"What's going on, can anyone reach command?"
"Jamming! What do we do! My dummies won't respond!"
"We need air support, how do we mark targets!?"
"Do we fall back?"
"Rules say we gotta keep going!"
"All units, this is Third-wheel. I'm taking over command, hold positions and keep fighting. Pilots, take command of your designated groups and support them as you see fit." RS9 barked into the radio, "Mark airstrikes with smoke and call via the relevant channels, check the sticker on the back of your radios for the right frequencies."
Beside her, concrete exploded into a million little shards as the wall Rs and M4 were pressed up against was peppered with rapid fire plasma.
They had planned for this, the jamming. Handheld, short range radios, planned division of command amongst their human pilots.
Each took no time to react, scattering away from the rounds and towards cover as a pack of SF vespids advanced on them. Rs slid in behind a large SUV, and shot M4 an expectant look.
M4 fired a stream of lead in reply, drawing the enemy doll's ire and giving Rs just enough time to prop up her rifle on the hood of her car.
"Third-wheel, this is Groza. Famas has linked up with us at the theater, Intruder is confirmed KIA."
Rs grinned, "Nice to get some good news. Proceed with setting up there, we're trying to get to you now."
"Copy, will you need assistance?"
RS pulled her trigger, sending a .338 round slamming into one of the hapless enemy dolls hiding from M4's onslaught from behind a concrete road divider.
"Yes, put a team together when you've gotten set up."
"Wilco."
Rs tore a grenade off her rig, yanking the pin and tossing the explosive into the center of another group of enemy dolls.
The poor things try to scramble out of the way, those that react too slowly are caught in the explosion, those quick enough are caught by M4.
Something was wrong.
Rs felt a tingle along her spine, like a little dance of electric charge that made her hairs stand on end. Ahead M4 paused, the doll clearly also noticing that something was off.
"Do you feel that?" she asked.
M4 nodded, "Yes, but there's nothing on my scanners."
Rs' eyes narrowed. Her instincts were screaming at her. They were in danger.
"Cover, now."
The pair of them pulled back off the street, backing away into cover within what was probably a liquor store once upon a time.
"It's too quiet," Rs commented after about five minutes of relative quiet, the only noises being the distant pops of gunfire.
"Hmmm?" M4 asked, her head cocking, "Isn't that good?"
Rs can't help but smile at the doll, weak though it is, "I hope so, but doubt it."
"I don't see anything, nothing on scopes."
Rs nodded, and clicked the transmit on the her radio, "Roseglass, Third-wheel do you have eyes on us?"
"Hi RS!" M14's cheerful voice replied, seemingly undulled by the sudden shift in circumstances, "Yep, we see ya! I was watching you until just a moment ago."
"Any Sf near us?"
"Mmmm, maybe?"
"14," she growled.
"Right right, we saw a few units near there a little while before you two got there. Maybe ten minutes?"
"What kind?"
"Uh, jagers and vespid mostly, couple scouts. Tec claims that there is a 'network node' near there too, so possibly a signal relay or a ringleader. I think that's it."
Ten minutes was around the time of their last engagement.
Rs shot M4 a look and mouthed, 'possible ringleader.'
M4's eyes widened a degree, she nodded then went back to her scope, scanning the area very carefully.
"Let us know if you see anything else near us, 14."
"Okie dokie, cya."
She clicked the radio off.
"What do we do?" M4 asked.
"I'm open to suggestions."
M4 paused for a moment, obviously calculating her response.
"Two possible ringleaders, Operator or Ouroboros. If the latter she'll be observing us, likely to send lesser forces in before joining personally."
"And if it's Operator?"
M4 pursed lips, "twenty two likely locations, four hundred less likely, but plausible others in the vicinity. She'll detect us first."
Rs shuddered, "that bad huh?"
"She's crafty, and quiet. Unfortunately it's likely her, I've not seen Ouroboros today, and she implied she was departing not long after I last saw her."
"We'll assume Operator then. Countermeasures?"
M4 shook her head, "I don't know her capabilities or habits."
"Great…" Rs sighed, letting her head droop a touch, "Well, I'll bet you anything she's got eyes on our previous location out there," she said, pointing down the street where she'd just felt that odd feeling.
M4 nodded.
"It's odd she didn't fire right away though, was she waiting for something?"
"Perhaps trying to move her troops into position?" M4 offered.
"Plausible," Rs nodded, "Which means we shouldn't linger here."
"Shall we find a new route?"
"Yes, next street over."
"She'll see that coming won't she?"
Rs nodded, "probably, but if we're quick her troops will be out of position and we can slip through."
With that, they got moving.
Slipping out of their cover and along the street proved uneventful. Each of them weaving around fallen hunks of concrete, old cars and even through storefronts where possible, all while keeping their pace up. With M4 leading, Rs felt somewhat secure in their advance, the dolls sensors would give some early warning and SF so far had been hesitant to do much more than suppress her.
Hopefully capturing her was still a priority.
Rs radio exploded with cries over the general net as the dolls charged with the assault on the rail tunnel came under heavy attack. Heavy mechanized units were rolling up on them from unknown garrisons, and without their dummies and with apparently poor coordination between the units, they were being cut to ribbons.
As they came to the street they intended to follow back to friendly lines, RS felt that tingle return.
M4 felt it too, the doll stopping behind cover and looking at her, uneasy.
Up ahead the street appeared mostly clear. This was a residential area, the street lined with three to four story apartments with hundreds of empty windows staring down at them. At the far end, one such apartment formed a shallow L shape, so dozens of windows directly faced them.
At the street level, a couple cars and a larger city bus lay strewn across the road, the result of a decades old collision.
"Bus, I'll cover you."
M4 nodded as Rs set up her rifle. With a quick thumbs up M4 took off at a sprint down the street towards the bus while Rs watched over her.
Nothing. M4 reached the bus and with a quick wave, beckoned her to follow.
