"Well now isn't this just vexing." FAL took a knee, letting Fel scamper back up onto her shoulder. The "ferret" had found evidence of tire tracks, matched to the frame of UAZ, but other than that they had no definitive evidence of just who was behind the signals. It explained why one moved so rapidly, at least at first.
"It's stationary!" 49 spoke up excitedly, checking her map once again, "One kilometer east south-east."
"Double time then. It might mean that our mystery team is in trouble."
"We're not the rescue team. Remember our mission objective?" Five-seveN's words caused FAL's normally casual expression curl into a scowl. It wasn't often that FAL's mission objectives ran contrary to her most basic of programmed directives… but her sub-captain was right.
"We will move into a half-kilometer perimeter of the target, then call in a landing zone."
While the other dolls in the team nodded, it looked as if FNC was going to speak up. The short-blonde haired doll nibbled at her chocolate ration, shifting it around with her teeth but not biting down. FN 2000 also seemed equally restless as she thumbed the hem of her dress in that way she did when her processes picked up speed.
FAL knew what they wanted to say.
"We will stay until the teams drop, and perhaps help patrol the area. If we need to move in, we will."
Compromise was not something that FAL cared much for. Her programming forced her to, but she had discovered that she very much enjoyed having things her way. Her logic processes always hung on the idea that compromise betters both parties but...
But compromising is hard. Admitting you were... [could be] wrong is hard.
Something in the back of her mind-map always highlighted that line of thought.
Despite the nibbling doubt, the compromise seemed to at least placate her compatriots. The team moved out with little complaint, and even a bit of pep to their step. FAL was fully expecting Five-seveN to speak up once again about ration and ammo consumption if they did fully commit to this little side-show.
"FAL, ma'am?" 49 spoke up again, that worried note that squeaked from her voice modulator telling the team what she was going to say. FAL motioned for her to speak freely.
"I'm picking up Sangvis signatures. They aren't… um… moving towards us at all. I think they are just automated patrols."
"Five-seven, help Forty-nine predict their routes, we will thread them."
"Wouldn't it be better if we just took them out?" FNC bit down on her chocolate bar, "Won't they just converge on the landing zone once the chopper is picked up on radar?"
FNC had a point, Five-seveN's unspoken retort also had a point.
Mistakes happen. Bad calls are just one of the hardships of being a leader, and there is no avoiding them. Sure, predictive processes could be run to give a quantitative value, but there was no seeing into the future to see what was right.
"No, we will not engage yet." FAL ordered, causing FNC to flinch slightly. "We do not know the composition of the Sangvis patrols. We do not want to get too in over our heads, yes?"
They didn't have dummies- they were supposed to be a light patrol- an intel gathering mission… but the fact that FAL had to keep explicitly repeating that thought to make it stick made her realize just how conflicted she actually was about it.
It was something that she would have to talk to the commander about.
"We've got an idea on their routes." FN-49 quickly broadcasted the overlaid map data onto the closed network, careful not to send too much data. It made the image fuzzy- snowed over by static- but it was comprehensive enough to base their movements on.
Team FN slipped through the woods, ever vigilant that their path never got close to a Sangvis patrol line, though they had lost the tire-tracks completely by the time they approached their objective line.
The map showed several clearing that could be used- it was only a matter of putting eyes on to make sure. Still, finding the location was the simplest part of the operation.
"I'm calling them in." FAL whispered once they had scouted the closest clearing, "Be ready for any nearby Sangvis to react to the signal." She stepped away for a moment, as if she were taking a silent phone call.
"Team dispatched to GPS mark. Hold tight and be ready to defend." The commander's voice crackled in over the team's radios, undoubtedly highlighting them to any patrols in the area. "The current mission supersedes your previous orders. Pending on the outcome of this one, the previous mission may be scuttled. Command out."
"What is the commander thinking?" Five-seveN sighed while double checking her magazines, "We don't have dummies, what are we going to do if SF assaults the landing zone?"
"Do as the commander taught us." FAL shook her head at her second-in-command. Always with the devil's-advocate program with her, "Extend our zone of control beyond the landing zone. If needs be, we will run diversionary attacks."
Five-seveN looked ready to speak up, but everyone else on the team knew what that order entailed, there was no point arguing it. Once the SF patrol net picked up the incoming chopper, they would descend upon the landing zone like a swarm of ravenous locust.
However, if they continued to broadcast a signal and left the LZ...
"The chopper's ETA is ten minutes." FAL took stock of her grenades. "We'll make a racket then break contact to the west- towards the stationary signal."
"The signal is still strong so-"
"As long as there is no Ringleader to command them not to, some might break off for the lone signal." Five-seveN's eyes went wide upon realizing just what FAL was up to. It was a gamble based solely off of what they could predict of Sangvis fringe AI, but it was better than letting their friends drop into a potentially surrounded LZ. Every second they could buy the drop-team was precious; it meant one second more to establish a stronger dummy connection, one second more update the local tactical map, one second more to just ready themselves for combat.
Of perhaps Five-seveN didn't realize just what FAL had purposed to the team. After all, Five-seveN's mind-map was fundamentally different than FAL's. The handgun doll didn't have a sense of self-sacrifice programmed in. It was why she made the perfect sub-captain- the perfect counterbalance- but the others, they understood.
