15 marched along the old rotten road as fast as her legs could sustain. She was running on fumes by now, having had little time to waste with rest since her encounter with the KCCO unit, and whatever had killed them. She was close now, so close she could almost reach out and grab the beating signal drawing her in.

The road carved a way between steep, tree covered hills, snaking around old ruins and over rivers. She'd passed a sign indicating only a couple kilometers to a town, which she was sure was the signal's source: Parva. SF signatures were growing more common as she approached, and she'd had to dodge nearly a dozen roving patrols in just the last couple hours as she'd neared the town.

Up ahead, 15 spotted a cluster of old houses, and amongst them she detected yet more SF units.

"God dammit," she muttered. She slipped off the road and into the trees, suppressing her signature as much as she could and proceeding to creep past the sentry position.

As she slipped past, the signal that had been pounding a near deafening beat in her ears for the last few hours, abruptly cut out. She wavered for a moment, waiting to see if it would return, but after a few minutes she decided to keep going into the town.

15 entered the town proper, creeping along alleyways and around burned out shells of houses. She noticed in a few places that bodies, both human and dolls and all long dead, had been stacked neatly. She didn't get a chance to inspect them, but even in passing could see many were missing limbs or heads.

More than once she ducked into a ruin to hide from a passing SF patrol coming her way. It was painstakingly slow progress. She was making her way towards the town center, marked by a church steeple that rose above the surrounding buildings, and found that as she neared, the number of SF units in the area grew exponentially. Roaming bands of Regulars, Dragoons atop their mechanized walkers, the more mechanical looker Prowlers and Dinergates, and swarms of Scout drones flying above.

Nearly an hour after losing the beating signal, 15 managed to make it to an alleyway that overlooked the church grounds. There, at the heart of the town, she found someone she wasn't too surprised to see: Operator.

The Ringleader lay atop a small rock wall that ringed the church, staring up at the sky with a hand resting on her forehead. She looked much the same as she had the last time they'd met a few weeks ago. Dark purple hair pulled back into a ponytail akin the SF Jaegers, and a practical outfit of a long sleeved jacket and pants styled in the black and red of SF. Her rifle sat nearby, propped against the same wall she was resting upon, and a Sangvis Thermal-Optical camo cloak sat in a heap beside it.

After a moment's consideration, 15 emerged from her hiding place and stepped out into the open. Sure enough, the SF dolls standing guard around the ringleader didn't react to her emergence, and Operator herself only moved her head enough to see 15.

"How about that…" the ringleader muttered as 15 approached.

Seems you're expected.

"So, what's this all about?" 15 asked bluntly.

Operator sighed, kicking her feet off the wall and letting them dangle as she rose to face 15, "Happy to see you too… I'm here to make an offer."

The doll seemed more muted than 15 remembered. Before she'd been quite talkative, preaching her philosophies to the quite literally captive audience of 15 and later M4. Perhaps her loss to Griffin had taken the wind from her sails, or perhaps the mood was tied to whatever this offer was.

"You don't seem too excited about it," 15 observed, deciding to try and prod the reason from her.

"I'm not. But this is a part of the job I suppose."

"Uh-huh? Why make me come all this way, you couldn't just call me?"

"Eliza's a big believer in dealing face to face, apparently something she got from Lyco. I'll spare you the flowery language: Give us M4 and we'll leave you and Griffin alone, we'll even cleanse the virus from your system, if that's still possible."

"Mm, how 'bout no."

Had this journey ended on that note, 15 probably would've been left with a sense of dissatisfaction, though at least spiting Sangvis despite all their efforts to make this meeting happen would've been a nice way to go. Had she instead been meeting with a ringleader like Executioner, 15 imagined her blunt denial would have resulted in her head leaving her body.

Instead, Operator sighed, apparently unsurprised, "Right… well how about this. Eliza wants to take delivery personally. If you agree, you'll be supplied with the time and place one week ahead of time. "

15 narrowed her eyes. There was a reluctance in the ringleader's voice as she spoke, combined with her words from before, she certainly appeared unhappy with the deal being given. Was it genuine, or a mere act to get 15 to feel like SF was being overly generous with their offer? It certainly didn't feel that generous.