Rs stood, dusting herself off, and began jogging down the street.
As if a lightning storm had rolled in out of nowhere, the air became violently charged with electricity. A window shattered from one of the fourth story windows in the L-shaped building, and Rs felt something slam into her left shoulder.
"Sheiß!" she yelped as a searing pain exploded at her shoulder. She was slammed down by the force, and her eyes saw stars as her head knocked onto the hard asphalt.
Her left arm tingled and screamed, throbbing as she lay on the ground watching the little lights dance in her dark vision.
Systems wouldn't budge, BCI sending angry complaints to her brain.
But she forced her head forward, despite the aches and pains the motion caused, as she heard rapid gunfire from ahead.
Behind her cover, M4 fired away to their flank, Rs tracking towards a group of SF dolls that'd appeared.
Adrenaline hit her like a runaway train. The pain almost totally disappeared and she found her body quickly lining her rifle up with the broken window.
With little to no conscious effort, the round went flying back towards that broken window, the rifles normally ferocious recoil little more than a dull thump coinciding with the barrel jumping.
Hit or no hit, she couldn't tell. However it gave her the confidence to get to her feet and start stumbling towards M4 as quickly as she could.
"Rs!" M4 shouted as she reached her.
"I'm good!" she croaked in reply, "shooter, fourth floor, eleven o-clock in the broken window."
"Operator…" M4 growled.
"Hit me with a low power EMP I think. Hurts like hell," she panted, rubbing her shoulder, "but I'll be okay."
"She wants to disable us," M4 said with narrowed eyes.
"Cocky of her," Rs nodded.
Her UI returned to her vision, having disappeared with the EMP's detonation. A consequence of her original design goals, her BCI was shielded against EMP effects, but peripheral systems needed to be rebooted or repaired to be used.
"Are you okay?" M4 asked, firing a quick burst into a Jager that was circling around their cover.
Rs nodded, "I'm good."
Health monitors showed a light concussion, damage to her shoulder, and half her systems as being down. A slight fib, but not totally untrue.
Her hand went to her radio, but before she could transmit M14 cut her off.
"Rs, you there?"
"Copy, Was just about to call you. Do you have eyes on?"
There was a pause before 14 replied, "Oh yeah, You two alright?"
"For now, can you see our attackers?"
"Few baddies near you, but there are alot more coming towards ya."
"Can you lend us a hand?"
"Sorry, outta range. But that's not why I called."
"HUH?!" Rs shouted as M4 engaged another couple enemy dolls.
"Tec found the jammer."
Beside her, M4's weapon clicked empty. In a fluid motion RS ripped one of her remaining grenades off and hucked it at their opponents while the doll reloaded.
She waited for the explosion before answering.
"You're sure!?"
"Yup! Eight kilometers south of town."
An electric storm built on the air, before something tore through the the top of the bus with a deafening clang and punched into the asphalt further down the road.
"RS?"
"Little busy!"
"Right, sorry. Um, can we go deal with it?"
Another round tore through their cover, Rs ducking away from the molten metal splinters that ripped out through the air.
"You have a blank check, do it!"
"'Kay! Can I have Monroe fly us?"
M4 tapped her shoulder, and Rs followed her finger to a group of enemy dolls massing further up the street from them. Dozens of shield bearing guard dolls were forming a phalanx and advancing towards them.
"Green light, and make it quick!"
"Copy!"
Rs set up her rifle, scoping in on the guard dolls marching towards them.
She never got the shot off, instead another blast of searing pain exploded from just behind her, and her UI fizzled out once more.
"Gahhh!" M4 yelped in pain, Rs whirling around to find her nearly collapsed on the ground, covering her ears with face frozen in pain.
"M4! M4!" she shouted, rushing over and shaking the doll.
Luckily she came to, dropping her arms and snatching back up her weapon, "I- I'll be okay."
"Another EMP?"
M4 nodded wordless, pointing to a small impact scar on the far side of the bus, nearly four meters away.
"Jeez, nothing weak about that EMP," she whistled, "You're good?"
M4 nodded, "I am rated against class four EMPs, but…" she winced.
"Hurts like hell huh?" Rs chuckled, patting her on the back, "Walk it off, we still got company."
"Where is she?" Sop growled as she carefully surveyed the intersection with her rifle.
Star glanced in the opposite direction, looking into the dark, destroyed cafe they were hiding out in. There was a small doorway which probably led to the kitchen on the far side.
"No read," Star grunted, "Door on the far side, probably leads into the kitchen."
"Back door?"
"Most likely, she won't come that way, that's our exit."
"Yeah," Sop grunted, hefting off the broken windowsill she'd been partially kneeling behind.
Star got to her feet and led the way through the cafe towards the door with Sop trailing behind, covering their rear with her rifle.
They slipped past the door. Sure enough there was a stainless steel and tile kitchen beyond, destroyed much like the rest of the cafe. There were a couple more doors from this room, plus what was probably a freezer door, so Star led them through to the one with the dead 'Exit' sign hanging above it.
"I'll bet she's watching it," Sop growled as they stacked up on the door.
"Probably. We took too long to move."
"Maybe there's another way out?"
"We're wasting too much time. Let's do this, just like last time."
Sop sighed, then stepped out in front of the door before slamming a powerful kick into it. In step with the swinging door, Sop charged while Star brought her rifle up to her shoulder.
Sop dashed out, running into the alleyway beyond the door before sliding in behind a garbage can.
Nothing.
Sop glanced at her with wide, confused eyes.
Star tracked upwards, checking the rooftops above them for the arrogant white haired doll.
No sign.
Star dropped her rifle's sights and dashed over towards Sop, sliding in beside her behind the trash cans.
"Check your scopes," she grunted.
"Eh? Bu-"
"Just do it, she's already got a fix on us."
Sop's eyes narrowed.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"She's not alone anymore. All sides, dozens of Regs, dinergates, Prowlers."
Star glanced back down the alleyway "I see nothing, you sure?"
