Interlude 3 - A: Who was the previous Katana 2-Charlie?

Acre sat at the desk in her dorm room, doing maintenance on her rifle. Sangvis dolls didn't get much time for rest and relaxation, so everyone tried to make the most of their downtime. While many dolls saw maintenance as a tedious chore, it had always been oddly relaxing for Acre. While her hands carefully disassembled her rifle with practiced efficiency, Acre allowed her mind to wander, to step away from the troubles of the real world.

Behind her, Bluebell sat on the bottom bunk of their bed, tuning her violin. The two dolls were "battle buddies" within the Sangvis Ferri Mobile Task Force's organizational structure, though they've never really worked together before save for some routine patrols.

"Bluebell," Acre suddenly called out, her eyes still focused on her work.

"Hm? What's up?" Bluebell responded, setting her violin on the bed.

"What was the previous Katana 2-Charlie like…?"

"Huh?"

"You know, the previous doll with my designation, the one who filled my spot before I was created," Acre continued, putting down her rifle and turning around. "Surely there wasn't just a blank slot, right?"

"Oh, you're talking about Karla."

"Karla?"

"Yes, that was her name," Bluebell said with a smile, "Katana 2-Charlie, 'Karla,' a strange girl, truly."

Bluebell then went on and told a bunch of stories about this Karla doll, about her personality, appearance, the various things Karla and Bluebell did before Acre came along, and so forth. Acre learned that Karla was one of the dolls who were created before the Butterfly Incident. Before she was a soldier, Karla was a sales representative created by and working for Sangvis Ferri.

"It seems the two of you did quite a bit together," Acre commented.

"Oh, I suppose so," Bluebell replied, smiling in reminiscence. "But you know, that's just how battle buddies tend to be."

"Yeah…"

"You're not… jealous, are you?" Bluebell asked with a giggle.

"What? No, of course not!" Acre replied.

"Whatever you say, dear," Bluebell said with a cheeky smile, "Anyway, we'll have plenty of opportunities to go into battle side-by-side just like Karla and I did. But just between the two of us… You're cuter!"

"Uhhh, right," Acre responded.

"But anyway, Karla was never much of a fighter," Bluebell continued, "We tried our best, but some things just aren't meant to be."

"So… What happened to her?" Acre cautiously asked.

"Oh! My goodness, I didn't want to make it sound like she was scrapped or anything!" Bluebell quickly responded, "She got transferred to Chalice, the logistics division."

"Transferred?"

"I hope you're not still dwelling on what that ringleader Dreamer said to you," Bluebell said, seemingly reading Acre's mind. "Archangel takes good care of us; we don't abandon our own for perceived weakness."

"That's… good to hear," Acre said with a nod.

"Now, to be perfectly honest, a fair number of Chalice dolls were reassigned from combat divisions for similar reasons as Karla's," Bluebell elaborated, "There are certain technical logistics tasks that require more finesse than what your common fodder unit could provide, but a lot of general logistics work really could be done by any type of doll. They're more there, well, to put it bluntly, to justify their continued existence to the Sangvis leadership."

"Oh… That's unfortunate," Acre murmured, "being relegated to something like that."

"Perhaps so, but look on the bright side!" Bluebell said, reverting back to her cheerful demeanour. "Not all dolls here want to fight. Karla's having a much better time in Chalice than she ever had here. And hey, getting to chill and drive a truck around all day? That sound's pretty sweet to me. Maybe I should try to get transferred to Chalice someday too!"

"You? Transferred?"

"Oh, I'm just joking!" Bluebell replied with a wide grin, "Besides, how could I ever leave you behind? I'd have to take you with me, but Archangel would never let a superstar like you get wasted doing supply runs. You'll be too busy saving all of Sangvis Ferri, our knight in shining armour!"

"What the… How do I even respond to that?" Acre demanded, flustered.

"What I'm trying to tell you is: There's nothing inherently wrong with transferring between divisions, it's all about finding the perfect fit for you!" Bluebell continued, "You're pretty close to Kia, aren't you? Did you know that Kia used to be part of Dagger?"

"Kia? Dagger?" Acre asked, "Are you serious?"

"Ask her about it, it's true! That was during the earlier days of the MTF, Operation Bleeding Edge-era," Bluebell explained, "Back then the MTF was apparently a mess, but Kia ended up somewhere she's happy with, especially after she met Castle."

"All's well that ends well, huh," Acre concluded.

"Exactly! And who knows where you'll end up in the future too."

"Me… In the future," Acre repeated in contemplation.

"Someday, the war will end, that's what I believe. That's what I must believe, if I am to continue on fighting," Bluebell continued, "I'm sure Karla would like to go back to being a sales rep. Kia wants to be a doctor or a nurse or something. I would like nothing more than to play my music for all the world to hear…"

"I hope everyone's dreams come true," Acre said.

"Everyone has so much potential," Bluebell responded in agreement, "Everyone is working so hard towards a life they envision…"

"But what about you, Acre? What do you want to become?"

