that it would be nice to have a simple mission after all the jobs Griffin has been giving us lately." 45 explained. "All the more reason to make sure to not mess up. Here's the plan: we'll move down the street to the house's outer wall. I'll hack the security systems, then we'll vault the wall and enter the house from the rear. From there, 9 and I will move to the second floor office to find the hard drive. 416, you and G11 will have to sweep the house in case there are any guards."

The rest of 404 nodded along in acknowledgment. The team usually conducted high-risk recon and sabotage operations where stealth was paramount. Breaking and entering a suburban home was child's play by comparison.

"Okay then, let's go." 45 chambered a round and opened the van's rear door. "Oh and one last thing. No talking. We don't want to be heard, so Zener messages and hand signals only."

With that, 45 stepped into the frigid outside air…

Wayne was not in a good mood. The previous night, his coworker Lenny had insisted on having a "pre-Christmas party", whatever that meant. Wayne couldn't really refuse his subordinate's enthusiasm, so they ended up watching Christmas movies all night long. Wayne now had a splitting headache because of a lack of sleep. This headache was not helped by Wayne hitting his head during the ride to the house. To top it off, somehow Lenny was unaffected by the party and was as jolly as ever.

"Wayne! Did you see the lights on the front of the house? They are so-"

Wayne interrupted before his headache got worse. "Yes, Lenny, I did. Now can you keep it down?"

"Oh, okay." Lenny stood still with a big grin on his face. Nothing could really break down his love of the Christmas holiday, which surpassed even that of most children. Wayne knew this, and just had to roll with it.

"Alright, let's stay on task. Did you make sure the family is asleep?"

"Yep!"

"Then let's get moving, we have a job to do."

Neither of them heard the lock on the back of the house click.

"We're in." 45 signaled over the doll's internal Zener network. "416, take point. Head to the second floor."

416 entered the mansion's kitchen. Just like the outside, it was similarly luxurious. Spotless appliances, granite countertops, nice hardwood floors, and even a chandelier in the neighboring dining room. Not that it mattered to 416 at that moment. She quickly cleared the room and moved to the door that would lead to the main hallway and the staircase.

"G11, when I open the door, cover the right side."

"Got it."

416 opened the door and confirmed the hallway was clear, then moved left to the stairs. 9 and 45 followed close behind, while G11 watched the rear. Soon after, 416 found herself clearing the rest of the second floor while the UMP sisters searched the office.

Her mind began to wander back to what happened in the van before they arrived., particularly about what 9 said about her being a grinch. While she didn't explicitly hate Christmas, she didn't really see the point in caring about it. It was a holiday about giving and receiving gifts. It had absolutely nothing to do with her or the mission. It was only a distraction and a particularly annoying one at that. 9 was seemingly driven to convince G11 that Santa was real. The little doll was already liable to fall asleep at any moment, and 416 had no desire to see her charge distracted by fantasies about getting presents from someone who didn't even exist.

45's voice pulled 416 out of her thoughts. "416, we found the hard drive. Is the upstairs clear?"

416 took one last look, then replied. "Affirmative, nobody is here except the target's family, and they are still asleep."

"Copy. Go downstairs and check on G11."

416 confirmed the order and moved to the stairs. As she reached the bottom, she found G11 laying on the floor, writing on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing? 416's irritation was clear even through the Zener connection.

G11 shot up, quickly stuffing the paper away. "Nothing."

The answer was too fast, and 416's suspicions were raised. "What's on the paper?"

"Nothing important."

"Well, obviously you think it is, otherwise you would be clearing the rest of the floor."

G11 sat up in fear, realizing her error, "Uhhh… I was about to."

416 sighed, deciding she didn't care about the piece of paper. The mission was more important. "Fine. You check the front half of the house and I'll check the back half. And don't fall asleep when you're done!"

"Did you get everything done?"

"Yep!" Lenny nodded.

"And you checked it twice?"

"Yep!" Lenny nodded even faster.

"Good," Wayne sighed, "now we can go to the roof and finish up."

Wayne turned towards the fireplace but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Lenny with a concerned look on his face.

"Hey, uhhh, Wayne, you doing alright?"

Wayne looked away. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. Just a bit tired."

Lenny frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"...Did I go over overboard with the party last night?"

Relieved to be able to break the tension, Wayne cracked a smile, "Definitely overboard, yes."

Lenny gave a nervous grin and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I kept you up a little bit too long."