"They're all just outta sight," she growled, "cowards."
"Where's Hunter?"
"Not sure, she's moving fast," Sop's expression softened, "Will Rs and M4 be okay?"
Star didn't answer, instead she tilted her rifle and checked the slit in her mag. 25 left in this one, two full ones left in addition.
This engagement had gone on too long. Rs couldn't hold out long with M4 in tow, not on her own, she needed to get there and help them. Based on the panic on the radio, Griffin's assault was faltering too, when it failed they needed to be in a position to escape.
"It's all happening again, iSn't it."
Her left eye twitched.
"How many grenades do you have left?"
Sop checked the inside of her hoodie where she kept her grenades, "eh, two HE, two smoke."
"Load smoke. We'll proceed towards that road," she said, pointing down the length of the alley towards the road she believed would get them to Rs and M4, "Fire it along our rear, then load HE. If Hunter wants to encircle us, we'll just have to break through."
A grin spread along Sop's chin, reaching ear to ear to complement the suddenly very aggressive glint in her eye, "Hehehe, now you're talking!"
Star didn't need to say more. The pair set off down the alley at a jog, coming to the end before Sop fired off the smoke grenade. With concealment now to their rear, Star pushed out onto the street.
A storm of plasma greeted her. Instantly half a dozen regulars made their presence known, melting the steel from the few cars parked at the edges of the street while Star ducked in behind them.
Sop's weapon clicked as she slammed a second grenade home, at which time she sprinted out into the street.
Star immediately popped up and took the head off one of the distant Vespids, then laying fire into the remaining who ducked into cover along their end of the street.
A solid thunk sent Sop's grenade arcing through the air and right into their midst, where it then blossomed into a brilliant ball of flame that sent the SF dolls flying in pieces.
Star left her cover, rushing up the street with Sop alongside her, each keeping as close as possible to what cover there was along the edge of the street.
More panicked shouts called over the general freqs on the radio, dolls fighting near the rail tunnels were being pushed back by a sudden wave of SF forces. From the sounds of it they were being torn to shreds.
Beside her, Sop's pace slowed a touch.
A burst of plasma tore out towards them. Reacting instantly Star snapped a blind shot in the direction of its source while she went evasive, escaping with little more than a single hole in her jacket.
Sop was slow to reply, by the time her grenade flew out towards the SF doll, it was gone.
"Look up."
Despite herself, Star glanced upward at one of the apartment blocks looking down on them.
An SF Jager poked its head up at just that moment, giving Star a good enough shot on its head for a kill. Unfortunately, four more appeared beside it, this time each was pointing their weapons her way.
"Off the street!" she shouted, charging towards a storefront along the road.
She crashed through the glass door just as the plasma encased rounds slammed into the earth around her.
Sop wasn't far behind, tumbling in, head over heels.
"Gah!" she yelped as she hit the floor.
"Sop?"
"I- urgh dangit," the doll growled, trying to rise but clearly pained by the motion.
There was a smoking hole along the doll's midsection, just above her hip joints. Sop struggled to get off the floor, but again failed as the leg beneath the hit flailed around useless.
Probable partial controller hit, that leg wasn't something Sop could rely on anymore.
Star gripped her sister, flipped her onto her back, and dragged her further into the store and plopped her in behind a counter. Then returning her rifle to her shoulder, she set the barrel on the counter and drew a bead on the front entrance.
"Ooowwww, Ow ow ow ow.
"Where are you hit?" Star asked, sparing a glance back at her sister.
"Urgh, right controller cluster, "Sop struggled to sit before reaching around and probing the injury with her hand.
"Can you fix it?"
"I- maybe…"
"Maybe?"
"Diagnostics are saying controllers three through eight are toast."
Typical. Those control different parts of the leg assembly: hip motor and two different synth muscle groups to be precise.
"Precision is poor, strength halved, range of motion…" Sop said, trying to stretch out her leg, "bad."
"Can you move?"
Sop huffed, "I can limp maybe."
Star winced.
More panicked voices called on her and Sop's radios. Sniper teams were being picked off by scout drone swarms, Rs and the pilots desperately trying to coordinate a response from their reserve forces, the strain obvious in all their voices.
"Go on ahead…." Sop muttered, "Go save M4."
Star glanced back at Sop, the doll staring down at her bad leg with a mournful expression.
"And you?"
"I'll limp back. Just go, I-" a tear welled in her sister's eye, "I don't wanna lose M4 again."
"I can help."
Star returned her gaze to the store front, but spared a glance beneath the counter she was crouched beside. Within was a stale, molding piece of bread seated on a rack. The detail stuck with her more than it had any right to.
Who are you?
"I can help."
Suddenly a burst of plasma ripped through the stormfront, shattering glass and forcing her to duck back into cover, though not before a shard sliced through her cheek.
The barrage continued for a minute, the repeated impacts taking on a monotonous rhythm, before ceasing as suddenly as it had begun.
The sudden silence was almost as eerie as the gunfire.
Cautiously Star poked her head out.
"Hunter…" she growled as she spied the white haired doll stalking her way through the smoke billowing from the store towards them. All around her a dozen lesser SF units were holding position, hunkered down behind cover with their rifles all trained on her.
Behind her, Sop reached out and tugged on her jacket.
Sparing a glance, she looked down, finding her sister pointing towards a smoldering wooden door at the far end of the room, over which hung another unlit exit sign.
"Sop.."
Her sister reached over with a wince to grip her rifle. She slipped an HE grenade into its launcher, then met her eyes.
"Save M4."
Star set her jaw, and tore another glance back at Hunter. The ringleader met her glare, and grinned.
"I can help."
"How?"
"We're here!" Monroe barked over the intercom, "get ready, LZ is very hot!"
M14 brought her rifle to her shoulder as she hung her legs out the left door. Sure enough as the Blackhawk banked around, she got a perfect view of the only clearing large enough for them near the Jammer.
