"Hey SV '' I say as I lean back on the pile of rubble I'm currently propped against turning to look in her direction.

"Yes Boss?" SV replies worriedly looking back at me taking an extra look at the knife still in my side.

"I really don't think I'm going to make it, so I want you to take my pack and my rifle and report to Commander Katie at So9." I tell her as I hear more footsteps coming up the stairs we had just got up.

"No, I'm not leaving you here to die."

"Take the sample and go SV, do I need to make it and order." I snap back and immediately regret as I start coughing and grimace seeing my hand come back with fresh blood.

Whatever SV was about to say was cut off by a rather large looking satchel that was tossed into the room and landed by my pack that held the sample in it. "Aw shit." is all I can get out before everything goes black.

So I suppose I should back up and explain how the hell things got to where it is. My name's Nick Wood I'm what you would kindly call a mercenary, I normally do work with Griffin and Kryuger group. Why them? You may ask well they themselves are a PMC but they do have a good reputation and they're known for turning down jobs that are particularly nasty. But what really sets them apart from others is their use of T-Dolls. T-Dolls are androids made to replace human soldiers, they are all Female and from what I've experienced got their own quirks. Each one is designed around the weapon they use from UMP-40s to AK-12s. Now as to why they're all female and the clothing choices they have I've never truly understood the explanation but it's something to do with making people feel more at ease with them. While they are made for war they all do have some sense of humanity since I've personally seen them have emotions and care for their Commanders and others more than just the urge to protect them. But I digress. I also used to work for them till me and my Commander at the time had a disagreement and I decided to leave. I originally did odd jobs that don't require a T-Dolls, smuggling weapons and equipment and escort missions where T-Dolls would stand out too much. It was simple and easy money for a while then I caught the attention of Helian and Kryuger and they started giving me some more interesting jobs that include working with T-Doll to help give the human edge to more delicate missions. To be honest I almost turned down the jobs until they assured me they would only be temporary team ups. I wasn't interested in a T-Doll partner permanently after my time in G&K but even then that didn't last long.

It changed when I got a call from the Commander of So9 Katie Wilson, she had called me and asked if I would meet her at So9 for a special assignment. "So Katie what job had you calling me at three in the morning?" I asked as I followed her through the halls of her base.

Turning her head to give me a light glare she said. "I realize it was an inopportune time to call but you could have dressed more appropriately."

Looking down at myself I saw my normal combat boots, blue jeans with knee pads, my black tee shirt and I had even thrown on my plate carrier and tac-vest. "What do you mean all I'm missing is my hat and glasses." I replied gesturing to my messy brown hair that normally had an old ball-cap that had an old pre WW3 sports team and my generic Oakley clones I used for eye protection.

"While that may be true I remember saying this would be an important meeting, you could have at least fixed your hair and got rid of your stubble."

"Bah I looked like this when I escorted Helian and Kryuger to those peace talks with the Russians a couple of months ago."

Sighing she replied "That may be so but this is slightly different."

"Ok what's going on seriously."

"So there's this Doll."

"No."

"Nick, come on."

"I don't want a permanent Doll to work with."

"You won't even give them a chance?"

"Katie I can't get attached again." I said leaning up against the wall having stopped walking the moment she brought up a Doll.

"Nick I know it's still a sore subject for you but you may be her last chance at not just being scraped."

Closing my eyes at her obvious attempt to guilt trip me I sighed. "What do you mean?"

"She's got damaged pretty badly a couple of missions back and we discovered her FCC is damaged, so she's still above human accuracy but not up to T-Doll standards."

"Ok just transfer her core to a new frame and there you go."

"You really didn't think we didn't try that, the damage won't let us remove the core and her digimind back-up is corrupted we'd basically be killing her."

"Fuck man so how do I play into this?"

"Well I can get a replacement to cover the loss in my formations, but I can't just let her sit around and waste away on the base, and I refuse to just recycle her for parts just because she's not able to fight for G&K."