Perhaps it was because they were more basic models- the fact that they were more disposable than an elite-flagged T-doll meant that their self-preservation protocols were set lower. But for FAL... she couldn't fully grasp why her mind-map functioned in the way it did. She hypothesized that it was because the FAL model mind-map and weapon imprint was one of the most common among what IOP deemed as "elite"- but when FAL thought about self-sacrifice for the sake of others, it never tripped her self-preservation programming.
To alleviate the pain of others was her core- her prime directive from when she was a nurse doll hadn't ever been deleted, merely subverted to serve her purpose as a T-doll.
Protect. Defend. Give everything for the sake of others.
For the sake of humans.
Receive pain to self to alleviate pain in others.
Make cost-effective sacrifices so that a greater price is not paid.
For the sake of humans.
For the sake of…
For the commander. Their commander believed in them- had faith in his First Echelon. He hadn't told them to sacrifice themselves, it was FAL who had come to that conclusion. Something was whispering to her that she couldn't quite shake the feeling of. Something sparking in her programming whenever she thought of that man.
"FAL, are we going or what?" Five-seveN frowned in that way that was most unbefitting her beauty. FAL waved her off before the hand-gun doll could start spouting the usual nonsense of replacing her.
"Yes, yes. Weapons ready, ladies. We have work to do, and not much time to do it." Their neural network sparked to life, everyone's statuses appearing within her tactical programming. Combat processes warmed, extraneous programs shut down, and yet…
That thought, that emotion still persisted.
Faith in the commander. He would not leave them to die. He always thought of his dolls- of his subordinates...
[We are more than just dolls]
The commander bit his thumb, eyes not once blinking as he watched the dot labeled "Echelon Two" on his display draw closer and closer to the pinned location. Team FN had marked the LZ, but they had dropped communications in order to run interference and draw away local patrols. Who knows what his girls in Echelon Two would be dropping into- but at least everyone knew why.
Credible intelligence.
This mystery distress signal was credible- there was not a single chance that Sangvis Ferri would know of Griffon's single-use emergency ciphers- but who did the cipher belong to? G36's dive through the database turned up nothing other than that the code had been assigned to a VIP and went unused- at least up until today.
A VIP? What were they doing in SF territory then?
Was it the missing member of the Anti-Rain team? Perhaps he should have deployed M4 then, she would be able to make sense of it.
The timer's console beeped, signalling for the next dustoff.
"Echelon Five, you are clear to deploy with the evac chopper." G36 began taking over the deployment coordination, leaving the commander to mull the mission.
Quick in-and-out, carefully coordinated and timed despite the hastiness of the plan- at least most of the dolls had hostage and VIP rescue protocols in their basic tactical programs. Echelon Two would secure the VIP, Echelon Five would secure the LZ. There was no doubt that they would be evacing under fire-
And PKP's team was eager to prove themselves after their inaction during Operation Stargazer. They had only practiced these rapid defensive deployments a handful of times, and nothing beat practical experience...
Doubt sank its fangs into the commander's heart, driving it to sink further into his stomach.
"Should I deploy Anti-Rain?" He muttered to himself. They weren't his to freely deploy, he'd have to go through seeking permissions from Persica… and who knows how long that would take. If only he had more teams available to him, but between those out on logistics, only Echelon 1 was in-field and even then…
The lightning bolt of an idea struck him, raising the hairs on his arms and jolting him from his fears.
He pulled up Echelon 1's comms. Though the line was still dead, he pinged it anyways.
"Come on, Fal, pick up."
The line continued to buzz with no response. He bit his lip, trying to keep himself from swearing. Only Echelon 1's signature on the map showed their status- the icon flickering red-to-green-to-red over and over as they took and broke contact. They were falling back bit-by-bit every time their icon went green- falling back west.
"If I was Fal-" The commander mumbled, trying to get a sense of what his team leader would try to do. In a sense, it was easier than trying to predict a human, but at the same time, T-dolls could be exceptionally well programmed to mimic a humans… eccentricities. Even with her former mind-map only partially recovered, this FAL still thought and acted like his FAL…
She'd try to rescue the VIP. She'd put herself in a pinch if it meant rescuing another and, barring that, she would doing everything in her power to ensure that the objective was met-
Because it was to protect others in distress.
"Thirty-six, have a final chopper loaded with Echelon 1's dummies and ammo."
"At once, master."
"Have them drop the dummies and ammo at the source of the first signal. Oh- and have them deploy a drone there as well-"
"Master, are you sure?" 36 hesitated, no doubt trying to run her own predictive process to drum out an arbitrary percentage.
"I'm positive. FAL's team is going to draw what they can away. They might even try to make a stand there to draw more Sangvis away from the VIP. They are going to pretend to be the ones who put out the distress signal."
He had to resist the urge the climb into that helicopter himself. He had to resist the urge to dedicate the entirety of the base to this operation.
This wasn't like his failings from before- he wasn't sending Team FN out alone and in the dark. They had team support, they had the new training protocols, and he would make damn sure that he would be there for them this time.
Working with T-dolls instead of human soldiers gave him second chances he didn't deserve, but that didn't mean that he should rely on that fact. To think that way would invite complacency- the gateway to thinking that that these soldiers were disposable- that was the mistake that Viktor made, that many other commanders had made, and their bonds with their T-dolls suffered because of it. They never saw the true potential of their dolls.
"Show me again, FAL." The commander spoke into the dead line to Echelon One, "Show me why I put so much faith in you."