It was at the base of an old two story building surrounded with skeletal steel towers. Apparently Sf had set up their jammer in an old power substation. Amongst the dozens of Sf forces within and around the facility, 14 noted at least a dozen Jagers, Vespids, Rippers and Guards amongst them.
"I count three dozen signatures, the majority are regular types."
"Copy, pick 'em off and prep for a hot drop off."
Without another word 14 and Wa opened up, each putting round after round into any enemy doll which appeared, with a particular focus on Jagers.
As they did, Monroe banked the helicopter once more, bringing them down in a swinging motion towards the LZ. with a deftness which belied the aircraft's true weight, she brought the bird down to five meters above the ground before banking hard, so hard 14 was worried the rotor's would hit the ground, however a moment later the Heli righted itself near stationary just off the ground.
"Go go go!" Monroe shouted.
"Thanks for the ride~!"
14 hopped off, dropping like a rock the last couple meters to the ground. She quickly recovered and began laying into the Sf regs swarming out of the woods around the LZ towards them.
Tec appeared beside her, firing off a burst of automatic fire into the nearest Sf doll with her namesake pistol before laying down into the ground. Meanwhile Wa and Nagant hopped off on the other side of the hovering helicopter.
Suddenly Tec's head snapped backward, the doll's eyes wild.
"Behin-!" she began.
A sharp, two tone crack cut her off, followed by a blinding flash of light.
14 found herself forcefully dragged to the ground by Tec as the earth itself seemed to erupt around her.
When the eruption ended, 14 found herself staring at a shattered helicopter blade mere centimeters from her head, embedded into the ground. Behind her the dying whine of a turbine engine partially grew distinct.
"Oh shit," she muttered as the reality of the situation became clear.
Heartbreak Two was now a smoldering wreck. Beside her Tec scrambled to her feet.
"Nemeums!" she shouted, waving 14 off her feet.
Past the wreck she heard Wa and Nagant's weapons continue to crack, followed by another of the distinctive cracks from the same weapons that'd just downed the helicopter.
Plasma tore into the earth around her, 14 quickly replying to the Sf dolls still advancing while she tried to move after Tec, who was scrambling towards the helicopter's cockpit.
Her weapon clicked, 14 reacting quickly by swapping the magazine and yanking back on the charging handle before bringing her weapon back up, sending a round into her target.
"14, 14!" Tec shouted.
She spared a glance back.
Tec was by the cockpit window, within which 14 could see the pilot hanging limply in her seat.
"Get Nagant and Wa!" she shouted.
Tec nodded and scrambled over the heli blades and twisted metal towards the other side of the downed bird. 14 quickly replaced her by the cockpit, looking for some way in to recover the pilot.
Behind her a dozen more Sf dolls emerged from the woods, filtering out and firing away on her. A few stray bolts even struck near the cockpit, melting through the glass and metal while coming dangerously close to the unconscious pilot within.
"Go away!" she screamed, spraying fire back at the enemy dolls.
Her weapon clicked empty again, 14 panicking as another dozen SF dolls continued their assault. However, at that moment a rapid fire fusilade quickly cut the enemy dolls down.
"14, you okay!?" Tec shouted as she, Nagant, and Wa slipped around the heli.
"I- yeah, yeah," she stammered, quickly reloading her weapon, "We need to get Monroe out!"
"Not much time, they have three Nemeums closing from the power plant!" Nagant replied, taking a moment to pop a few rounds off at a couple enemy dolls trying to circle around the downed bird to fire on them.
As if to prove the point, several heavy energy rounds slammed into the earth nearby them, encouraging Wa to tuck in closer behind the helo.
"Just get her out, we can't stay here."
Nagant nodded, then pointed to Tec, "can you break the glass?"
"I-yes but I might hurt her."
"Just do not kill her," Nagant snapped, "break it, and I will pull her out."
Tec nodded, taking careful aim on the Cockpit glass before letting off a couple few rounds while 14 and Wa covered the two dolls from any enemy doll's which presented themselves. 14 could hear the stomping of the heavy Nemeums growing closer, their suppressive fire becoming more and more frequent and aggressive.
Tec smashed the glass inward with the butt of her weapon, and Nagant immediately dove in, cutting out the unconscious pilot and dragging her out.
"Ahhh!" Tec yelped, jumping back.
"Wh- What!?" 14 asked, her head whirling around to see Monroe's flight suit gashed open along her left arm, a steady well of dark red blood flowing from the cut. Based on the staining of blood on the jagged cockpit window, she'd probably been cut on the glass while Nagant pulled her out.
As Nagant pulled out the pilot, Tec, having apparently forgotten all sense of self preservation, stood up rod straight and began backing away with unsteady footsteps.
"Tec, Tec get down!" 14 shouted, yanking the doll down as a few opportunistic vespids spat fire towards her.
"I- I I…" she stammered, her eyes unblinking as she stared at the pilot.
Nagant, ignoring her, pulled out the IFAK in her pack and began treating the wound while 14 wrestled her to the ground.
Wa whirled around, spraying half a dozen pin-point accurate shots into the attacking dolls, momentarily freeing them from harassment. 14 got back up, quickly reestablishing her own coverage while glancing back at Tec.
"You alright?" she asked, patting the doll's cheek to try and bring her back.
A distant look was in Tec's eye, but as 14 repeated the question a couple times she seemed to come around, "I- eh ye-yeah, I'm good."
"Blood?"
Tec nodded.
14 glanced at Nagant, the doll just finishing patching up the still limp Pilot and repacking her medkit.
"Can we move her?"
"We can."
14 quickly surveyed the area, about twenty five meters ahead of her was the treeline. Probably better than here, more cover, opportunities to slip away, and there didn't seem to be any more SF coming from that way.
However, it took them the wrong way from the jammer, the power station was to her back.
Monroe was in rough shape, the bleeding had stopped but she still wasn't awake. They couldn't take her with them on an assault, and they couldn't leave her alone anywhere.
