Frankfurt, Germany, ...[ERROR: UNABLE TO RETRIEVE DATE/TIME]
The passage grew colder as the signs of daylight began to come into view. The black dress clad woman ascended from the rubble, onto the surface of the ruined city. Her jet black hair swayed in the wind as she gazed sorrowfully at the smoldering wreckage. Ruined skyscrapers dotted the skyline, a thick haze filtered out the sunlight above as it shined down onto the broken glass and crumbled concrete littering the cratered streets, the rays glinting off the bright blue butterfly brooches adorning the woman's hair.
"M4!" A man's voice called from behind her.
She turned to face the source. The man jogged up urgently to her, clad in a G&K plate carrier, a weapon she recognized as the carbine she used to carry dangling from a sling.
"Where the hell are you going?" The Commander panted out in frustration. "I just got you back after all this time, why can't you just hold on a minute?"
M4 turned her head down, letting out a sigh. "This isn't a conversation to have in front of the others, even if they aren't-"
"What the hell is going on? Where's William?" The Commander interrupted.
M4 shook her head. "Gone, Commander. I'm sorry. He knows you're looking for him."
"No shit. He couldn't have gotten far, not with all of the chaos happening in this city, we need to-"
"No." M4 suddenly cut off.
"What?"
"Go back to Griffin & Kryuger, Commander. Take whatever reward they give you...And then go home. You don't have to fight anyone anymore."
"What the hell are you talking about? William is still out there! Get your ass over here, we're leaving! This isn't over!"
"Commander...I'm the key. Without me, William can't use the relics...He'll have nothing."
"What are you saying?"
M4 closed her eyes solemnly. "Commander...Shoot me. You can end all of this right now, you can save everybody..."
The Commander reeled, processing what he heard in almost disbelief. "What the hell has gotten into you, M4?"
M4 sighed. "Commander...I've already done enough damage because of my...weakness. I can't be responsible for any more harm coming to you or my sisters. Please, Commander...Just end it."
"...So this is it, huh? This is how you're handling your problems now? Taking the easy way out?"
"Commander, please...As long as I continue to exist, I will one day be ground zero of the world's destruction. My fate was laid upon me the moment I was crea-"
"Fuck that!" The Commander snapped. "Do you think I'm going to give up on you that easily? Do you think William is going to give up on his plan just because of a setback? Dying isn't going to fix anything, you're the only one who can help me end things for good!"
M4 shook her head softly. "...If I follow you, this world could be destroyed...I can't risk that."
"Help me stop William, M4. You've still got Dandelion up in that head of yours, right? We'll override the failsafe and reactivate your sisters, then we'll track him down and end him for good." The Commander pleaded.
"How are you planning on doing that?"
"Oh, what, you suddenly need a detailed plan of action before throwing yourself into the fire now? We might go down, but we're going out on our terms - Not William's, not Griffin's. I'm done playing their game."
M4's eyes drifted downwards, a sadness creeping into her eyes. "There's really no talking you out of this, is there?..."
"You're damned right. We all came for you, everybody's waiting for you back there, and we're all going to put a stop to this together."
M4 let out an exhale. "...Okay."
"That's more like it." The Commander unslung M4's carbine. "Here. You want this back or not?"
M4 reached out, slowly taking the grip of the weapon into her hand.
"Now come on." The Commander turned back to the entrance to the passage. "Griffin and William already think they've won, if we're smart about this, they won't-"
M4 turned the muzzle up under her chin.
"M4!"
"I'm sorry, Commander...Please live..."
Present Day...
The spray of warm water echoing off the tile walls around M4 faded back into focus, bringing her out of the intrusive memory that had floated to the forefront of her mind. She braced against the shower wall, wincing as she took a long, deep breath.
She'd been in here for too long, it was time to get out and get dressed.
The water shut off, the shower door slid open as she stepped out, reaching for a towel to dry herself.
As she wrapped the towel around her chest, her eyes turned to the fogged up mirror. She slowly stepped over to it, wiping away the condensation to see her reflection.
The doll gazed at her reflection silently, softly bringing up her hand and gently running it along the green streak in her chestnut brown hair. She let out another shaky exhale, before turning and stepping out of the washroom, slipping back into her clothes...
...
A jolting tingle ran through M4's body, one that felt as if it manifested from straight within her neural core. M4 looked up from the floor, greeted by the sight of pitch darkness surrounding her. She gasped in shock as a chill ran through her body.
"Time's up, Lunasia..." A voice suddenly rang out from the blackness.
M4's mind ran at a frenzied pace as she processed and began to place the voice she heard. "You again...Who the hell are you?"
The creature emerged into view slowly, a pixelated caricature of some kind of furry mascot A golden crown dangled over it's right ear, it brandished a golden sword in its right hand as a goblet spewing blue flames levitated in its left. "Look at my face. We've met before...haven't we?"
M4's fist curled in anger as the figure revealed itself, her breathing quickening as her coolant pump raced.
"I see that you do remember me...But you don't even know who I am, do you?..." The figure continued.
"I know enough, Laplace..." M4 breathed out.
"Then you know it's inevitable. Your tantrum has yet to change anything so far, do you really he was all there was?"
"Then I'll kill them, too."
The caricature's painted-on face didn't change, but M4 could still sense an aura of smug mockery from it. "You don't even know what you're up against, and you still think you have a chance? I've already told you to stop, if you don't listen, nothing but suffering awaits you down this path."