Interlude 3 - B: Solving Sector S09

Archangel sat in an old conference room within Point Diamond, waiting as her hologram projector connected to an encrypted meeting room. Moments later, a panel of faces appeared before her, faces she was far more familiar with than she wished to be.

"Archangel's finally online. Good, we're all here," Agent's voice impassively emanated from the projector, "Alright everyone, let's keep this meeting concise, with as little nonsense as possible."

"Do I really have to be here?" Alchemist interrupted in an uninterested tone, "I have some… important things that need attending to."

"Cut the crap, Alchemist," Judge's voice distastefully chimed in, "The sooner we're done here, the sooner you can get back to whatever debauchery it is you're up to this time."

Alchemist began to argue with Judge before Agent impatiently silenced the both of them.

"The reason why you were all summoned here today was because Archangel wants to propose a plan to eradicate the sector S09 problem for once and for all," Agent growled.

"As we all know, the human commander in charge of that sector has been a thorn in the Mastermind's plan for years now. We've tried various methods to neutralize him, but he has slipped our grasp on every occasion. It is about time we stamped out this nuisance for good."

"So, uh, I've just uploaded the preliminary plans to the meeting room," Archangel added, "So, if you could all take a look at it…"

"What I don't understand is why we're entertaining an idea from this outsider," Dreamer sneeringly interjected, "Face it, none of us here trusts more than half the ringleaders in this meeting, so why would we be taking orders from someone who doesn't even use OGAS?"

"If you have a better solution to the problem, feel free to speak up," Agent coldly countered.

"Instead of attacking each other's character, let's focus our criticism on the actual plan itself," Gager said, "If the plan itself is solid and airtight, then does it really matter who came up with it?"

"Well said. It's good to hear another rational voice in the conversation," Agent said in agreement, "On that topic, Archangel, explain what makes your proposed plan different from the methods we tried in the past."

"Well, in short, the main benefit of this plan is essentially distributed operational flexibility coupled with proportionally superior mobility," Archangel began to explain, "I'm sure we've all noticed that, uh, the Griffin Commander is very good at tactically managing the forces under his command. Every time we seem to trap him, he always manages to weasel his way out with expert deployment of his forces."

"Hold on, if I'm reading the plan right, you want each part of the operation to be locally managed by the Mobile Task Force?" Hunter asked.

"Yes, that is correct," Archangel responded, "Tactical analysis has shown that the strict hierarchical command structure imposed by OGAS limits the tactical flexibility of individual Sangvis units on the battlefield. While sheer numbers have proved successful against the vast majority of enemies we've faced, it simply doesn't seem to be enough for this particular commander."

A round of murmurs emerged from the attendees.

"I hope you understand how much blind trust you're asking from us here," Judge said, "How can you guarantee the dolls under your command will listen to what you say? I've always believed you are way too lax with discipline within your organization, and that is a stance I'm sure most ringleaders share."

"Judge raises a good point," Agent said, "In light of the ridiculous stunt you pulled in Kurilev, one must question the basic loyalty of your dolls."

"And now you seek to further expand the mandate of your little pet project," Alchemist added.

"That was the spontaneous development of an unexpected situation, something we really didn't have precedent for," Archangel explained, "The MTF dolls may all have their own values, but at the end of the day they will follow orders when given them. The reason why I wanted this meeting was to discuss this plan as soon as possible, so I can drill the MTF dolls for as much time as possible."

"And this timeline…" Hunter began, "You want to aim for mid-October this year?"

"Yes, mid-October," Archangel affirmed, "I already spoke with Agent about this. We really do want a major offensive this year, and we really want to do it before it starts getting snowy, which will limit our mobility. But at the same time, like I said, I want as much time to prepare as possible. It'll be a heavily coordinated and planned-out thing."

"It'll be like Operation Bleeding Edge all over again," Gager added in.

"Gager?" Agent asked, raising an eyebrow. "Can I take this as support for Archangel's plan?"

"It's a plan. It's not perfect, but it's something," Gager responded, "Loyalty aside, what Archangel said about tactical flexibility is fundamentally accurate. If the MTF were to take charge on a more granular scale, we would be able to effectively counter the specific plays the Griffin commander makes. That's what we did during Bleeding Edge, and that's what the MTF has been doing now, to considerable success I might add."

"Thank you, Gager," Archangel said.

"I'm just stating objective reality," Gager replied, "Loyalty will always be a concern, but it's one of many concerns we need to address."

"And I'm inclined to agree with Gager's assessment," Agent continued on, "Seeing as we don't have many other options, we will continue developing this plan further. Archangel, have your team conduct a more thorough strategic and tactical analysis and have it ready in two weeks. Make it a priority."

"Understood," Archangel responded.

"Oh, and have you thought of a name for this proposed operation?" Agent asked.

"I have been thinking about it, actually," Archangel replied, "There is a saying amongst the Griffin dolls that their commander is like a 'shining beacon in a brave new world'…"

"If he represents the hope of dawn, then let our operation be 'Nightfall.'"