Beside her, Wa leaned out from the side of the Heli, popping off a couple rounds before another burst of plasma sent her right back into cover.
"Nemeums are getting close," she grunted, "What do we do?"
"I-" 14 began, "we gotta complete the mission."
"Monroe can not remain here," Nagant chided her, "We must bring her to safety."
"We know," 14 nodded, "But if we don't blow the jammer…"
"How about we split up?" Wa suggested, "Me and Tec rush the jammer, you two get her to safety."
Nagant shook her head disapprovingly, "Can you really take on all the Nemeums by yourself?"
Wa's face fell, "I have the best chance," she said quietly.
"If they kill you, they then go for us. M14, no offense, but the two of us stand little chance against their numbers on our own," Nagant said, "We must stick together and move Miss Monroe. Human lives take priority."
That stung, even though in her heart of hearts she knew it was true, bitter though it was.
A panicked shout came over the radio, the sniper teams were under heavy fire. 14 could hear the panic in the doll's voice, the strain in Rs and the pilot's voices as they tried to coordinate a response. She had seen that doll just a few minutes prior as they took over 14's position on the hill.
Then suddenly, with that same distinctive two-tone report, the tail section of the Heli was blown clean off. 14 and Wa instantly trained their weapons in the direction, but a swarm of Sf dolls looping around from the other end quickly split their attention once again.
With Wa engaging the flankers, 14 was left to face down the hulking mech which stomped around the corner, its massive cannon swinging her way as its two stubby armored feet cleared the wreckage that'd been the Blackhawk's tail just a moment ago.
14 raised her weapon, finger curling around the trigger as a pale blue glow built up within the Nemeum's cannon. MIlliseconds seemed to drag on, a race to the punch.
She was beaten to it.
The two-tone crack split the air.
The Nemeum before her exploded in a brilliant flash of light as a bolt of brilliant blue plasma slammed into its side, tearing through armor plate as if it were paper.
The five and a half ton mech toppled over in a tangle of twisted metal and smoldering circuitry, 14 wide eyed staring at it. She half expected it to revive itself, somehow reassemble and fire, but it stayed down.
It took her a moment to recover, but as she slowly turned back to see if she was the only one to have seen that, she found her team equally stunned. Wa had even stopped firing.
"Did that just…" she gasped.
All around, Sf dolls turned on each other and opened fire, Jagers brawling in the brushline while the two remaining Nemeums began to exchange body blows.
14 and her team looked on in a stunned silence. No one even dared blinking for fear of the spell breaking.
"W-what is this?" Wa stammered. The crimson eyed doll turned back to 14, "Do I shoot?"
14 blinked, then did a quick survey of the area.
"Let's get Monroe to safety first."
"What about the jammer?"
"Grrr, we can't do both! Monroe first, then that!"
Wa nodded, and went to help Nagant in carrying Monroe while Tec remained frozen in place. However, she wasn't locked on Monroe, or even the SF dolls, instead Tec was staring straight into the mass of blackhawk, and in the direction of the jammer.
"Tec?" 14 asked, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.
"I can make it," she said without looking at 14.
"What? What do you mean?"
"There's a gap now, I can make it through them."
"There's no time! We gotta get Monroe to safety, we'll try it once she's clear."
Tec looked back at her, "No, I can make it now. You don't need me to keep her safe."
"That is crazy!" Nagant snapped at her, "We must stick together! For all our sake!"
"I can make it! If I take down the jammer you three can focus on protecting her, and we get the mission done!"
"What about you!"
"I- I'll figure it out. Even if I die it'll be worth it. Please, believe me."
14's eyes danced between the two, quietly trying to take in both sides even while the chaos continued on around them.
"Tec."
Tec-9 glanced at her with pleading eyes.
"Go, but be careful. First though," She turned to Nagant and Wa, "you two, run to the trees, we'll cover you."
Nagant and Wa nodded, then after a moment's wait for all of them to prepare, they took off at an awkward run while she and Tec fired away at any Sf dolls in the area.
Once the two dolls and their precious cargo were across and into the trees, M14 turned to Tec.
"You ready?"
Tec nodded, a small grin on her face.
14 reloaded her weapon, then with as confident a smile as she could manage, said, "go."
Tec took off as 14 covered her, the smaller doll nimbly weaving around the brawling SF dolls and over obstacles while 14 put round after round on the enemy. She fired her final bullet, sinking it into a vespid just as Tec disappeared from her view and into the powerstation.
"Operator, what's going on!?"" Yelped an irritable Hunter on Comms, who amusingly was labeled as 'hostile' on her IFF.
"Not sure, some kind of EW," she replied as coolly as she could manage.
"Grrr, my own troops are shooting at me. I had them cornered!"
"Same, Hunter, same. Just make do, we can still win this."
At the end of Operator's sights was the bus, behind which M4A1 and RS9 had been cowering for the last fifteen or so minutes in what should have been a valiant, but futile, stand.
That was clearly where the fight was going, right up until Operator's own troops fired on her and each other. In the ensuing scuffle she'd lost track of the enemy dolls for a moment, and the few troops she'd manage to reprogram back to her side didn't have eyes on.
They may well still be there, or nearby, or have slipped into a nearby building. She couldn't be sure.
"Operator. What's your status?" asked an annoying voice.
"Busy Ouroboros, what?"
"I'm sending reinforcements back to you, try not to die before they arrive."
"Oh… what's their eta?"
"Two hours, I'm sending them back by train. I'm further out than them, but I'll be there soon too."
Griffin's EW had saved them for the moment, loosening the pressure on their scattered forces just as the noose had been tightening. On the Net Operator noticed Ourobouros going mad in her efforts to repair the IFFs, far and away outstripping her and Hunter's efforts.
"Much appreciated."
"Agent claims you're one of the best, that 'I should watch, listen, and learn' from you. Yet you need my help for our first time working together."