"Ok I understand the sentiment but I get in gun fights all the time as well."

"Yes but statistically your jobs are 300% more safe than the ones a frontline Doll does."

"You of all people know why I only take temp Dolls."

"Nick I wouldn't ask if this wasn't absolutely the last resort." Katie said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Fine i'll give it a shot so lead on." I said after a moment gesturing for her to continue on our way.

After a few more minutes of walking we arrived at a room that I assumed was the Dolls dorm. "So this are stop Nick let me introduce you to SV-98." Katie said as she opened the door and led us in.

Inside was a basic room with one bed and some cabinets. Sitting on the bed was SV-98, she had blond hair tied into a pony-tail that reached her mid back, she had a dark blue uniform that had a skirt instead of pants and black combat suits with black stockings. Turning to look at the door as we entered she stood and said. "Hello you must be Commander Wood."

"Ah im not a commander, but I am Nick Wood and I thought Dolls took after their guns where's your Russian accent?" I asked

"Oh that's simple, I was an A-Doll before I joined Griffin, and didn't feel the need to pick up the ascent."

Nodding I said. "That's fair so you're willing to work with me, some mercenary Helian picked up out of the gutter about a year ago?"

"I'd be honored to work with you. All your records show exemplary work with Griffin, and your past service as a Griffin member was almost entirely unblemished."

"It's that blemish that makes me worry."

Tilting her head she replies "Why Commander Katie has faith in you so that means I should to."

"Well then it looks like you two are already getting along, so let's head to my office and get some paperwork done and get you two all set." Katie says with a smirk leaning up against the door was almost four months ago, since then me and SV have been on dozens of jobs making our way through the red zones clearing out bandits and SF units helping Griffin and So9 with anything they couldn't do with brute force. It was slow going in the beginning, with me keeping her away from the action until I finally broke and let her join me in fights. After we started working together we got close and I was happy to call her a good friend. Eventually that led to this particular day, which coincidentally started with a before dawn phone call from Katie.

"So we have a big problem."

Looking at SV and sharing a frown at Katie's tone I asked "How big are we talking?"

"Um some people are fucking around with Collapse fluid."

That one sentence shocked me and even shocked SV since she let out an unusual curse. "The Fuck who the hells dumb enough to do that."

Katie turned to me as I hid a chuckle "I see your colorful language is rubbing off on her, but yes there's a rogue group of PMCs in a red zone east of So8 that's been reported to be experimenting with Collapse Fluid." Stopping to make sure we were paying attention and led us to a map. "As you can see all my forces and So8s forces are busy dealing with SF forces and 404 won't touch this job so we need your help."

"Ok I'd normally turn this down on principle with where its at but I don't really like the sound of some on fucking with that shit, so what's the job entail?"

"Simple get a sample of whatever they've done to the fluid, destroy the rest and kill all of them; we can't risk them pulling anything else later on."

"Alright me and SV will gear up and head out now." I said looking at SV who gave me a nod with a small grin.

"Alright I'll have a bird drop you off and pick you up now get going."

"You got it, we'll be back before you know it." SV told her following me out the room to get ready.

As you know that clearly didn't happen, we did get the sample and even destroyed the rest but there was at least an entire platoon of PMC that apparently discovered our escape plan and ambushed us getting me in the leg with a gunshot and another managed to stab me in the side under my ribs. SV managed to get away with minor scrapes and a few new holes in her skirt. That all led up to us climbing some stairs in an abandoned apartment complex where we're all caught up as a large satchel lands by my pack containing the samples and explodes as everything went black as I heard SV Scream out my name.

Slowly I came to blinking away the dirt out of my eyes as the sharp pain from the knife brought me back to my senses in double time. Looking around I made out the several strangely dressed people and my eyes caught one in particular standing near where I could see SV laying "Is that a fucking rat in a suit?" was all I got out before I felt a needle prick my skin and everything went black for a second time that day as I tried to reach out for SV.