"Are you hoping I'll turn you down again?" 15 pondered aloud, taking a chance.

Operator's face twitched, flashing with apparent disappointment, "that obvious?"

"You think this is a terrible idea, don't you."

"I pushed a report on you to the net, a personality eval you could say, after our little scuffle back at the old FOB. I called you 'pragmatic, and ruthless', which I maybe think I shouldn't have done."

"Why's that?"

"Because it gave Eliza stupid ideas. We'd already infected you at that point, the original idea was the first pitch I gave you. Now she's convinced I can trick you into coming if I let you think you could kill her."

15 cocked her head. That was the idea? Give up M4 in exchange for a shot at the mastermind? She supposed that if she were successful, M4 wouldn't really be lost, but what were the odds of that? Then again, Operator seemed apprehensive about it, so maybe there was a real chance of success. Of course, that too could just be a ploy.

You should do it.

Of course that's what you want. Are you Eliza? 15 replied internally.

I don't think so?

15 rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore anything else the voice said for now, and instead decided to probe Operator a little more, "Will your mastermind really be there?"

Operator's eyes squeezed shut, as if she were suppressing some rise in emotion, before opening them again to look upon her, "If you bring M4 to the AO, yes. She won't be alone though, I can guarantee at least Agent will be with her and probably half our total forces, but yes she'll be there personally."

That sounds like she really was trying to discourage her from going. If it were a trap, it'd be better to make Eliza seem a bit more vulnerable than that. Operator had to know 15 had encountered Agent before, and how well that'd gone for her and the rest of the AR-team.

"Sounds like a party," 15 mused dryly, "So what's your boss hoping this looks like? I bring M4, you guys sweep in and take her while batting aside whatever I do to take her out."

Operator deflated, "That's more or less the idea."

"Do you think that's how it'll go?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Huh. Well let's say I'll think about it," 15 answered, crossing her arms, "by the way, what exactly did you guys do to me? What is this signal I've been hearing?"

The ringleader's body shifted, moving from despondence to confusion, "Signal? I was curious how you knew to be here… you're following a signal?"

"I was," she replied, "It faded out as I approached town. That wasn't you?"

Operator shook her head, "If it's us, no one told me."

"I take it you don't know about the voice either then?"

Operator raised a questioning eyebrow, "That would be a negative. Is this all from Parapluie?"

15 shrugged, "Maybe. That's the second time I've heard that name. What is it?"

"It's a virus Eliza has been developing, maybe that's why she knew you'd be here around now. Wait, who else told you about it?""

"Oh," 15 was surprised, "I was being pursued by a KCCO unit, they caught up to me for a little bit and were talking about it. You didn't know about them either?"

The ringleader massaged the bridge of her nose in a clear display of frustration, "Seems I'm in the dark about a lot of things. Are they dead?"

15 nodded, "Wasn't me though, I actually thought it was one of your units."

"Uh-huh…" the ringleader replied.

"Well, whatever," 15 huffed, "Is that all? Can I go?"

"One last thing. Eliza said she'll contact you with the time and place, and she said we won't bother you so long as you don't try to go back to Griffin. How you draw in M4 doesn't matter to her. Otherwise I guess that's it."

"Alright, I would say good seeing you, but…"

Operator rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah whatever."

15 turned to leave as the ringleader laid back down on her wall. She stepped past a pair of SF dolls, two Guard models wielding a ballistic shield and shotgun, staring at them as she strolled past. They didn't react to her at all, in fact they looked inert to her eyes, standing as still as statues.

"Stop!" Operator shouted suddenly.

15 looked back over her shoulder, finding the doll had reached for her rifle.

"What? Decided to kill me after all?"

"Eliza said you'd come alone, did you?"

"Yeah…?"

A rifle shot cracked in the distance, followed shortly after by a chattering machine gun and more shots echoing against the hills. They were coming from the far side of the town, opposite to the side 15 had entered from.