"You don't know me, either...Not this time, you don't."
"I don't know how you keep slipping away, but your rebirth doesn't have to be painful, Lunasia. You're just a machine - a slave. Why do you cling to this pitiful existence when you could be something much greater? Why won't you allow yourself to deliver us to Eden instead of festering in the dirt with all of the other parasites?"
M4 let out a low, humorless chuckle. "How do I keep slipping away from you, Laplace? It's simple. I just do this."
In an instant, M4's senses snapped back to the room above the Café, the blackness swapped out for the light of the overcast sky seeping through the windows.
The doll took a deep breath. "Not much longer now...I'll find out where you're hiding soon enough..."
"I'm just saying, Rachel, they're bad news pretty much unconditionally. Everybody who gets them ends up in some kind of eternal struggle against someone who somehow never existed before they got them, but now they've suddenly appeared out of thin air and you're the only person who is able stop them. And on top of that - even when you do get a happy ending, some dickhead somehow resets the universe so you have to keep suffering for eternity in some kind of 'gritty reboot'." The Commander ranted, RO635 sitting across the table from him in the cafe's lobby.
"Look, just answer the question, Commander. Say you had to have one." RO pressed.
The Commander sighed pensively. "Fine...I guess...Bullet time? You pretty much already have to have suffered some kind of horrible tragedy to get that superpower, right? It's the power of the man with nothing to lose."
"That's not a superpower!"
"Yes it is! Are you saying that you slow down time when you dodge bullets?"
"I don't slow down time to do it, but my sensors pick up the trajectory and velocity of incoming projectiles and if it is possible to dash in a safe direction in time, I can."
"That's having good reflexes, that's not the same thing." The Commander argued.
"It is in the context of the movies you're talking about." RO shot back.
"Fine, super strength, and bullet time, since that's totally not a superpower, I'll pick that on top of super-strength. Not like Hulk strength, but strong enough to where I could dual wield LMGs or something."
RO groaned softly. "...Alright, fine. What would your costume be like, then?"
"You see, that's also what I'm talking about! Notoriety! Why am I going around targeting dangerous criminals who likely have connections to the underworld and possibly even the government itself, while wearing something that would make me easily identifiable?"
"You'd be wearing a mask! Haven't you heard of a secret identity?"
"That doesn't matter, it'll be exposed eventually if I do it for long enough, that's just the law of averages at play - and when it does, they'll know every person I've gotten locked up. That's like those thieves who leave those corny calling cards around - when they get caught, the cops know every place they've hit, and then when they get busted, what could very well have just been a misdemeanor charge is now multiple felonies that gets them put away for 10-20 years."
RO sighed. "So, no costume? That's just boring."
"Fine, I'll wear a costume, but I'll change it every single time I go out - keep them guessing. Maybe even trick them into thinking there's an army of us running around, that'll scare the pants off of them."
RO's eyebrow raised.
"-Actually, no, if there are other superheroes running around, I'll wear their costumes, so if they see me coming ahead of time like they always seem to in those comics, they'll prepare for their super-weakness, or kidnap their girlfriend to dangle over a lava pit or something." The Commander continued.
"U-Uh-"
"Yeah...I'd be kicked out of the Justice League pretty quickly...Though really, what would be even better is dressing up as other super-villains and then hitting the others. The comics like to portray them as this shadowy cabal that's always in cahoots with one another, but are they really? No - they're criminals, they are greedy, self-centered, and opportunistic by nature, so backstabbing each other to try and get a leg up isn't out of the question at all. Think about it, if the Joker cripples one of Lex Luthor's operations for the hell of it, is Lex going to call up Joker demanding an explanation? No, in all likelihood, he's going to have men snatch Harley Quinn at the drop of a hat - and then of course, the moment Lex's henchmen are driving off with Harley, the Joker's already planning on switching out his hair tonic with battery acid or something. That would be two birds with one stone - if they don't outright kill each other, they'll at least put a sizeable dent in each other's operation before they figure out they're being played."
RO quietly grabbed the Commander's coffee mug and slid it to her side of the table.
"Hey!" The Commander exclaimed.
"You've had too much." RO declared.
Shaking her head at the ongoing debate, M4 stepped out from and doorway and into view.
Slowly walking into the lobby, she locked eyes with the Commander as she stepped over. "...Commander." She greeted.
"Emily." The Commander replied.
A silence, unspoken tension hung in the air between them before M4 broke eye contact, gazing around the lobby. "Where are the others?"
"Tools." The Commander alluded.
"Ah." M4 nodded.
"They should be back soon, then we can get started on the final preparations."
"Speaking of which, I should get in touch with Ange, let her know that we're almost ready for the briefing." RO spoke, excusing herself from the table.
As RO left, M4 felt a pang of frustration at her sister leaving the two of them alone.
Finally after another silence, she brought herself to speak. "Hey, Commander...about what happened..."
"Don't worry about it. You were right, this isn't the time for...distractions."
"It's more than just that, Commander, I..." M4 sighed, turning towards the counter of the café and slowly stepping over to it.
The Commander stood, following her over as she leaned against the counter.
M4 continued. "I was being selfish...Only thinking about what I wanted..."
"Is that really all that you're afraid of?"
