"Boss...We arrived at the pickup...Looks like somebody raided the place. All of the crew are dead, no trace of the cargo either..."
The gas-mask clad man paced back in forth in the beams of the truck's headlights as the engine hummed idly, the night sky looming overhead as he tapped on his earpiece.
In the darkness behind the truck, a silver-haired woman cautiously crawled prone in the dirt as she slowly approached adjacent to the driver-side, the door hanging ajar.
"No, they've been dead for a while. Whoever did this cleared out long ago...Most of them were killed in a firefight, except for the guy in charge...Two bullets in his chest, one in the back of his head, his wrists are tied up too - definitely an execution. Whoever did this made sure to leave no witnesses behind..."
Quickly and quietly, AK-12 slipped underneath the truck, silently rolling on her back and discretely sticking a small device in the undercarriage.
"No sir, no casualties from their side were left behind, and they didn't leave any notes or insignias behind...The fuck do I know? Maybe it was Mangi, I'm not a detective...You'll have to put some feelers out and see if there's anybody bragging about some big score, I don't know...These guys have been cleaned out, there's nothing else for us to do here...Yes sir..."
Ending the call, the man sighed as he made his way back to the transport truck.
"What did he say?" The passenger asked as the man climbed back into the driver-seat.
"Gotta go back empty handed and make do with what we've got for now, he's definitely not happy about it. Fuck if I know how this is our fault..." The driver huffed out, shifting the truck back into gear.
The brakes hissed, the truck began to slowly reverse back onto the road. Clicking back into drive, the engine chugged gutturally as the truck accelerated off, driving into the distance.
In a small ditch near the encampment, the foliage rustled softly as AK-12 slowly raised her head out from the crevice. Bringing up her Zener, the tracker's signal blipped cleanly on the tactical map as it rode off to its unknown destination. "Gotcha..."
The doll switched to her communicator. "RO, is the Commander awake?"
"He's nodded off in his chair...I'd rather not wake him unless it's important, he hasn't slept much since we made our escape." RO's voice responded.
"The transmitter's in place, nobody saw us." 12 informed.
"Good work. RTB and prepare for the next phase, our new coordinates are attached."
MBV Elmo, a few hours later...
The AR Team and DEFY strolled into the CIC, their equipment in hand, finding the Commander leaning over the tactical map display in the center in the middle of the room, M4A1 and RO635 standing at his side.
The Commander set aside his coffee. "Alright girls, bring it in."
The team gathered around the tactical map, listening intently as the Commander began. "The transmitter 12 planted on the truck has stopped about eighty clicks northwest of us, based on our intel, it is highly likely that this is the Varjager's main stronghold in this area."
"Intel?" AK-12 asked curiously.
The Commander turned to the doll standing beside him. "M4."
M4 nodded, bringing up a feed on the tactical map. "The GDR satellite I've tapped into shows the location as an abandoned factory complex. A sizeable force of armed men have been spotted in and around the perimeter..." Her finger traced across the map of the complex as she spoke. "Watchtowers there, blocking positions here, and here, patrols routing across here, here, and here..."
"So, they're definitely protecting something important." M16 remarked.
"That's not all..." M4's finger trailed over to a corner of the complex, and enhanced the image to where the front end of an armored vehicle could be seen just poking out from under a rusted pavilion.
"They've got APCs..." STAR uttered.
M4 nodded. "OId BTRs judging by the profile, won't know for sure unless they roll it out from under that canopy for some reason."
"Didn't that guy we worked over a couple days ago say that they were trying to fix up some kind of mech, too?" M16 raised.
"We intercepted the parts they were gonna use, didn't we?" STAR interjected.
"Assume it's at least partially functional." The Commander asserted.
M16's brow raised. "Wait, you're not planning on assaulting that place with just the seven of us, are you?"
The Commander shook his head. "You'll go in at night. Slip past their perimeter, disable any alarms, and thin the herd as much as you can before these guys catch wind. If this goes right, you can have the outpost under control before they even know what's happening. That's 'Plan A'."
"And Plan B?" STAR asked.
The Commander's attention shifted to SOP-II. "SOP, still got any HEDP on you?"