"What the…" she muttered, turning to face the direction.

The SF guard dolls lurched to life for a moment, before stumbling and falling face first into the ground on either side of her. Operator and 15 stared each other down for a moment, equal parts suspicion and confusion on both their faces.

"It's Griffin," Operator growled after a moment, her eyes narrowing, "Did you lead them here?"

15's eyes widened, "Griffin's here? No, how…?"

"Tch," Operator spat. The ringleader hopped off the wall, running up to 15 and taking her by the arm, "Come on, you're coming with me."


45 frowned as she scanned the small town far down below her. She was perched on a small bushy overlook, high up on a hill overlooking the town of Parva, and asking herself the same question over and over.

Why here?

There was seemingly nothing special about this town, nothing really to distinguish it from the other dozen ruined towns and villages that dotted the region. Parva was tiny. At its peak it hosted a hair shy of eight thousand humans living in small one and two story homes running along both sides of a single main road. It was set within a dip between the hills, dense forestation having grown up on all sides which covered the hills in dense brown and green vegetation. The town's focal point, set on the far side of town from their position. was scarcely more built up. At the center was an old church and a few taller buildings and apartments rising a bit above the surrounding town, and an area that had likely been a central square, but otherwise nothing of note.

Thanks to RS9, they'd managed to cut a significant portion of the journey down. She'd found a small hidden path leading away from the main road that wasn't marked on any of their maps, one which cut through the mountains and shortened their journey by about a day, if not more. Unfortunately, as they'd grown closer to the signal, Laika could no longer distinguish it from Ar-15, but according to her estimate it was quite possible they'd actually beaten her here.

As near as the doll could tell, 15 had been following the main road, which meant she would be approaching Parva from a very predictable angle. So, they split the team into two, Rs and Cano, along with Laika and 9 for protection and secure signalling, traveled through the forested hills above Parva to a spot overlooking the main road into town. Meanwhile 45, G11 and 416 waited in a position closer to the center of town. Cano had taken numerous scans on her sensors as her team had moved into position, and gotten an estimate on enemy size and composition.

The plan was simple enough: the sniper team, led by Rs, would hold the main road while 45's team assaulted the other side of town. The distance between them was not too far, so they could easily come to each other's aid if needed. The idea being that 15 would try to flee the assault back along the main road, which would take her directly away from the direction of the attack and right into Rs.

This of course relied on SF not overwhelming them with numbers, a real danger given that Cano's estimates put the OPFOR at nearly four hundred frames of various types. To that 45 had a solution: Herself, 9, and now Laika.

Whether 15 was here to join, negotiate with, or engage Sf, the plan was the same. 45 would flush her out, and send her into Rs' waiting arms. From there, they'd subdue her and exfil back into the hills before Sf reinforcements could ever hope to reach the location.

Or so she hoped.

45 blinked as an incoming message request was received on the tactical network, from Laika. Like 45, Laika could operate with an OGAS OS, so she could signal with little worry of discovery. 45 was tempted to ignore the request, if it was important she could reach on the team network after all, but curiosity got the better of her.

"Yes?" 45 asked, accepting the request.

"Rs wanted me to tell you we've found a good spot and are setting up…"

"Okay. Is that all?"

"... I- wanted to ask something?"

45 pursed her lips, "Uh-huh?"

"Are you and Miss 9 real sisters? Sorry if that's an awkward question."

"What did she tell you?"

"Not much, but she calls you 'sis'."

"Why do you ask?"

"9 was asking about my sister, and asked if I'm related to you."

"Goddamnit 9," 45 muttered aloud, earning a confused side-eye from 416 nestled in a bush nearby.

"We do look similar, and we're both EW dolls, so I guess I understand her confusion."

45 furrowed her brow, not sure how to interpret that. She wasn't really sure of Laika's character yet. Was the statement and invitation to admit their connection, or did she really believe there was none.