She rolled her eyes, "We succeed by working together."
"Huh, if you say so…"
Operator closed the channel. It was 'nice' that help was coming, although she personally wished Ouroboros herself would stay where she was. The EW support was actually helpful though, in the last five minutes they'd gotten about twenty percent of their troops back across the town.
Just enough for her to get eyes on M4 and Rs' last location, a Jager on the far side of the street lent her its eyes and confirmed that they were gone.
"Tch, where are you," she muttered, pulling back from her scope.
There were buildings not far from that bus, and all but a few of her garrisoned troops in them were down. They could've gone in almost any direction, run back the way they'd come, sneak around to try and slip past, or weave their way up through the apartments which connected to the building she was in.
All equally possible, theoretically. However as they were IOP made Griffin dolls they had restrictions, even one as capable as M4. Programming dictated they would try to run back and find another way to their allies. That was, unless they were supremely confident they could slip around her.
She quickly ordered all recovered forces nearby to converge on the area and begin a sweep of the streets further up. Meanwhile she carefully slipped out of her sniper nest and made her way to the side of the building, seeking a vantage point on the next road over.
And yet, as she set her rifle up and ordered her troops around to fill in the gaps around her, she felt an odd sensation. It was like, some part of her telling, yelling at her that she'd missed something.
She'd learned something over the years, picked up from seemingly endless observation of the same routine over and over.
'Challenge what you think you know'.
It was good advice, she thought. The ones who'd always spouted it usually yelled it at those who should've known better, those making mistakes obvious to all but them.
What did she think she knew?
She hesitated.
There was the faintest noise from the next room over. Just a little creak, like a hinge squeaking as it opened. A moment ago she'd have ignored it, odds were it was just a consequence of the wind, or one of her aberrant troops that still occupied areas nearby.
Instead, she cautiously turned to face the general direction.
Slowly she crept across the room towards the door, pressing it open while awaiting any further noise.
Silence.
Carefully she moved further into the hall beyond, creeping along with ears pricked.
There was a small shuffle of feet from below her, one she was sure of having heard. Booted, but light steps on some hard surface like tile.
Sensors showed nothing, likely not a rogue friendly.
Another set of steps, lighter than the first, soft shoes of some kind. They were moving off, heading further into the building. Likely, if these were her targets, they were seeking to slip past her through this building. A bold plan, risky, but one which could have worked.
She followed from above. As this was an apartment block the floors were nearly identical, so she had little issue following their route through the winding halls.
As she did she quickly began calling friendly forces to her, sending them around to all the entrances she'd identified earlier.
The two below seemed to be headed towards the northern fire exit, right by the stairwell. That'd work out well if that was their plan, she'd have a good way to cut them off and pin them between herself and her organizing forces outside.
She came upon the stairwell just as the two below her did, and waited until she heard them open the door before she followed behind.
A tear of lead ripped through the metal door before her just as she began to swing open, sending stinging jets of pain through her outstretched arm.
Operator flew backwards, and a second later M4 flung the door open, borrowed weapon in one hand and a scowl burning.
Operator scrambled into the nearest room as lead filled the hall, a stinging hit to her side armor knocking her off balance as she tumbled into cover.
Then a deafening report coincided with the wall beside her seemingly exploding outwar, sending shards of concrete and steel flying.
Her body moved on its own, moving her weapon to the door frame and unleashing a percussive barrage of rounds back down range.
In a quick exchange she and M4 traded near blind shots, rounds pinging off every surface they hit.
Then once again the wall she was against exploded, something narrowly missing her as she shifted just enough at that moment to avoid it.
Operator stood and fired down the hall, smoke and dust now obscuring anything more than two feet from her.
A grenade came tumbling out from the murk, her eyes tracking the little object as it sailed through the air. She had just enough time to id its type.
She whirled around just as the flashbang exploded and took off at a sprint, M4's weapon chattering away as the doll no doubt was rushing towards where she'd just been.
Operator got a ways down the hall, just far enough to slip behind another corner and catch her breath.
Sensors showed M4 was at the far end of the hall, but her companion was off scopes. Operator should also be invisible to M4's augmented eyes, from the start of the fight all external networking and unnecessary processes were shut off, an instinctive response to the unexpected fight.
These two had defied expectations, apparently their intent had been to take her from behind all along; the stairwell they'd come up would've brought them right behind her original position.
But now she had their location.
Operator clicked a switch at the foregrip of her rifle, and felt a little static build up in the air as the capacitors built their charge.
It beeped twice, and she slipped back out into the hall.
M4 appeared from up ahead, clearly not expecting her to be out in the open and so was just a little too slow to respond, giving Operator just enough time.
With a simple trigger pull, she sent the round flying downrange. It went wide, but it didn't need to hit. Just as it passed by M4, it discharged.
M4 was wreathed in a burst of electricity, the brilliant blue tendrils seaking out all nearby conductive surfaces and zapping them with over a hundred volts. M4 collapsed, but still squirmed on the ground.
Then another grenade flew out from around the bend, a frag which clattered against the nearby wall before plopping on the ground.
Operator went to shoot it, but it exploded before she got the chance.
Flame and shrapnel leapt out in all directions, catching her in the arm and chest with small metal slivers that, were it not for her in built armor plating, would have tore her to ribbons.
As it were she was still a mess, but a functional one.
She was quick to recover, but quickly found another grenade sailing through the air.
Flash bang.
Her eyes were assailed with the brilliant white light and deafening noise. The systems locked, and she quickly went to reboot it while stumbling backwards.
A moment later her vision cleared, but M4 was gone.
"Tch, tricky."
Operator prepped another EMP round, charged her weapon, then fired it back down the hall.
It burst with seemingly no effect on impact with the wall.
Operator quickly began moving forward again, rushing down the hall and switching her weapon's fire mode to fully automatic.
She rounded the next corner, and found herself staring down M4A1 who was prone at the distant door frame which led back into the stairwell.