"Don't leave home without 'em!" SOP grinned cheerfully.
The Commander turned to M4. "M4, how's the particle cannon?"
"Still functioning fine, but I've only got a few shots left - and I wouldn't count on stumbling on more ammo for this thing." M4 answered.
"So, loud then." STAR concluded.
The Commander nodded. "If things go loud, then aggression's going to have to save the day. Strike hard and fast before these guys can get their bearings - you don't want to give them the chance to wake up and organize against you."
"What about overwatch?" M16 asked.
"Ange was thoughtful enough to realize our plight that none of the dolls with Rifle Imprints managed to hitch a ride with us." The Commander's head motioned to AK-12.
12 gave an acknowledging nod, unslinging a long case from over her shoulder and placing it on a nearby table. Unfurling the zipper, she opened it to reveal an SVDM with a high-power scope mounted. "What would you do without me?~" She boasted.
"Yeah, just don't miss." STAR dismissed.
"Don't underestimate Statesec's Neural Upgrades, Miss Fifteen. I could do this with my eyes closed.~"
STAR scoffed. "...Funny."
"Any other questions?" The Commander asked.
After the dolls exchanged quiet looks, the Commander began again. "These guys are a league above the punks we hit earlier, don't expect things to fall into place like last time. We may have dealt with tougher characters than these in the past, but that's no reason to get complacent - expect at least some of these guys to know what they're doing. Remember: aggressive, not careless. We move at dusk."
Hours later, the AR Team found themselves laying in the brush a distance outside the compound. The sun had set below the horizon, tinges of twilight still hanging above as darkness slowly crept over the land.
On a nearby hill, AK-12 and AN-94 had crawled into position. 12 crooked the magazine of the SVDM into the well and wedged it into the catch, the mag clicked affirmatively as it seated. Pushing the safety lever down, she racked the bolt and chambered a round before flicking the safety back into position.
94 observed the camp through her binoculars. "Umbrella, we're in position."
"Copy Denmother, what's the situation at the perimeter?" M4's voice replied over Zener.
94's sight hovering over one of the watchtowers as she zoomed in on the lookout, taking instant note of the tubes attached to the front of his helmet. "The lookouts have Night Vision Goggles...Quad-tubes, GPNVGs from the looks of it."
"...Concerning, but not unexpected. The Black Market was flooded with them after the war ended." RO chimed in.
"Still, that's not cheap equipment for yellow-zone bandits..." M4 pondered.
"That's not all." 94 continued. "I'm seeing lots of 416s. PEQs, EOTechs, and magnifiers as well. Their carriers definitely have plates in them, and those helmets probably aren't bump-helmets."
In terms of gear, this was as high end as you could get short of the spooky stuff the military kept under lock and key.
"These guys have some serious funds behind them. We're definitely in the right place, Commander." M4 inferred.
"Agreed." The Commander nodded, scratching his chin thoughtfully as he looked upon the Command Interface back in the Elmo's CIC. "These guys might be more than just bandits. Keep your guard up."
"Their kit is high-end, but I'm seeing lots of gaps in their patrols. They don't seem to be very well organized." 94 relayed.
"A group of amateurs springing up out of nowhere with this kind of equipment. They've definitely got a backer...The question is, why?" The Commander pondered.
"We won't know until we get in there." M4 refocused.
"Right. Denmother, start marking lookouts and patrols on the Tactical Map, I'll plot a route for Umbrella."
"Understood, Commander." 94 replied.
Blips began popping up on the map, positions, estimates of their lines of sight, estimated routes. 94's observation had been correct, there were plenty of blind-spots to exploit. If they played their cards right, they wouldn't see them coming - even with their fancy goggles.
The AR Team crawled through the darkness, the last hints of twilight dissipating from the sky as they made their way through the lookouts' blind-spot. Reaching the outer perimeter, they hugged a slab of sheet-metal next to a chain-link fence.
"Commander, we're in position." M4 relayed.
"Copy. No changes in enemy activity on the satellite, looks like you're still incognito. Once you're inside, try to find a way to disable any alarms and long-range communications. You'll have your hands full enough already if this goes loud without an enemy QRF breathing down your neck."