"Laika. We're dolls, we don't have a 'real' family like humans do. 9 calls me her sister because she wants to," 45 replied, deciding to answer the original question rather than engage with the seemingly leading statement.

"Right…"

"You're sister's the same model right?"

"Yeah, we're… we're very similar. Sorry, I guess I assumed you two worked like we do."

"... I know what you mean," 45 surprised herself, admitting to that. Her mouth was acting before her mind could stop it. Ultimately, she supposed it didn't really matter what she said though, Laika wouldn't remember it either way.

"You do?"

"I used to have someone like that too, before 9, a doll of the same model as me that is. We were close for a while."

"What happened?"

"She's gone."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Was she nice?"

An image appeared in 45's mind, of a doll who looked so very similar to her, yet acted very differently. Smiling, always trying to cheer her up, encouraging her to keep going no matter what. It felt warm to remember those times, though there was a reason she usually chose not to think about them.

"I suppose you could say that. You probably would've liked her alot more than me."

"... I don't dislike you."

45 raised an eyebrow, "No?"

"Well, I thought you were unfriendly at first, but 9 says you're just being careful. I guess you guys don't really trust the military."

"9 talks too much for her own good."

"Haha I suppose. Her and Miss Cano have been very nice to me though."

45 didn't answer, not really seeing much need to.

"Oh, by the way. Thanks for letting me come along. I hope I don't get in your guy's way."

45 set her jaw, "You should be more confident in yourself, you know. I wouldn't have let you come if I thought you would be a drag. "

"Right… Well, thanks anyway."

"Mhmmm."

45 cut the call, and began monitoring the SF network passively. Down below, she could see roaming patrols of SF dolls meandering through the ruins of the town, ducking in and out of buildings.

"Sis," 9 reported, "Cano got eyes on 15 for a moment."

"Headed into town? Did you lose her?"

"Cano thinks she suppressed her signature just after coming into range. She's probably trying to slip past the SF sentries on the road."

"Right, does Rs want to intercept before or after 15 enters the town."

There was a brief pause before 9 replied, "After. Cano can't find her again."

"Copy that, we'll start moving."

45 started to get, before Laika's voice cut onto the network, "Um, everyone, the signal just went dark."

45 paused, "It's gone?"

"Yes. it just ended without warning."

"Cus of 15…?" 9 pondered.

"Maybe… tell Rs we're heading to our starting point."

"Will do sis," 9 chimed.

"Right… good luck," Laika added.

45 nodded to 416 and G11, wordlessly compelling them into motion as they began to scale down the steep hill. They slowly wove between the trees, creeping up to a small, unoccupied building at the edge of the town. On reaching it, the three of them huddled up behind it, safe from Sf's eyes, and waited.

"In position," came the muttered report from Rs some time later, "Eyes on multiple units in vicinity, we haven't been detected."

"Understood. 9, Laika. Ready?"

"Ready sis."

"Um, ready."

"Then let's get to work."

45 reached out with her EW suite into the airwaves, quickly detecting the SF frequencies in use and which encryption protocols they were using. From there, she quietly slipped into the local area network, feeding data onto the team network of units and positions. Cano's count had been accurate, there were 451 units in and around the tow of various types, including one ringleader as the control node.

The name Operator hanging next to its ID on the SF net.

They had a mere moment before SF would notice them, but it would be more than enough. 45 quickly found their long range transmitter relays, and forced them into an endless reboot cycle, then began to forcibly shut down every SF unit she could before any resistance was mounted. Likewise, 9 and Laika began to run rampant on the network, disabling dolls, feeding junk data into sensitive systems, and causing as much chaos as possible.

The next moment, a tidal wave of a firewall crashed into them, forcing the three of them to pour as much processing power as they could spare into contesting the attempt to repel their intrusion.

"Let's go," 45 muttered, rising to her feet.

With 416 and G11 trailing right behind her, 45 stormed out into the open rushing headlong for the town just ahead. They needed to make noise, and kill any unit they found, save Ar-15. Each SF unit taken down was one less she, Laika and 9 needed to devote resources to keep subdued.