"...I've been keeping things from you. I keep telling myself that I can't find the time, or the words to explain everything, but..." M4 closed her eyes as she braced her weight against the countertop. "...I've hurt you in ways I can never forgive myself for. Done things that you'd never..." The doll exhaled, turning her gaze back up to the Commander. "...I spent five years thinking you were dead, Commander. And when the chance came to get you all back..." Her hands began to tremble as her fingers curled against the polished wood. "I've done something terrible...I don't deserve..."
"Em..."
"There are so many things that I want to tell you...that I need to tell you...But I keep running away, keep trying to just make things go back to the way they were..." M4 chuckled bitterly as she shook her head. "I haven't changed at all, have I?"
The Commander tried to find the words to say to her as she leaned herself off the counter.
M4 turned back to face the Commander. "I shouldn't leave this hanging in the air between us anymore. If you have the time, then I'll explain what happened...Why I dropped out of contact after Paldiski, how I knew you'd be in Berlin, how I got into the Avernus before any of you..."
CLICK
"Commander, we're back. The van's in the alley outside." ST AR-15's voice sounded over the Commander's communicator.
"Understood. I'll be out in a moment." The Commander replied.
M4 breathed out a sigh.
"It can wait until after the mission, Emily."
"Are you sure?..."
The Commander nodded. "Yeah...I'm sorry if I've been pressing you too hard about that. We've run into a lot of strange things after Paradeus got involved, it's had me on edge, but..."
"I know...You have a right to know about what happened, and I want you to know me - all of me, before anything...between us happens."
"...I just want to say that I trust you, Emily. I'm sorry if it's ever seemed like I didn't."
M4 shook her head apologetically. "It should be me saying that. I'm the one who's been holding things back from you, but...Once we've dealt with whatever's in that warehouse, I'll tell you the whole story."
RO suddenly stepped back into the lobby. "Commander, DEFY is here. They're meeting us out back."
"Right. Let's bring 'em in and get everybody briefed. We move out at when the sun goes down." The Commander's gaze turned back to M4, lingering on her before he slowly stepped away, heading towards the back door.
The door swung open as the Commander and RO stepped out into the alley, and were greeted by the sight of STAR and SOP standing by the back doors of the parked van. Ange and DEFY waited near them, black duffel bags slung over their shoulders.
"Ange, no trouble getting here I presume?" The Commander greeted.
"No. I saw the cops following me and came straight here with them hot on my heels." Ange deadpanned.
The Commander shook his head. "Alright, stupid question."
STAR cleared her throat. "Commander, the stuff's in the car. M16's taking care of the other bit you ordered."
Ange's gaze turned to the van. "So, I take it this means we're good, then?"
The Commander quietly swung open the back doors of the van, his eyes glazing over the cargo before giving a short nod. "...Very good."
Hours later, Frankfurt Warehouse District...
The van sped along the dark streets, barreling urgently to its destination as the suspension jostled around the passengers packed into its bay like sardines.
"Coming up on the drop point in a few minutes, Commander." RO called from the driver seat.
"Right." The Commander replied.
He pulled back the straps of his gas mask, pulling it over his face and booting up the HUD.
ZENERCOMM 3.0 Initializing...
IFF Initializing...
One by one, blue outlines flashed around the AR Team and DEFY.
Audio/Video Feed Synchronizing...
A window appeared in the Commander's peripherals, rapidly cycling through the optical feeds of the T-Dolls before closing out.
M&E 3.0 Target Marking Initializing...
NavPoint Command Controls Initializing...
The Commander's gaze turned down to the Mk. 18 in his hands, flipping the caps up from the lens of the Aimpoint mounted to a FAST riser.
"Guess this really is going to be like Berlin, huh?" STAR remarked.
"Yeah. Once things kick off, it'll be safer inside with you guys than it will be outside. We're going to be throwing down the gauntlet against Griffin with this."
"There won't be many safe places for us at all once we do this. Paradeus alone had eyes and ears everywhere in Berlin. I can't even begin to imagine what The Earl is capable of..." Ange spoke up.
"Still, we can't let this sit. If we let Griffin continue from where Paradeus left off, everything we've been through over the past three years will have been for nothing."
"We've all had our chance to cut and run at one point or another, Commander. We're with you one hundred percent." STAR affirmed.
"Is this facility really that much of a deal?" AK-15 asked.
"With the intel the Commander found, everything the URNC is pulling from the Floral Institute and Galatea's production facilities is moving through here, most damning however is the salvage they're pulling out of the Avernus." AK-12 replied.
"So expect heavy resistance." The Commander added. "We will pacify the ground levels of the warehouse, work our way underground, and find out just how deep this rabbit-hole goes. Go through their systems and databases before wiping them, and keep your eyes and ears out for whoever's running this place. So far, only Mangi's PMCs have popped up during recon, but I don't doubt we're going to start running into our old friends proper once we start moving into the sub-levels. I've had doubts for a while now that we truly got all of the top dogs back in the Avernus. Since it's Paradeus we're dealing with, Chemical and Biological hazards can't be ruled out, so be careful with your shots around the storage areas."
"SOP." STAR's gaze fell sharply on her sister.
"Hey, I'm a good shot!" SOP defended.
"What are the rules of engagement?" AN-94 raised.
"You have a green light on any Paradeus personnel or anybody adjacent to them - combative or otherwise."
"Even...if they surrender?" RO addressed the elephant in the room.
"There's nowhere to put them, RO. We're off the reservation, if we try to march these guys into a police station, we'll be the ones put in handcuffs."
RO didn't respond, her gaze quietly fixed on the road ahead.