"Understood."
M4 pulled a set of wire-cutters and began discretely cutting a hole through the fence. After clipping through the last link, she gently tugged the fencing back and pulled it loose to reveal the opening. The team slowly crept inside, hugging the shadows as they surveyed their surroundings.
The squad leader turned to the rest of the team and began communicating over Zener.. "RO, SOP, start taking care of the outside. 12, cover them. 15, 16, move interior and assess the situation. I'll take care of the alarm system and see if I can run a tap into their network."
The team acknowledged, fanning out along their separate ways.
A few moments later, RO and SOP moved around the perimeter of the main building, discretely slipping from cover to cover as they neared the first watchtower.
"RO, hold. One headed your way." The Commander relayed, eyeing the signature approaching RO's blip on the map.
RO froze in place, hugging the small barrier she hid behind as she heard the casual footsteps drawing nearer. "Anybody watching him?" She said over Zener.
"Negative. He's all on his lonesome." The Commander affirmed.
RO's eyes focused on the gun-toting bandit that casually stepped into view. She trained her weapon on his back as he walked past them. "Get 'em, SOP."
SOP grinned eagerly as RO gave her the order. She briskly but quietly sprung forward, encroaching on her target's back. In a flash, her hand seized the bandit over his mouth, before she violently wrenched his head clockwise – further clockwise than it was ever meant to turn.
SNAP
The body fell limp in an instant. "He's history."
SOP quickly dragged the lifeless corpse back into the shadows. RO moved to help, letting the body down in a dark crevice away from any potential roaming eyes.
That was one bad guy down, hopefully the first of many.
Moving further along the perimeter, they arrived at the first watchtower. RO trained her Submachine gun up the stairs as she silently ascended, the stock nestled in against her shoulder. As she neared the top level, the lookout came into view. Her sight-post rested on the bandit's head as she eased up the last couple steps.
CLANG
A sudden mistep produced the panic-inducing noise. The startled lookout quickly spun to meet RO's gaze.
CLACK
The shot from RO's gun landed just below the front of his helmet, tearing through his head and dinging the backside of his helmet, the combination of the suppressor and subsonic ammo made the cycling of the bolt louder than the report itself. The bandit went limp in an instant, RO jolted forward, catching the body and quietly letting it down to the floor.
"North Watchtower's clear." RO reported.
"I saw. Better hope nobody else did." 12 acknowledged.
RO discretely peered over the grounds, letting out the exhale she was holding as she observed no changes in activity. Creeping back over to the lookout's body, she fished for his radio.
"Got their frequency. Patching them in." RO relayed.
"Copy, RO. Proceed on mission." The Commander replied.
RO continued observing the grounds, her eyes falling on the restored BTR that sat under a rusty pavilion across the yard. "Going to move for the vehicles, see if we can't sabotage them..."
The enemy's short-range channel M4 had tuned into was mostly quiet, save for the occasional bout of idle chatter. Looks like everyone had kept a low profile, she hoped they could keep it up.
After dealing with a couple of roaming patrols, she found herself at an outbuilding, a keypad lock barring entry. Something important without a doubt.
She interfaced with it, the text on the screen scrambled. One by one, the numbers blipped into place.
1 2 3 4
Access granted
"Somebody else was definitely paying for this security system..." She silently thought to herself.
M4 quietly shoved open the door, her suppressed 92X at the ready as she stepped inside.
A node for the alarm system. Just what she was looking for.
She briskly jacked herself in, and just like that, the alarm system was offline.
"Commander, Alarms are down." She informed.
"Good work, M. Regroup with RO and proceed on mission." The Commander acknowledged.
The Commander felt some of the tension begin to loosen. The perimeter patrols and lookouts were dropping one after the other, and now the alarms were offline. Things were falling into place, and maybe, just maybe, things would go smoothly and according to plan for once...
STAR and M16 crept along the catwalk overlooking the factory floor. Groups of bandits roamed below, most of them standing around and idly chatting.