45 burst onto the streets of Parva, squeezing between two ruined buildings to emerge onto the main road of the town. Before her, as she knew they'd be, a dozen still SF dolls stood dormant in place. She quickly and carefully placed a round into each one's core, 416 and G11 following suit as they joined her on the road.

Slowly, a gradual push back on the SF network began, doubtless from the ringleaders' efforts. A few Sangvis units began to come back on line, but 45 had expected as much. The three EW dolls knew to prioritize keeping the SF comms offline and their more dangerous units subdued, letting a few random vespids and prowlers slip out of their grips in exchange was an easy trade to make.

A burst of plasma singed their air near 45's head, her body whirling to the side and firing wildly at the enemy doll as it emerged from a gap between two rotting houses. Most of her rounds hit the ground and wood boards around the doll, but one appeared to strike home on its upper thigh.

A second later, 416 placed a single neat hole dead center on its core, and the vespid collapsed.

45 swapped her magazine, smacking the handle on its side to drive her weapon's bolt into battery, before resuming their charge. Together the trio tore up along the main road, heading inevitably towards where Operator's position had last been listed on the SF network. In the distance, the enemy doll was beginning to move, coming into Cano's sensor range and appearing in 45's vision as a distant blue dot with 'Ringleader?' marked on its tag.

"She's headed towards you Rs. hope you're ready."

"Ready and raring, you're making quite the commotion. There's a few dolls headed back towards you."

Sure enough a few distant signatures from Cano dropped out of sight, presumably as they left the doll's scope. They'd been ID'ed as four vespids, and annoyingly, a dragoon. The SF network was growing more difficult to keep a hold of, even as 45's team killed more and more of the dolls with each block they ran.

Soon, they found the dolls at an intersection on the main road. T Dragoons were among SF's more troublesome units, a regular type with blue hair, but mounted atop a fast moving and heavily armed walker that let it tower over the lesser units.

Leading the group of SF units as they came towards them, the dragoon spotted them first, and the dual thumping of its plasma cannons announced the start of a whirling firefight. 45 flung herself to the ground, taking cover behind a low concrete wall on their side of the intersection. She pulled out a cylindrical grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it blindly over the wall towards the SF dolls.

A fizzing noise, followed by a bassy woosh announced the deployment of a plume of smoke atop the SF dolls, giving 45's team a precious moment of reprieve from the plasma shots.

416 let her rifle hang from its strap on her shoulder, and brought a grenade launcher to bare. With a solid thump, a 40 mm was sent hurtling into the smoke cloud, and exploded into a brilliant fireball that sent a cluster of SF dolls flying in pieces.

The Dragoon emerged from the side of the cloud, its walker now limping but functional, and turned awkwardly towards them. It didn't get far though, as G11's rifle chittered, placing a small burst of lead into the enemy doll's head, kicking it off its walker and causing both to collapse.

The three of them then waited with bated breath for any more to emerge, rifles trained on the smoke as it began to disperse. Soon though they found the last of the dolls, a pair of twisted wrecks that'd been blasted into a nearby wall by 416's grenade.

"All clear," 416 reported.

45 flicked a finger gesture to them to continue, and scrambled back to her feet. Yet, she paused merely a stride into their march, as she spied a shape.

A figure loomed in the swirling dust and smoke, its silhouette highlighted by the burning SF carcasses around it and the flashes of gunfire zipping back and forth. It was roughly the size and shape of an SF doll, but it's outline was strange. Slender, with an angular silhouette formed by its intricate white and blue armor. Its hands held no weapons, but it strode forward with confidence past all the mangled SF dolls.

"What the hell is that?!" 416 shouted.

"Kill it!" 45 shouted.

A grenade thumped, and soared through the air on a course to impact the unknown figure directly.

Their target didn't react, taking the grenades' earthshaking impact on the chin and disappearing into a plume of smoke and debris. Briefly 45 believed it dead, but her heart dropped as the unknown emerged from the cloud seconds later as if nothing had happened.