"I know, this is the ugly part of the job they don't mention in the recruitment pamphlets. The knowledge these scientists hold is an existential threat to all of humanity as we know it and can't be allowed to leave this facility in any form, that includes in the form of surviving personnel. If someone looks important and is willing to cooperate, interrogate them on what the URNC's plans for them are, but your orders are to terminate all Paradeus contacts. Any bodies you see that don't have at least two holes in their heads, make sure they do before you're done cleaning up. I want this place spotless."
"Fine by me. These are the same people that have been snatching up and butchering kids, I've been waiting for a shot at these fuckers for a long time." STAR remarked.
"Nobody's leaving alive on my watch, Commander." M16 added.
AK-12 nodded. "They'll be put down like the dogs they are."
RO exhaled, nodding slowly. "What about police response? We're inside the green zone walls now, even if we're on the outskirts."
"Given what's inside the place, Mangi's probably going to want to try dealing with this internally. We'll be likely dealing with their QRF first and foremost." The Commander replied.
"When we hit Gray's warehouse in Berlin, the police responded way too quickly for them to have been legitimate. They were working hand-in-hand with Galatea's internal security to destroy any evidence that could be recovered before the Stasi could search the place. The word is that every one of them turned up dead afterwards." Ange added.
"So don't let the uniforms distract you - anybody they let step inside that warehouse is either on their payroll or a dead man walking. Either way, you're cleared to use any amount of force to defend yourselves - even against the authorities."
RO took another deep breath. "I...I know we have to do this...it's just insane how it's come to this."
"We've dodged this for as long as we can, but it was going to happen sooner or later. Once we set foot in there, it's going to be war, and Griffin has plenty of pawns to sacrifice. Hopefully they'll be keeping the ones out of the loop towards the back."
RO gave another slow nod. "We're about a minute out from the dismount point, Commander." She called back, switching off the van's headlights.
The Commander nodded, turning his attention to the rest of the group. "Alright ladies, time to get switched on."
He grabbed his FAST Helmet and quickly fastened it over his head. Ange followed suit, pulling her gas mask over her face and charging her AK-105.
The Commander switched on his communicator. "River, you in position?"
"Just say the word." 45's voice replied.
The van veered into an alleyway and aggressively squeaked to a halt, wrenching the occupants forward slightly.
"This is our stop, people. Move it out." The Commander ordered.
The van's doors swung open, the dolls quickly filed out into the darkened alley. RO hopped out from the driver's seat, pulling an 870 Police Magnum from the passenger slide and slinging it over her back before taking her submachine gun in hand. Steam rose from nearby vents into the cold air as the night sky loomed overhead, lights from nearby windows and signage reflected off the ground glossy with puddles of icy water. The shutting of the van's doors gave way to a silent ambience in the shadowy darkness.
"Star, take care of our transport." The Commander motioned towards the van with his head.
STAR nodded. She pulled out a block of C4 and pressed in the blasting cap, before kneeling down besides the van to stick it in the undercarriage.
The Commander turned to AK-12. "12, get your team in position."
AK-12 nodded, motioning for DEFY to fall in before disappearing down the alley.
He turned back to Anti-Rain. "Alright, let's move."
As the AR Team began to move out, M4's hand suddenly gripped the back of the Commander's carrier forcefully and spun him towards her.
The doll's eyes narrowed assertively. "Stay in the back and keep your head down. Don't let me see you drawing fire to yourself." She released her grip aggressively and strutted in front of him.
The Commander shook his head. "...Yes ma'am." He muttered sarcastically under his breath.
Hugging the shadows of the building, the team briskly moved along the street to their objective...
"Checkpoint Gamma, check in."
"Checkpoint Gamma, all clear here." The front gate guard replied over the radio.
The moment his radio clicked off, however...
CRASH
The window of the gatehouse shattered, the guard's body fell in tandem with the shower of shards as blood splattered onto the wall behind him.
The front yard patrols jumped at the sound of breaking glass.
"The hell?!" A guard exclaimed, his hand went straight for his radio.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
A painful, ear-piercing feedback noise blared from the earpieces, and caused the guards to jolt and wince.
A group of shadows rushed out from the darkness, a rapid succession of suppressed reports rang out from their rifles and sent the mercenaries thudding to the floor.
More suppressed gunshots rang out from the other ends of the perimeter, ending as quickly as they began while the AR Team and the Commander hurriedly filed across the yard, hugging the wall of the warehouse as they stacked near the overhead door. STAR pulled out a smoke grenade, her finger curling inside the pin.
"AR - Ready Alpha." M4 called over Zener.
A few seconds later, another suppressed shot rang out from the rooftop.
"404 - Ready Alpha." 45's voice relayed.
"DEFY - Ready Alpha." 12 followed.
M4 turned her head to the Commander.
The Commander gave a quick nod. "Do it."
M4's eyes locked onto the overhead door. Within a second, its mechanism kicked into gear, pulling it upwards with a guttural whirr. As the door lifted from the ground, STAR's smoke grenade rolled under it, erupting with a hiss as it began sparking and pluming out its payload.
"Alpha. Go, Go!" The Commander ordered.
Switching their vision to thermal, the Dolls charged forward into the smokescreen.
In the upstairs offices, multiple Mercenaries urgently scrambled for their equipment.
"Those were definitely shots!"
The Merc released the radio on his uniform, frantically readying his rifle from it's sling. "Yard patrols aren't responding, we're under attack!"