Embellished tales of their daring escapades, nostalgic reminiscing about the times they kicked someone in the stomach so hard they lost their lunch, or demonstrated their manhood by jamming a machine-gun barrel against elderly homesteaders' foreheads, sometimes breaking out into fits of laughter when one of the group mockingly imitated their victim's pleas for mercy. Nothing noteworthy or useful among their conversation, but at least nobody was going to be kept awake at night after sending these bunch to an early closed-casket funeral.
STAR's eyes moved to a room facing onto the catwalk. "16, keep an eye on things here. I'm going to check that room."
M16 nodded, ducking into cover, watching over STAR as she crept over to the room.
STAR quietly shoved the door open, doing a rapid sweep of her surroundings before stepping in.
Crates...lots of crates. Seems like this was some kind of storage room.
She slowly slid off the top of one of the boxes, recognizing the foam cutouts for a rifle inside.
"Commander...Got a lot of equipment in here, looks like some kind of storage..." STAR relayed.
"Any labels or manifests?" The Commander asked.
"Not in plain sight..., I haven't really dug around yet, want me to look?"
"Worry about that later. Keep sweeping the building and picking off any stragglers you can. One the isolated ones are dealt with, we'll get the teams in position to-"
"15, two coming your way!" M16 suddenly interjected.
STAR quickly ducked around a pillar as she heard the footsteps drawing nearer. Two figures slowly filed into the doorway.
"Beautiful sight, ain't it? Those Mangi boys sure are generous." One of the men said, gazing upon the boxes before admiring his presumably shiny new rifle.
"Beats the hell out of what we had to use before. I still have no idea what that abomination was supposed to be." The other replied.
"That pipe-rifle that looked like it was cobbled together by someone who played too much Warhammer? I was one of the lucky ones that got an actual AK."
"Yeah, lucky you. At least those days are over now."
"Commander...these guns came from Mangi. Doesn't sound like they stole them, either." STAR relayed over Zener.
"Mangi Security Services? You're sure?" The Commander pressed.
"I overheard them talking myself, not to mention that guy we interrogated the other day mentioned that they had some kind of deal with them. I'd say it's a smoking gun if there ever was such a thing." STAR affirmed.
"What the fuck is MSS doing giving guns to bandits?" The Commander exhaled.
"Maybe trying to get them to be bolder. Strike closer to the green-zones, scare more people into buying Mangi's services and paying a premium for them to boot?" AK-12 chimed in.
"The possibility is worth looking into."
Meanwhile, STAR held her breath as the two men turned to resume their patrol. However, just as the second one was about to leave, he turned back to the crates. "Eh, the brass deflector on this one is all marked up, let's see if there's a clean one..."
STAR mouthed a curse as the footsteps drew nearer. As he crossed the side of the Pillar, she readied her knife...
But just as she committed to moving in on his blind-spot, some unseen force compelled him to check his side at just that moment.
Letting out a gasp, he raised his gun to block, forcing her to go low. Her left hand seized the handguard of his rifle and drove it to his chest, her right jammed the blade into his thigh, cutting upwards as he let out a sharp howl. As he doubled over reflexively, she violently headlocked him under her arm and dragged the serrations across his neck. A guttural gurgle sounded alongside the cutting of flesh, the bandit dropped to the floor, helplessly grasping at his neck.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" His buddy charged into the room, instantly laying eyes on the T-Doll and his dying partner next to her.
STAR growled in frustration as she hurled her blade at the new threat. The knife tumbled through the air, and slammed against its target's head...By the hilt.
The Bandit howled as his nose exploded into a gush of crimson, the blade clattered to the floor at his feet. "YOU. FUCKING. BIII-"
Letting out another frustrated cry, STAR charged the bandit, her shoulder slammed into his torso and drove him backwards as she grabbed the grip of her PDW. The bandits rifle discharged into the floor as they were both sent on a collision course for the doorway...
"The fuck?!"
"Was that a gunshot?!"
"Are we under-" The Bandits below, as well as M16 who observed the scene playing out, suddenly had their fears vindicated as two figures burst onto the catwalk and smashed through the railing.
The world went into slow motion as STAR flew through the air, her CPU firing on all cores as she watched the realization set into the bandits below as they pointed up to her, reaching for their rifles and crying out to each other.