"ONLY a little bit?" Wayne shot back, "Lenny, we only got 45 minutes of sleep." The two coworkers shared a laugh at that. "Now c'mon, the big guy's gonna be here any minute."

G11 opened the door to the house's living room. This was where the family had decided to put their Christmas tree. It was a huge tree, nearly touching the ceiling despite the room having high ceilings. Underneath the tree there were already a few presents, and some stockings hung above a dark fireplace.

This is where Santa will put the presents when he gets here, G11 thought as she gazes at the decorations on the tree. She then glanced around, checking the rest of the room and confirming it was empty. Guess I imagined that laughter…

Her eyes stopped on a cushioned lean-back chair. Next to it was a table. G11's eyes lit up, at least as much as a perpetually tired person's eyes could, and she quickly climbed on top of the chair. She set her gun down beside her, reached into her pocket, and took out the piece of paper from earlier: her Christmas list. 9 said she needed to write down what she wanted for Christmas so that Santa would know what to get her. So far she had written down the pillow she wanted, but she couldn't think of anything else.

Maybe I can ask him to get 416 to stop hitting me? But then he would have to put 416 into a box, and I don't think she would like that.

As G11 pondered, she lied down in the chair. It was soft, and as her mind wandered she began to feel her eyelids droop..

*THUNK*

"I'M AWAKE!" G11 shot up and looked towards the door where she expected 416 to be, but there was nothing there. Confused, G11 turned back towards her Christmas list.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

G11 looked up. Standing right in front of her was a very large man. He had on a big red suit with a matching hat. His beard was big and white, and he had a big smile on his face. Exactly how 9 described him.

"Santa?" G11 asked.

"Ho ho ho, yes it's me, G11," Santa said with his signature laugh, "Merry Christmas."

"H-how do you know my name?"

"Why, I know all the names of the good boys and girls I deliver presents too."

G11 lights up. "So I'm getting a present!" She glances down at the piece of paper. "But I didn't send you my list. How did you know what to get me?"

Santa let out another hearty laugh. "Ho ho, the list is more of a formality these days. The elves now figure out what the kids want through a bunch of fancy machines these days. I don't know how it works, but I can't argue against the results."

G11 was stunned. "So you were spying on us?"

"Well, it wasn't quite like that-"

"How'd they do it without 45 catching them? She's the best hacker around, and she makes sure no one tracks us. The last guy who tried got his computer fried and a visit from 416."

Santa's smile faltered, and he let out a more nervous chuckle, "Well, let's keep this a secret between us then, alright? Now, let me get you your present."

Santa turned to his right and grabbed a large sack off the ground. Pulling it over to G11's chair, he reached inside and pulled out a large box addressed "To Gr G11".

"Merry Christmas," Santa repeated, as he handed her the present.

G11 grabbed the box, looked at it for a moment, then began tearing off the wrapping paper. After a bit off work, the packaging came off and G11 gasped.

It was a limited edition 40th anniversary merch pillow for G11's favorite show, The Flying Dead. It was a very rare item, one that G11 thought she would never get.

"Well, now, I have to keep delivering presents, so I'll have to get going." Santa began to turn away.

"Wait," G11 calls. She stands in her chair, still clutching the pillow. "Thank you."

Santa smiles. "My pleasure, G11."

G11 steps forward to give Santa a hug…and then promptly trips over the pillow and falls into Santa's toy sack.

"G11? Are you alright?"

"Owwwww…."

416 had just finished sweeping the back of the house when 45 called her over the radio.

"416, we have the files. Grab G11 and meet us at the back door."

"Alright, moving now."

416 then tried contacting G11. However, two calls went unanswered, which only meant one thing.

Damn it, she's sleeping again. How many times do I have to tell her it's dangerous to do that while on mission.

416 sighed, and moved to the front of the house to find G11. A glance into the bathroom and the study turned up nothing and she wasn't at the front door. 416 then moved to the door of the living room. As she grabbed the handle, she heard some muffled talking within.

There you are.

416 opened the door, then immediately paused in confusion. The scene before her appeared to be some kind of joke. Before her was a man in a Santa costume, hat and all. He had the beard, hat, everything, as if whatever story 9 spun to G11 had suddenly come to life. It was so nonsensical 416 wasn't quite sure how to react. At least, not until she saw G11's legs sticking out of the man's bag.

"Contact in the living room! It's a doll-napper!" 416 brought her weapon up and fired two shots before the man could react. Both hit, and 416 quickly moved to check the body. Confirming he was dead, she then removed the coat of his costume and patted the body down for weapons.