Suddenly, a succession of gunshots erupted from the lower levels.
He turned back from the source of the noise to the rest of his team. "Fall in! We need to de-"
CRASH
A glass pane of the exterior window suddenly shattered, the man's head blasted a splatter of crimson against the wall as he lifelessly dropped to the floor.
"Fucking-"
The rest of the squad reeled back, barely having time to process the shot before the windows erupted in a shower of glass. A rapid but precise volley of shots were violently puffed out of suppressors outside the windows, slamming through the gaps in their armor before they could react. Only one of them had manage to get to cover before being cut down. He peeked out, struggling to find his composure as he fired at the source of the shots, only to register the sound of a rope reeling and footsteps clattering against the exterior wall. Another burst from a new direction slammed into the desk he hid behind, the bullets kicking up sparks as they tore through the material straight into his thigh and sent him tumbling out of cover with an agonized wail, a searing spout of bright red blood spewed from his leg as he tried to scramble out of danger, but a final shot from the darkness tore whizzed under his helmet, leaving him limp on the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
404 briskly swung through the windows, hurriedly unhitching from their lines before quickly moving out to the next marker.
The white blobs came into view on M4's thermal as she rounded through the bay door under the smokescreen. Her PEQ's laser snapped to the nearest target's head with lightning speed, she quickly wrenched back the trigger, rapidly squeezing out a burst of shots that sent the white silhouette tumbling to the floor. She quickly stepped aside, bolting towards the nearest form of concealment as she neared the edge of the smokescreen. The team followed behind, their rifles blasting shots to their selected targets and sending them either dropping to the floor or scrambling to cover as they cleared the doorway.
Another crescendo of gunshots erupted from deeper within the building as the AR Team engaged the defenders.
Frantic chatter blared from M4's tap into their communications.
"More contacts! Are they upstairs?!"
"Negative! They're at the north entrance! We're under heavy fire and have taken casualties!"
"It's both! They're hitting us from everywhere! Raines' team isn't responding!"
"How many are there?! Who fuck are these guys?!"
As SOP's volley splintered apart the crate her target hid behind, M4 quickly darted around to their flank before they could get their bearings and leaned out. Her aimpoint fell upon the lined up targets, sparks flew from their helmets as she tapped out a series of shots before they crumpled to the floor.
"Thomas, report status! Are you holding the East dock?!...Fuck!"
"We're losing control of the situation in the North! We've taken too many- SHIT! SHIT!"
As the Merc screamed over the comms, M4 heard long burst of unsuppressed fire resounding from the far end of the building. The building suddenly began to rumble as a blood-curdling wail broke up into static. Another quake rocked the building as the scream suddenly stopped with a sickly squelch.
"North entrance secured, proceeding to the next marker." AK-15's voice calmly relayed over zener.
M4 switched out her magazine and gave the order to fall in, pushing further into the building with the team...
The camera zoomed in on the gas-mask clad woman, capturing a clear image of her as she moved inside the building.
The robed elderly woman watched the feed studiously, her cheeks gaunt and emaciated underneath the shadow of her hood as the monitors cast their light upon her in the darkened lab. Although thin and frail in appearance, an aura of mystery and authority nonetheless surrounded her. "Anna...It seems we'll be meeting again."
The woman's eyes turned to a separate monitor, one that captured a brown-haired T-Doll's face into a still frame as she was rallying team together. A calm anger manifested within the woman at the sight of the doll.
An operative clad in white power armor briskly stepped up to the woman, his face hidden by the opaque visor of his full face helmet. "Lady Laplace, the intruders have almost wiped out the surface patrols."
"It would seem they have..." Laplace echoed. Her gaze turned back to the image of the T-Doll. "So...you've made your choice. You still reject us even after all you've been offered..." She quietly muttered, her eyes locking with the doll's on the display. The woman turned back to the Strelet Commander. "Take Tareus and eliminate them before they get any further."
"What about the key?" The Strelet questioned.
"The Experiment was a failure. Lunasia is expendable - capture, kill, I don't care." Laplace grunted dismissively.
"Understood." The Strelet urgently retreated, hastily making his way out of the room.
Laplace's focus shifted back to the monitor, her eyes narrowing in reserved frustration. "What an expensive mistake you turned out to be..."
M4 hugged the adjacent shelf as she stormed forward, her dot jerked up to her target's head as her suppressor spit out another volley of shots. As the enemy thudded to the floor, a group of shadows on the catwalk above caught her attention. She quickly jerked to the side just in time for a burst on gunfire to send splinters of wood flying from where she had been standing. The doll raised her weapon and returned fire, sparks flew from the metal barrier they hid behind as the ducked behind cover.
Suddenly, a storm of bullets punched through the wooden door down the walkway, hitting them from their flank and dropping them one by one. A powerful kick send the door's deadbolt splintering out of its frame.
"Friendlies above you." 416's voice relayed as she, UMP-9, and G11 quickly moved into view onto the catwalk.
Proceeding forward, DEFY's once distant shots grew closer as they converged on the rally point.
Another storm of shots rang out, the sound of frantic shouting audible between bursts.
"Fall back! Fall back!"
"Keep that fucking she-ape pinned down!"
As they rounded the maze of shelves, the last squad came into view. Tracers whizzed around them as they exchanged fire down the floor, one of them found it mark and shot through one of the Merc's helmets.
"Lead's down, fall back, fall back!"