She raised her PDW, the body of her attacker shielding her from the group immediately below her as the dot of her aimpoint fell onto their heads.
CLACK CLACK CLACK
One after the other, the group beneath her fell limp, spent shells flew from the ejector and soared through the air.
Then, she came crashing down, slamming onto the meatshield beneath her, a hearty crunch softening the impact as noise filled her sensors.
She let out a groan as she rolled off the body, before a sudden burst of bullet impacts near her snapped her back to reality. She briskly rolled into cover, shaking off her disorientation as the sounds of shouting, curses, and unsuppressed gunfire filled the factory floor...
"Commander..." M16 reluctantly transmitted.
The Commander sighed, watching the overhead view of the outpost from the satellite turn into a swarming anthill. "I know..."
In another watchtower outside, a lookout's gaze fixed on the page of a magazine featuring the latest models of T-Dolls. He grinned as his eyes drifted to the picture of a T-Doll posing with a sniper-rifle. He always loved the rifle-wielding ones, something about them always triggered something primal within him.
"Ehehe...She can nail me any day of the week-"
"What the fuck is going on the factory?! Who's shooting?!" His radio suddenly sounded off.
"Are we under attack? What's happening?!"
"Someone report! What's the situation?!"
He was about to grab for his radio, but suddenly-
CRASH
The window of the tower shattered, glass rained to the floor as the lookout slumped to the side and crumpled off his chair, blood pooling out of a hole in his head.
"Hit. He's down." 94 relayed as she peered through her spotter scope.
"RO, Eastern tower's clear." 12 informed.
"Got it!" RO called back. "Alright SOP, here's the plan. We're going to stop anybody from getting to those vehicles. Get yourself closer, I'll clear you a path."
RO bolted up the stairs of the tower, sparks flying in her face from nearby bullet-impacts as she rapidly ascended.
She reached the top, ducking into a low-profile position, she returned fire on the enemies massing in the yard through the gaps in the railing with her submachine gun. The shots dinged off their armor, knocking them off their feet, but they sat up and returned fire within moments.
RO grumbled loudly, ducking into the watchtower and tearing the fallen lookout's 416 off it's sling as she left her SMG to dangle from hers. She fished a couple magazines out of his pouches before she quickly relocated herself. She dropped prone in front of another gap, the magnified reticule finding a target's head with ease. The selector flipped to semi, she squeezed the trigger, the shot slammed through her target's helmet and sent him crumpling over in an instant.
RO let out another flurry of aimed shots, dropping more of his comrades and sending the survivors scrambling for cover.
They re-adjusted their fire, giving SOP an opening to surface around the slim barrier she hid behind. She charged forward to a better piece of cover, firing at the distracted bandits as she moved. Material flew from their helmets, their wearers dropping to the dirt.
As another cluster acquired SOP, RO found the breaker for the tower's spotlight, and quickly threw the switch.
When the bandits moved on SOP's new position, the blinding light suddenly enveloped them, the effects made exponentially more devastating through their nightvision. RO quickly took advantage, leaning out from behind the light and raining bullets down upon them, the last one falling before they even knew what hit them.
"RO, SOP, enemies coming from behind!" AK-12's voice yelled over Zener.
The dolls frantically shifted their position just in time to see a group of bandits charging around the corner behind them. A forceful impact suddenly ripped through the leading man's side, a loud crack echoed from the hills outside.
"Sniper! SNIPER!" One of them shouted, the group falling into immediate disarray as their flanking maneuver was turned on its head in an instant.
More impacts slammed into and around the group, as they all tried to huddle behind the same slab of cover, meanwhile SOP readied her M203 and blasted an HE straight into their center.
BOOM
The blast kicked up a cloud of dust, hurling debris and severed extremities every which way.
"12, two going for the BTR!" 94 called out besides her.
12 quickly moved her sight over to the vehicles, immediately catching sight of the two bandits throwing open the hatches. The chevron of her scope fixed on the first one, her finger squeezed the trigger.
The rifle let out a roaring crack as it sent the bullet to its target. The shot impacted the bandit's torso, the 54R smashed straight through his plate and sent him tumbling off the BTR.