Each of them fired, Operator ducking back behind the corner.
M4 was back up then, so she was probably hardened against EMP effects. Good to know.
Then Operator heard a clatter from behind, just barely audible as M4 pounded away with suppressive fire.
She glanced back, and found Rs9 lining up a shot on her with her namesake rifle.
The shot leapt out, but detecting the doll's presence gave her just enough time to fire back, throwing off her aim and possibly even catching her in the arm.
RS9 scrambled into cover, and Operator saw a chance.
She went to her feet, but at that exact moment the city came alive with signals. Hundreds of Griffin Zener network signals burst into life, including from both enemy dolls near her.
M4 stopped firing.
Operator spared no time and ran for it, dashing back down the hall towards the nearest open door.
M4 emerged from around the corner, sending three rounds into Operator's back and knocking her down just centimeters from an open apartment door.
Her armor had caught the bullets once again. She quickly rolled onto her back and returned fire, sending M4 ducking back into cover.
Then she charged her rifle once more, only for RS9 to emerge and huck a grenade her way.
She quickly scrambled into the apartment and leapt into cover behind a dusty old sofa as the floor beneath her shook, the force of the grenade rumbling the entire building.
Then it all stopped. It was like the two had just disappeared, leaving only the scent of gunpowder and plasma on the air.
She waited with bated breath, debating her options now that she was effectively cornered in this room. There was a window behind her, likely how she'd escape if it came to that.
Searching on sensors showed M4 down the hall, Rs still unaccounted for. For all she knew the latter was sneaking closer to toss in another grenade while M4 covered her.
But nothing came, she wondered what their plan was, until she heard it.
The revving of engines.
Through the large apartment window, Operator caught a glimpse of three red and gray humvees idling on the street below, the blonde gunner in the lead's turret grinning as she elevated her grenade launcher.
"Oh."
"S-Star, stop," Sop whined as she gently gripped onto her shoulder.
"Shut it," she snapped back, one arm wrapped around her sister's back, holding her tightly in a fireman's carry while the other led with her rifle.
"M-4 though."
"Yes yes, I haven't forgotten."
Behind them, the roar of SF gunshots began to fade off. Hunter was probably most of the way along with reclaiming them, but the distraction might just be enough for them to escape.
Carefully she carried Sop through the claustrophobic back streets of this town, checking every corner she could, moving as quickly as she felt she could sustain. She'd heard the radio chatter from Groza, she knew that a rescue team had departed and was heading towards RS and M4.
Her only hope was that they were taking the road she thought they would, that she could catch them either on their way to M4, or on the return trip.
"Where are you!?" Hunter demanded on the airwaves, the doll transmitting on an open frequency and thus speaking from out both her and Sop's radios.
She knew better than to answer, even a short transmission, if Hunter was looking for it, could result in them being triangulated and found within seconds.
"Ar-15… please," Sop protested, trying to bat at her.
"Sop, stop squirming. "
"But-!"
"It's not up for debate," she said coolly," just trust me."
"15…"
She carried on.
An aircraft roared above them, swooping down and firing some kind of rotary cannon from a chin mount onto a target in the distance, then sweeping upwards back into the sky as streaks of purple rose up to try and meet it.
"15, ahead," Sop grunted.
Star ducked into cover, pressing herself and Sop up against a wall as closely as she could before placing her sister down.
Peeking out showed a half dozen SF, with a Nemeum fire support mech accompanying them, marching down the street.
"That didn't last long," she growled.
"Huh?"
"That group has their IFF's restored. I'll bet Hunter's in charge of them."
"What do we do?"
Star glanced back at Sop, then at the rfile hanging limply in her sister's hand, "can I borrow your launcher?"
It took another five minutes to get into position. The group was patrolling the street, up and down in a regular pattern with another couple SF watching from the buildings on the far side, ready to sound the alarm if they'd tried to sneak past.
This was Hunter's snare, intended to pin them down.
Star had clambered up to the top of a building on their side, Sop's rifle and her own hanging from their straps.
Sop was down on the street by herself, pistol in hand should the worst happen.
On the roof, Star waited, now clutching Sop's rifle with her finger on the under barrel launcher's trigger. The patrol group marched along the road beneath her, and at the perfect moment, she fired.
A thunderous explosion ripped through the air as the nemeum's armor buckled. A moment later, a second, brilliant blue explosion sent fiery streams of metal through the air as the walker's power core detonated, taking its patrol group with it.
Star quickly swapped to her own, more familiar rifle, and lined up a shot on the SF jager positioned in a window opposite her.
It collapsed without a shot in reply.
Its fellow did better however, getting off one shot that sent brick fragments flying all around her.
Star kept her aim, and dropped this one as well.
Next she lit up her sensor suite, quickly scanned the street and found no remaining SF.
"Good," she grunted, running back to the edge of the rooftop and hopping down.
She landed beside Sop, who looked up towards her from the ground.
"You got them all?"
"Yeah," she grunted, reaching down and grabbing Sop's arm, "C'mon, we gotta go. Hunter will be here soon."
"Star," Sop protested, batting away her hand, "I'm just slowing you down."
"True," she said, reaching her hand out once more, "but you think I wanna listen to M4 cry when she learns you died? Come on, we gotta move, you do wanna see her don't you?"
Sop, after a moment to consider, reluctantly reached out her hand again.
Then the airwaves exploded with Zener comms. Star received thousands of messages in a split second, their tac maps updated, networks rebuilt, and orders flew in.
They each took a split second to process, then Star withdrew her hand.
"Stay here," she grunted.
Sop nodded, "can I have my gun?"
Shaking her head, Star slipped her own rifle off and handed it to Sop, "I need it, take mine. Just don't break it okay?"
Sop again nodded, looking bewildered as Star marched out into the street.
As she walked, she made a couple quick transmissions on Zener, knowing full well what it would mean.
She didn't have long to wait.