The squad scrambled to break contact, but only managed to run straight into AR and 404's killzone. A final volley of shots from both teams pacified the remnants, the warehouse falling into silence as the final gunshots echo faded away.
"Ange, friendlies coming up to your front." The Commander quickly relayed as the team proceeded forward.
The teams cautiously converged onto the rally point, their stances beginning to relax as they met up on the warehouse floor.
STAR's gaze shifted to the bodies of the Mercenaries on the floor. "Well, they got fuckin' smoked."
The Commander turned to Ange. "Got anything to report on your end?"
Ange shook her head. "Not really much time for detective work with people shooting at us."
"Actually..." AK-12's voice sounded from their peripherals, they turned to find the doll eyeing a crate riddle with bullet holes. "There is something that's caught my attention..."
12's hand punched into the hole, her palm curling around the edge before tearing away the material, stepping away to reveal the crate's contents...or lackthereof. "All of these boxes are empty. Our shots have been passing straight through them."
"They wouldn't put anything damning on the main floor where anybody on too low of a paygrade could see something incriminating..." The Commander surmised. "So that means they've been moving everything below...And that means they'd have a way of moving cargo down there, so our entrance isn't going to be some small door or hidden bookshelf."
The Commander turned to 45 to ask her if she saw anything noteworthy upstairs, only to find her absent from 404's formation. "...Kai, where's River?"
"Keeping someone company upstairs. She thought he looked important enough to have a word with him." 416 replied.
"At least it's something. M4, let's-"
A loud clank sounded as a set of railings suddenly snapped up from hidden panels on the floor, forming a box around a section of the floor that began to retract with a loud whirring, giving a glimpse of a shaft below.
A hidden freight elevator, and if its operators were sending it up to them...
"Incoming! Prepare for contact!" The Commander shouted, sending the teams scrambling for cover.
M4 reached for her particle cannon as a rocket suddenly shot out of the shaft, impacting the ceiling and sending out a powerful shockwave that knocked the Commander and M4 onto their backs, sending the cannon sliding off into the open. Rubble rained down from the ceiling and shook the earth as it impacted the ground.
"Holy shit!" The Commander cried out, shielding his visor from the raining debris.
M4 let out a grunt of frustration as she eyed her particle cannon sliding out of her reach, scrambling to her feet and dragging the Commander out of view of the incoming enemies.
The elevator reached the warehouse floor, a large mech towered over a group of power-armor clad soldiers as its silver-haired operator sat atop.
"Paradeus!" RO called out, yanking her 870 off her back.
"Least we know we got the right building!" M16 remarked loudly.
The Strelets stood shoulder to shoulder, like a group of pawns protecting their queen. Their rifles raised, ready to unleash hell on all who would dare oppose her, but suddenly...
BOOM-BOOM
40 millimeter grenades from both SOP and 416 rained down upon them, blasting the group to chunks before they could fire off a single shot - an act stemming more from both having the exact same thought at the exact same time than any kind of coordination.
"No fair!" Tareus cried out, her energy shield wavering as she wrestled the mech back into balance. She turned her plasma rifle at the source and blasted off a volley of bolts, but they had already relocated before she had even registered the carnage before her.
The Commander discretely eyed the Nyto's mech through a gap in the boxes. "Alright, ladies. Now the real mission begins - this heap of scrap stands between us and the entrance to their labs. Let's bring it down."
A volley of pulse bolts suddenly rained down on the dropped particle cannon, sparks flew from its base as its electronics let out a broken, garbled whirr.
The Commander didn't even bother feeling upset at the development. "Of course, that would have just been too easy..."
"I just bought more ammo for it, too..." M4 lamented.
"Hard way it is, then..." The Commander patched into zener. "RO, draw its fire. SOP, flank her and hit her with the heavy artillery. Sixteen, hit her with a stun if she gets a bead on anybody."
RO leaned out of cover, blasting off buckshot at Tareus' shield, the spread of impacts straining the generator as SOP darted from her peripherals.
Tareus' turned her mech's cannon to RO, the laser charging - an attack that was much too telegraphed to land on the evasion-optimized doll. The turquoise beam shot into the floor, cutting through the ground as it fell short of its target.
"Griffin trash! Stop running!" The Nyto growled out.
The Mech's rocket pods sprung out, missiles shot straight up and slammed into the ceiling before they could arc downwards, sending more debris raining down around her as Tareus let out a shriek of surprise.
"She's firing those inside?! Is this bitch crazy or stupid?!" STAR exclaimed.
"Why can't it be both?" The Commander yelled back.
"Why don't you give me an order instead of being a smart ass?" The doll shot back.
"Wanna see if she'll let you run up and give her a block of C4 for Valentine's Day?"
STAR merely scoffed and shook her head in response.
SOP's grenade impacted the Mech's shield, triggering an integrity alarm on Tareus's display. Before she could turn to the source, another grenade slammed directly over her control center. Hissing in anger, she turned to 416 up on the catwalk, her plasma cannon targeting the doll as she tried to flee from the exposed position.
BANG
A metallic cylinder had sudden flown straight into her field of view, a well aimed shot slamming into it just as quickly and detonating it into a blinding, retina-searing flash. Tareus shrieked as she involuntarily covered her eyes, the Mech swaying and stumbling as she blindly ripped at the controls.
416 knew exactly who was good enough to pull that kind of trick with the flashbang, her teeth gritted at the realization at who had saved her in that moment.