Before 12 could move to the second one, she felt the rifle only half-cycle, the bolt catching on the hold of an empty magazine. "Ебать!" She cursed, watching the second target disappear under the APC's hatch.
The BTR's engine roared to life, blinding light blared from its headlights as it lurched forward on a collision course with RO's tower.
SOP spun around as soon as she heard the engine start, she quickly tore an HEDP grenade out of her pouch and stuffed it into the M203's chamber.
The trajectory was no issue at all thanks to her imprint, she shot the grenade straight into the side of the cockpit. A deafening blast reverberated off the side, the inside of the viewport splattered with a lining of blood, the vehicle stopped accelerating...but didn't stop.
RO felt her stomach drop as the BTR smashed into the tower's supports, she turned to run for the stairs, but quickly found herself running uphill on a progressively steeper incline. In the moment, she decided her only option was to throw herself clear of the tower, and hurled herself over the side-railing to the ground below.
"RO!" SOP cried out as she watched her sister slam to the dirt.
"She landed on her chest, she's fine." 12 teased.
RO groaned in a mixture of emotions as she pushed herself off the ground, mud dripping from her face. "12...I'm going to kick your ass."
"See? Right as rain~" 12 chimed conclusively.
"RO, SOP!" M4 rounded the corner, reuniting with her sisters.
"M4!" SOP gleefully greeted. "You missed-Wha!" Her eyes widened as she recalled that M4 did not put on a red outfit when she got dressed that morning.
M4 sensed the lingering question as SOP sized her up. "It's human blood, not coolant. Don't worry." She dismissed. "Sorry I'm late, I had to put some of the neighbors back to bed."
"M4, are you there?!" STAR's voice suddenly sounded over Zener.
"15, what is it?!"
"I could use some help inside the factory, right-" A succession of loud noises suddenly sounded from STAR's end. "...now!"
Inside the factory, a few minutes earlier...
"What the fuck?! Intruder! Intruder!" A voice frantically cried out from the other side of the machine STAR had rolled behind.
More shouting, shots tore into the corner near her, the short-range frequency blared with frantic chatter. There was no salvaging their cover now, they would be Plan B'ing it from here on.
A shot rang out from the catwalk, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.
"Fuck! Shooter on the catwalk! They're upstairs too!"
STAR took advantage of the break, she rapidly leaned out, her aimpoint jumped to a target's head in an instant. She let loose a series of shots, her aim hopping from person to person as they slumped to the floor until the survivors reacquired her. She wrenched back behind the machine just as a flurry of bullets whizzed past her.
Not wasting any time, she bounded around the machine to a new position as more shots rained down onto her assailants from M16's position.
"Fucking hell! Sev's gone! Frank, Karl, they got fucking everyone! Where the fuck are you assholes?!"
STAR sprinted towards the conveyor line on the bandit's flank, sliding underneath the belt between the supports and straight into the pair of legs nearby.
The bandit turned towards the sound of scraping to find a pink streak shooting straight towards his knees. "SHE'S HERE! HEL-"
STAR's boot slammed straight into his knee cap, snapping his leg into the shape of a V in a stomach-churning direction. The bandit screeched as he dropped down to the doll's level, her arm snaring around his neck in an instant and wrenched it in an unnatural direction, silencing him with a guttural snap.
"There she is! There she is!" A voice cried out behind her.
STAR quickly rolled around, dragging the body with her and covering herself. Bullets slammed into the body's vest and crumpled against the armor plate, she wrenched the body at an angle and retaliated with her PDW. Shots pinged off the top of her target's armor before he keeled over, clasping at his neck as a stream of crimson rushed down his hand. She let out another series of shots, as the rest shuffled back into cover.
She quickly rolled back under the conveyor and scrambled back to her feet, dashing to a new position before her attackers got their bearings.
Up on the catwalk, a storm of footsteps clanged onto the metal from a nearby doorway as a team charged M16's position. "There's the fucking bitch, waste her!"
"Shit!" 16 cursed as she knocked the pin off a flash grenade from under her coat and flung it at the group training their weapons on her, Her targeting software locked onto the grenade, she switched her vision to Thermal as she squeezed the trigger.