Soon enough a contact appeared on her sensors, moving well past what any normal doll could achieve before halting at just the edge of the street.
"Come on out Hunter," she taunted on an open channel, the same frequency Hunter had used earlier.
Hunter obliged, but of course she wasn't alone. Three dozen Sf signatures lit up around her, having apparently hidden themselves nearby.
A swarm of SF just like what she'd seen outside that bakery appeared on the street, Hunter leading them with a foul grin.
"Finally given up?!" she taunted.
"Hardly," Star replied, raising her rifle and making one final transmission.
Hunter's troops scattered, herself rushing forwards towards Star as the grenade flew outward.
It impacted well ahead of the charging ringleader, blossoming out into a gentle plume of white smoke. A moment later Hunter emerged from it, walking now and looking quite smug.
"Is that all?!" she said, raising her arms in a gladiatorial taunt.
Star dropped Sop's weapon from her shoulder, letting it hang loosely in her grip while she stared down the ringleader.
In the distance, a series of concussive pops cut through the air, Hunter suddenly glancing back in shock towards their source. She then whirled back around towards Star, glaring with a snarl on her lips.
The ringleader tensed, preparing to charge Star a moment later and close the distance to rip her to shreds, either by gunfire or hand.
It didn't matter in the end, as a 25mm rotary cannon roared to life from above their heads.
The earth around Hunter exploded into shrapnel, and the ringleader was seemingly consumed by the fire and dust that erupted from beneath her feet.
The source of the fire roared past overhead, tearing off back into the sky.
Star waited for the dust to clear, until she caught a clear look at the remains of Hunter, and couldn't help the small grin that formed as she saw what little was left.
"Hunter is KIA," she stated simply on the Griffin area net.
Finally.
Conscious that there were still quite a few SF units nearby, Star got off the street and began weaving her way back around towards Sop. On the Net she got in touch with Groza, who'd just picked up M4 and Rs, and confirmed a pickup near where she'd left Sop for the two of them.
It wasn't a long journey, less than two minutes at a light jog. When she arrived though, she was stunned.
All over the alleyway, dozens of dead Sf littered the ground. Some torn to pieces with gunfire, others seeming to have been beaten to death with a heavy object.
Sop was where she'd left her, still slumped against the wall with Star's rifle gripped tightly in her hand, but she wasn't alone.
"Yo, there you are Ar-15," greeted M16 with a lazy smile, "you've been busy I see."
Star's fist clenched, "How the hell did you get here? Were you watching us?!"
"Uhh, no I only just got here," she said defensively.
Behind them, three G&K JLTVs rolled to a stop at the edge of the alleyway, the three of them turning to look as M4 dismounted from the lead truck and rushed straight over towards them.
"Oh hey M-" M16 began, before her sister cut her off with a vicious slap that nearly toppled the doll.
"Ow hey!" 16 protested as she reeled, Star almost tempted to half enjoy the sight, had M4 not immediately whirled to face her and deliver one to her as well.
He cheek stung as M4 glared at the two of them.
"You two idiots…" she growled, "Don't you EVER make me worry like that again."
"S-Sorry," 16 stammered.
Star hurriedly nodded in agreement.
"M4…?" Sop cautiously asked.
Like flipping a switch, M4's body language completely changed and she went to kneel beside Sop.
"There you are," she cooed, wrapping Sop in a warm hug.
"Ohhh, I just love family reunions~" the smug voice of Tokarev spoke.
The doll, alongside Groza and Rs, had made their way over to the four of them.
"Be nice Toka," Groza chided, nudging her with her elbow.
"I am nice."
Rs, rolling her eyes before approaching M16, held out her hand, "so you're M16A1 then? RS9, pleasure to meet you."
"Heh, likewise," 16 replied, taking the offered hand.
They held the grip for just a moment, 16's expression changing just a little before releasing it, though seeming to brush off whatever had come over her as RS pulled back.
Or perhaps she was simply distracted.
"M4, where did you get that?" 16 asked, pointing to the rifle in M4's hand.
16 seemed unduly concerned about the weapons presence, as if it were a live grenade or a baby M4 had randomly picked up.
To Star's eyes it made perfect sense for her to have it, she'd thought it odd that Rs had brought it, but in hindsight perhaps she'd hoped to hand it off to M4 all along. That weapon would be somewhat compatible with their etching software afterall.
"Oh!" M4 exclaimed, slinging the weapon off and handing it back to Rs, "Sorry Rs, I forgot."
"Haha, it's all good," Rs chuckled.
M16 raised her eyebrow, "You're etched to two weapons?"
"I can use it," Rs corrected, checking the weapon's safety before looping the sling over her shoulder, "not etched to it."
16 was quiet for a moment, giving Rs a look Star knew quite well. She was appraising her, sizing her up.
Rs didn't seem to notice, or care, as she clapped M4 on the back, "Alrighty ladies, load up, we got places to be."
"Yes, let's," Groza agreed, "it's good to see you M16."
"Ey, likewise Groza," 16 replied, once again shaking off whatever thoughts had just been consuming her.
With M4 helping Sop to her feet, and Star taking their wounded sister's other shoulder, they all made their way back to the awaiting trucks.
When the door shut behind them and they were all situated, the little convoy rumbled to life.
Notes:
This took a minute, sorry. Again.
I hope y'all enjoy it though, this is the penultimate chapter to this (first?) arc, and will have one more to wrap things up before we transition into Cube and beyond. Originally this arc was gonna be about two chapters shorter, and focus on storming Hunter's compound to rescue Ar-15 and M4. However, I figured that it would really just turn into a repeat of the first M4 rescue mission, and really just not be that interesting. So instead, here we are, with a perhaps overly complex final fight seen through multiple sets of eyes.
Yes I think Ar-15 deserved that slap, in both canon and this version, and as promised to one reader, M16 getting dramatic over M4's borrowed gun. don't worry, more drama to follow next chapter ;)
Also I will stop letting Sop get hurt, I promise.