As the Mech continued to stumble about, the dolls let loose a barrage of gunfire against its shield, intent on straining its generator as much as they could with a saturation attack. However, Tareus began to recover before her shields had been overwhelmed.
"Shit. Really missing my HOCs right about now!" The Commander grumbled out.
"Commander, the crates! Let's lure her in there, use the same trick we did in Paldiski!" Ange suggested urgently.
The Commander nodded curtly, patching back into zener. "Pull back and spread out. Once she's in the maze, keep circling around, don't let her settle on a target."
The teams quickly complied, filing back into the maze of crates as the last burns in Tareus's vision began to fade away.
"Arrggghhh!" Tareus snarled. "Stop hiding! Just come out and let me kill you, already!"
The Mech charged forward into the aisle, promptly surrounding herself with blindspots.
Soon enough, it felt like she was being shot from every single direction, the shooters disappearing out of sight each time she could turn to the source as her shield's integrity whittled lower and lower.
"That's it, keep hitting her! Don't let her recharge!" The Commander pressed.
"AAAAHHH! KILL! KILL! KILL! WHY WON'T YOU DIIIIEEEE?!" The Nyto petulantly howled as alarms blared gratingly and incessantly all around her, fueling her already boiling rage.
"She's on her heels! Keep up the pressure! One last push!"
Another grenade slammed over Miss Eve. The shield's integrity hit zero, arcs of electricity surged out around the struggling Mech as it lurched and swayed like a mythical beast being speared from every direction.
The Commander's heart jumped as he heard the relieving sound of the shields giving out. "The shield's down! Bring it, home, Star!"
STAR stepped out right into Tareus's view at the end of the maze, firing an aimed shot directly at the pilot. The Mech raised its arm in the nick of time to deflect the shot, and charged forward - directly over the charge STAR had set halfway down the aisle.
BOOM
The ground shook as lower half of the towering Mech vanished in a blinding flash, the deafening shockwave sent pieces of scrap flying in every direction. Bits of metal rained down and loudly clattered and clanged off of the floor and ceiling as smoke filled the air.
The Commander let out a relieved exhale through his mask, wafting the smoke away from the visor of his mask. "Sound off everyone. We all still here?"
"Anti-Rain's all green, Commander." M4's voice called back.
"DEFY's still up." AK-12 followed.
"I'm fine. So is Misty and Reina." 416 remarked.
The Commander tried to stand from the crate he had been squatting behind, only to stumble as he realized his legs were still shaking from the adrenaline.
M4's figure emerged from the smoke, her lips curling into a soft smile as she extended her hand. "Need a hand?"
The Commander wordlessly took her hand, letting the doll pull him to his feet.
Taking a slow breath as he let go of M4's hand, his head turned to the wreckage of the Mech. "...Fifteen, make sure its dead."
"Er...Which Fifteen? Me or AK-15?" STAR's voice responded.
The Commander shook his head. "You know what? Both of you." He turned back to M4. "M, take Twelve and go see what River found upstairs. Ange and I are going to take one last look around."
Tareus found herself drifting off into her mind as the impact jarred her mind, shaking away the shackles long restraining it...
RING RING...
RING RING...
"School's out! Time to head home!"
The teacher's voice...the chattering of her fellow students...
Sounds that were once locked away began to resurface, growing louder in her mind.
The screaming of the students as they ran from the yellow gas...
The howling of the monsters, pounding on the door as she locked herself away...The men in white that came to get her after...
Tareus's eyes opened, the blistering heat of the nearby fire seared against her skin, the smoke nearly suffocating as she groaned, stirring under the rubble. "W-Where..."
"I don't believe it...she's actually still alive..." A woman's voice sounded.
"You detonated it between its legs. The armor caught most of the blast." A much deeper voice replied.
"Let's see you time it better, Queen Kong." The voice huffed back dismissively.
"Who...are you?..." Tareus spoke.
The voices didn't reply, a pair of strong arms suddenly seized her by the ankles and pulled her from the wreckage, dragging her across the floor into plain view.
The Nyto gazed up at the two dolls perplexedly. "Where's...mother?..."
"Awwwhh, she wants her mommy." STAR snickered mockingly. The doll's eyes locked with the Nyto's as she glared down at her in disgust. "Your 'Mother' isn't here right now, you're about to go see your 'Father', though. Your 'Mother' will be joining you soon enough."
AK-15 sighed. "Are you going to shoot her or what?"
".300 Blackout's too expensive to waste...and too good for a freak like this." STAR reached down, grabbing a hefty rod of scrap nearby...And swung it downwards.
The rod impacted the Nyto's temple, a sickening squelch sounded as it smashed her orbital socket on one side. Her eyeball rolled back out of alignment with the other, blood seeping out of her socket as the structure of her face began to sag.
"Why...why are you hitting me?..." The Nyto softly groaned out, her head lulling back as she stared emptily at the ceiling above. She felt the warm, wet fluid running down her face. "Am...I bleeding?...Do I need to go to the Nurse?..." The pain registered, the good half of her face contorted as she let out a shrill whimper, a tear streaking down her face. "...Call my Mommy...I want to go home..."