The bullet slammed into the bang and detonated it in mid-air, devastating the NVG-clad bandits. She switched her eye back to normal and retaliated, decimating the group in a very one-sided fight.
A door flung open beside her, she turned to see the barrel of a 416 staring her down. She ducked in a flash, the shot whizzing over her head as she charged into her attacker, jamming his muzzle across his shoulder and shoving shoving the stack of bandits back into the doorway. She tore her 1911 out of her shoulder holster, extending it over his opposite shoulder, she fired into his follower's heads one by one.
The three men behind him clattered to the floor, as the doll turned the 1911 to his head, he let go of his rifle, grabbing the pistol around the slide and flinging his head aside in the nick of time. The shot nearly burst his eardrum as it slammed into the wall behind, sending sparks flying over his shoulder. He wrestled against the doll with all his might, but M16 wrenched free of his grip with ease. She jammed the muzzle against his head and pulled the trigger, only for the hammer to drop on an empty cartridge.
Letting out a growl, 16 slammed her forehead into his nosebridge before seizing him around the neck, hurling him around and smashing him against the catwalk railing. Using the back of his neck as a fulcrum against the railing, 16 hammered her fist against the front of his helmet, wrenching his head backwards with a loud pop. The bandit's struggle stopped in an instant, his head dangled loosely as she tossed the body aside. She racked the slide and ejected the empty casing.
"Well, I'd say this is as good of an excuse as any..." The man slipped on a pair of aviator shades as he swaggered over to the cobbled-together mech-suit in the makeshift garage.
"Hey, are you crazy?! The suit's not ready!" One of the others called out.
"It's ready enough." The pilot dismissed.
"Quit fucking around and get your ass to the main floor! Everyone's counting on us."
"You can go on down with that little peashooter if you want, I'm taking this baby for a test-drive." The pilot rolled his neck from side to side as he hopped into the cockpit.
"Your 'baby' is a heap of shit we should never have wasted the time and money on, we could have had ourselves a tank!" The other bandit yelled in annoyance.
The pilot paid him no mind as he strapped in, closed the hatch, and began powering up the mech's systems. "Mechs are cooler than tanks, nerd."
Back down on the factory floor, STAR rushed through the maze of machinery to the enemy's flank, jamming a fresh magazine into her PDW. She came up on another conveyor line, the enemies focused away from her as they all trained their weapons on the same spot STAR disappeared from. STAR shot out of cover from their peripherals, her dot snapped to her first victim's head as she let out a burst of shots which found their mark with ease.
Weapons trained on her, a hailstorm of bullets flew towards her, sending clouds of rubber and showers of sparks from the conveyor. She dove over belt, over the cloud of sparks and smoke, outside their field of fire. She sprayed a volley at her attackers as she flew through the air, one of them snapped back and dropped over as she impacted into the ground. She rolled into prone, her gun let out another violent flurry salvo, the suppressor glowed red hot as it launched its payload into the group before they could re-adjust their fire.
The room grew quiet as the last bandit fell, but something deep inside her told her that it wasn't over.
"Knock Knock, guess who's there?" A deep, gravely voice suddenly called out from some kind of speaker.
The room suddenly violently shook, the sound of grinding metal and crumbling concrete echoed through the room as a towering bipedal mech smashed into the factory floor, instantly setting its sights on STAR. "Why hello there, sweetheart. Hate to do this to such a pretty face.~"
The chaingun under its arm began to spool up. STAR's eyes widened in a panic. "Shit!"
She dove for cover just as a raging hurricane of gunfire rained down on her position. High-caliber shots tore through the machines above her as she frantically crawled for some kind of salvation.
The Mech's assault was interrupted by couple of impotent impacts sparking off the top of the top armor, unfazed, it casually turned to the source.
M16 could practically sense the pilot grinning as he began to address her."Just what do you think you're doing? Did you really think you could hurt me with that little thing? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch."
The chaingun spooled up again, roaring with hate as it lit up where M16 had been standing. The doll sprinted across the walkway, clouds of atomized concrete following in her wake as the adjacent wall was ripped to pieces.