No guns, not even a knife? Just how stupid is this guy?

"...416, is that you? Help me out of here," G11 moaned from inside the bag.

"Hang on, I've got you." 416 grabbed G11's legs and yanked her free. G11 sat up from the floor and rubbed her head.

"Ow, I think I hit my head on one of Santa's presents."

"YOU DUMMKOPF, THAT WASN'T SANTA!" 416 barked, causing G11 to cower next to her new pillow. "HE WAS TRYING TO KIDNAP YOU!"

"...B-but it was him! He gave me this pillow."

"Then why was he putting you in a bag?"

"...I tripped?" G11 spoke as if she was unsure of it herself.

"You tripped?"

"I tripped." G11 was more confident this time.

416 just stared at her charge, then facepalmed. "Gottverdammt. This is what I get for letting 9 put stories in your head. G11, that wasn't Santa. Santa doesn't exist. He's a story made up to make kids behave."

G11 cocked her head to the side. "Then how did he know my name?"

416 paused. There was no way he would have known their names. 404 was a black ops unit; they made sure to keep their identities as secret as possible. The only way the fake Santa would have known who they were was if he had been spying on them, in which case 45 would've detected him.

"Hello, 416~" Speak of the devil…

416 turned and saw UMP45 and 9 standing near the open door.

45 stepped forward. "Any particular reason you decided to sound the alarm?"

416 rolled her eyes. "I told you. There was a dollnapper and he was trying to take G11. I killed him before he could succeed." G11's eyes went wide.

45 and 9 shared a look, then 9 spoke. "Okayyyyy…where's the body?"

Are they blind? "He's in the Santa costume over there. I checked the bo-"

45's eyes turned cold. "I thought you weren't one to mess around, 416."

416 went from annoyed to confused. "What? He's right in front of you. How can you not see the body right…there…" 416 turned to point at the body, but the shock of what she saw caused her voice to die in her throat.

The fake Santa was gone, leaving only his costume in its place. In addition, the bullet holes in the coat had disappeared, leaving it good as new. There wasn't even any blood.

9 chuckled. "416, you of all people should know that this isn't a good time for pranks."

It was at this moment G11 found her voice. With tears in her eyes, she cried out "Y-YOU KILLED SANTA? WHY? HE GAVE ME A PILLOW!"

416 turned back to G11. "YOU DUMMKOPF! SANTA ISN'T REAL."

Now it was 45 and 9's turn to be confused as the two dolls went into a shouting match over whose version of events was correct. After a few minutes of this, 45 spoke up.

"Enough! We have wasted enough time already. I don't care what happened and we are wasting time. Let's go before the family wakes up. You can figure out what happened in the van."

"Humph, fine."

"...fine…"

Both dolls got up, each grabbing their gun (and a pillow in G11's case). The team began filing through the open door

*THUMP* *THUMP*

As one, 404 turned to the fireplace, guns raised. The sight before them shocked them to the core.

Inside the fireplace were two tiny people. One was skinny, the other a bit wider. Both had on coats, tights, and pointed hats. The outfits were remarkably similar to the Santa costume on the floor, except where Santa's was red these outfits were green. In fact, if not for the NVGs they both had, these two people could be called…

"ELVES," G11 cried, "They're elves! See, I told you it was Santa."

45 and 9 turned to 416, mentally demanding an explanation. Unfortunately, 416 had none to give. She stood there, weapon in hand, trying to work out what the sudden appearance meant.

There was only one conclusion.

It was at this moment that she knew…she fucked up.

AN: Hello there, reader. Welcome to my first-ever fan fiction. I decided to write this story to have fun and improve my writing skills. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Your number one question is probably why I decided to write a Christmas fic in January. Well, the reason for that is I didn't get the idea for the plot until Christmas Eve, and my inexperience in writing plus getting caught up in the Southwest airline trainwreck led to a lot of delays. Hopefully, you guys don't mind, and you decide to stick with me for the other 2 planned chapters in this fic.

Big thanks to the great fellows over on the Girls Frontline fan fic server for helping me plan out the fic and for checking whether I kept people in character. Special shout out to Branded for volunteering his time to beta-read this chapter. Come in and say hi, I go by Peter there.

Link to server: discord . gg / APPH4Ucp (Delete the spaces)

And finally, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Preview for next chapter: 45 strikes a deal, 416 faces the consequences of her actions, and the US Air Force does a little trolling.