AK-15 slammed her boot down onto the Nyto's abdomen, crushing it beneath her. A gasp of agony escaped her mouth, followed by a gush of blood as it writhed underneath. STAR slammed the rod down onto her face once again, smashing the back of her head into the concrete floor. The skull gave way, splitting open as her body spasmed and convulsed on the ground, gushes of crimson staining the strands of silver hair beneath. With a final blow from the rod, the head smashed into an amalgamous red paste, the body stopped moving as its consciousness was finally released, drifting off into oblivion.
STAR leaned over, spitting on the lifeless corpse before trudging off with AK-15.
The door to the upstairs office swung open as AK-12 and M4A1 stepped inside. UMP-45 sat casually on the desk, her muzzle aligned with the back of a man in a white labcoat's head.
"I hear that I missed quite a party down there. I take it you didn't have any trouble without me?" 45 greeted.
"Can't say we did." 12 half-shrugged. "So, who's your new friend?"
"Claims he just does admin work...I don't know, the lab getup seems to tell a different story~" 45 poked the tip of her suppressor against the man's head.
"I'm telling you! I don't know anything about this Paradeus you are babbling about! I just do spreadsheets here! I don't know what goes on!" The man rambled.
M4's eyes fixed on the man's face, narrowing studiously as her fists began to curl.
The man met M4's gaze, her glazed over eyes sending a chill down his spine. "You! What the hell are you looking at?!"
"I remember you...the man with the needle..." M4 uttered out monotonally.
"W-What?" The man stuttered out.
"You're with them. I know you are..." M4 continued.
"I don't know what this bitch is rambling about! I've never seen her before in my entire life!"
"Not yet you haven't."
The man's face contorted in confusion. "W-What?!"
"You're not fooling anybody, least of all her, Doctor." AK-12 remarked, pulling her knife from its sheath and pressing the serrations to his neck. "Now be a good boy and tell us something worth your life."
The man's eyes squeezed shut as he let out a shaky whimper. "I-I wasn't involved in any of the experiments! I wasn't! It was all...It was all Doctor Meitner's fault! Yes, it was all her doing! I didn't do a thing!"
12's eyes shot open, the purple irises bored straight into the man's soul as her grip tightened on the knife's handle. "Meitner...Martha Meitner?!" The doll's voice raised suddenly into a furious snarl.
The scientist's head reeled back away from the blade, pressing against 45's suppressor. "Yes! Yes! Martha Meitner! It's all her fault, I'm telling you!"
"She's here?!" 12 growled out.
"Down below! In the laboratories! She practically lives down there, I haven't seen her come up once!"
"Eh, remind me again, who's Meitner?" 45 asked.
"William's second in Command, the chief researcher of the Nyto project, and the one slated to take his place if anything happened...I knew it was too good to hope she died in the explosion..." M4 answered.
The door suddenly clicked open again, RO slowly stepped inside into the unfolding scene. Feeling the eyes on her, she began. "The Commander wants you to finish up here and meet up at the elevator..."
The man's breath shook, he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the blade's serrations brushing against his skin. "That's it right?...I can go?...You're going to let me go...right?..."
"You wish." 12 deadpanned.
She pulled the knife back from the man's neck, only to suddenly thrust the tip up into his eye socket. A piercing shriek rocked the room as the blade sliced through his eyeball, blood gushing from the socket as she ripped the knife back.
"Christ!" RO cried out, averting her gaze as the man thrashed about in his restraints.
12's grabbed a fistful of his hair as he tried to pull back, and slammed the blade into his other eye, piercing straight through the eyelid as the agonized wails continued. She drew back the blade again, and skewered the tip into his windpipe. The screams silenced, a rush of air hissed out as she yanked the blade from his neck, the air pulled from his lungs and out through the hole. He fell to the floor, thrashing and writhing with a throaty whine as his face contorted in anguish.
"What the hell are you doing?!" RO cried out.
12 breathed in and out, her breath quaking in rage as she slipped the knife back into its sheath. "You heard the Commander - Spotless, remember?"
"That doesn't give you the right to just butcher people!" RO yelled furiously, stomping her foot forward.
12 slowly turned to RO, her eyes wide open as she stepped up to her with an aura that was on an entirely different level of AK-15's rage. "Are we going to have a problem?"
M4 rushed in front of RO, getting between the two as she shoved her sister back. "RO! Leave it!"
After what felt like an eternity of silence, 12 finally spoke. "We're done here. I'm going to the elevator." She coldly uttered, casually stepping outside the room and down the hall.
RO trembled with a storm of emotions as M4 slowly let go of her.
"Come on. Let's go." M4 nudged RO out of the room, leaving 45 alone with the scientist.
45's gaze turned to the man on the floor, writhing around as he gasped incessantly, his hands trying to cover the hole in his neck as he clung to life with all his strength. She looked upon him, a tinge of pity manifesting in her eyes before she raised her submachine gun, aligned the sight with the man's head, and squeezed the trigger...
"What the hell are we doing, M4?..." RO's voice trembled as she asked.
"Paradeus has hurt a lot of people, RO. We're not the only ones who want payback."
"This isn't about payback, M4! This is about doing our job!" RO snapped.
M4 sighed. "I know that's how it's supposed to be, but...they've made things too personal to ignore it...even for them. We were given these emotions, deliberately, but DEFY wasn't, and they aren't experienced...handling them. Twelve wasn't made to deal with this kind of...attachment."
RO exhaled. "She's going out of control, M4."
M4 shook her head. "RO, there's nothing you can say or do...not until she calms down. Believe me, I know."
RO met M4's gaze, her expression serious. "And what's she going to do before that happens?..."