Something suddenly clattered to the mech's foot.
BOOM
The frag's detonation blasted a cloud of dust into the air, shrapnel kicked up sparks as it embedded itself all around. When the smoke cleared, however, the mech was still standing.
"How cute..." The pilot teased.
STAR engaged her Zener. "M4, are you there?!"
"15, what is it?!" M4's voice responded.
"I could use some help inside the factory, right-" A storm of gunfire shredded the ground near STAR as she scrambled for cover. "now!"
"What's going on?!" M4 pressed.
"The Mech's active, it's a tough one!"
"I'm on my way, hold on!"
"Easier said that done..." 15 muttered under her breath as she heard the gargantuan steps drawing nearer.
"Where you going, babe? Running off already?~ Here I thought we had something special..."
The Mech turned the corner, only to lay eyes on a blinking antenna affixed to a C4 charge.
BOOM
The Mech was thrown to the side by the blast. The relief STAR felt, however, was evaporated in an instant as the Mech clanged back to its feet.
"Aww, was that for me? You shouldn't have." The pilot smugly taunted.
STAR growled as she tore off back into the maze of machinery. "This asshole's getting on my nerves..."
A series of boosters suddenly flared up on the suit's back. Flames spewed from the thrusters, the mech launched forward, skidding along the floor as it smashed through the machines with ease.
STAR could hear the Mech gaining. She quickly moved to dive out of its line, but as she lept out of the way, she felt a forceful blow strike her from behind and send her hurling into a nearby wall. A web of cracks formed behind her as she slumped over, groaning in pain as static and noise filled her senses.
The Mech turned itself towards her, aligning its gun to the stunned doll. "You gotta be faster than that, hon. Speed is life, and yours..." The chaingun's battery whirred energetically as it spooled up the barrel. "Just ran ou-"
BOOM
A beam of energy suddenly blasted through the side of the Mech, the chaingun detached from the arm and chattered to the floor. Sparks, smoke, and fire engulfed the suit as it lifelessly slumped over, its electronics sputtering and fading as its systems shut down.
A figure approached, silhouetted by the bright orange flames as she stepped into view, a massive cannon on her shoulder enlarging her profile.
The cannon retracted itself into an inconspicuous rectangular case, M4 slung it over her back and briskly jogged over to her sister. "15!"
"Nggh...I'm...I'm alright." STAR groaned, shaking off her disorientation. "Impact knocked some things out of sync, but everything's green..."
M4 sighed in relief, she extended her hand down to STAR. She grabbed M4's hand, letting her help her up to her feet. M4 gave STAR a pat on the shoulder as they turned back towards the wreck.
"RO, 12, how's the perimeter?" M4 called over Zener.
"No more activity outside, I think we're clear." RO replied.
"Nothing on the scope out here, inside or outside the perimeter." 12 relayed.
"Commander?"
"No activity in the area around the factory. Doesn't look like they got any kind of distress call out." The Commander's voice sounded.
"16, how's the second floor?"
"Nothing moving up here." M16 called back.
"So...we did it? We're clear?" STAR asked.
M4 nodded. "I think so. We'll do one final sweep of the building, then we can start searching for more intel."
Things hadn't gone entirely according to plan, but at least they had made it. That made the operation as successful as anybody could have hoped for. Bandits in the yellow-zone usually fought over table-scraps, but here these guys were popping up out of nowhere and throwing around money and equipment well above their grade.
The breadcrumb trail had turned their attention to Mangi Security Services. Mangi was no stranger to scandals, they had gotten something of a reputation for behavior one would expect of a PMC in this world - War Profiteering, Conflict Escalation, undertaking contracts from clientele who were less than upstanding citizens.
Was this latest development a simple case creating problems to sell solutions, or did their motivations run deeper and more sinister than that?
It was a long-shot, and M4 knew she was grasping at straws at this point, but she hoped to find some answers - answers she needed to get closer to the forces out to get them, a way to sever the invisible hand pulling the strings behind their undoing.
Answers she needed before it would be too late.
This was her second chance to set things right, and she wasn't going to get another one.