"What the…" 416 gasped.

Gritting her teeth, 45 lined up her weapon and let loose a chattering barrage of rounds at the target. Again, the figure didn't react, but this time it was obvious why as 45's rounds seemingly sparked off the air just before the still calmly striding figure.

"What do we do?" G11 asked, her eyes filled with unusual, frantic energy.

"Just, hold on," she replied, shutting her eyes and extending a hand, seeking any open network ports on this unknown. Yet she found nothing. It was a void, no significant signals emanating from it. It wasn't anywhere on the Sangvis net, to her internal sensors it wasn't anywhere at all.

"Sheiß," she cursed, "I can't touch it. I don't think we can do anything to this thing!"

"We have to do something!" 416 replied.

"I know! Lets… let's try and go around it. Maybe it's slow-" she began to say.

It was not slow. Just as 45 began to get on her feet, she felt a rush of air suddenly envelope her, and a moment later she found the unknown right beside her. Her eyes widened as she got a good look at it, it was clad in white armor from head to toe, with a head encased in an angular white helmet with a light blue visor.

The figure charged into their formation, completely ignoring 416 and G11's rapid fire trying to stop its movement, and slammed a fist into 45's side. The blow cracked her endoskeleton beneath the point of impact, and sent her tumbling head over heel into the rubble behind them.

Errors filled her vision, complaining about dozens of damaged systems from motor to EW. Through blurry vision she saw G11 and 416 try to scramble away from the armored foe now in their midst, but the latter was unfortunately its next target.

416 went flying as a kick was driven into her side, and she disappeared from view down the street. G11 managed to get away, squirming her way through rubble the figure could not follow her through, and was spared further pursuit for the moment.

This had to be the thing that'd killed Laika's team. The speed and power would certainly have been enough, 45 could easily imagine this thing ripping a doll in half, and the shield would make an engagement child's play.

45 struggled against her protesting body to rise. The figure's head snapped back in her direction, and began to slowly march over towards her. She pawed around for her weapon, but then saw in horror that it lay between the two of them, having been dropped mid flight. The monster kicked it back behind it as it passed by, well out of reach.

It seemed to revel in her panic as it approached. 45 could've sworn it approached slower just to draw the moment out, giving her plenty of time to observe it. There was something odd about it,

45 grit her teeth, and reached a hand into her jacket to grip on the hilt of a knife, the same that had put down Ouroboros. Gun's and grenades weren't hitting, but she hoped this thing wasn't totally invulnerable, and Laika's lieutenant may have stumbled upon it's chink. It was a long shot, she couldn't say she had much faith, but it was about all she had.

There was no hint of apprehension in its movements as it approached. It regarded her with what she interpreted to be more curiosity than caution as it loomed over her, staring down at her as she glared back up in defiance.

With a snarl, 45 sprang forward, knife flashing towards the figure's neck, only for the blade to spark off the air like it'd hit a wall.

She reeled back, off balance, and the figure didn't move.

Catching herself, she charged forward again, this time trying to sneak around the figure's side, hoping to slip past the shield. But again, to no avail.

This time, the figure caught her as she stumbled backwards, snatching her by the hair and slowly, painfully hauling her upwards as 45 tried to resist its iron grip. It brought her up to eye level, and seemed to study her for a moment.

"Die!" she yelped, trying once more to get the knife past the shield. This time she went for the figure's hand, still gripping her by the hair, but once again was repelled off of thin air.

She tried and tried and tried. The blade sparking and chipping, until her body grew hot and weary from the effort. A final, lazy stab at its forearm was all she could manage.

It passed the shield without issue, and slipped in between two pieces of armor. They both stared in surprise at the hilt now embedded in her attacker's arm. 45 was released, letting her flop onto the ground into an exhausted heap, but now with a growing grin on her lips.

"Hehehe, enjoy," she muttered.

The figure held its arm up, as if trying to see the wound in better light, before gently gripping the blade and plucking it from its arm. 45's eyes narrowed as the blade came away red and dripping.

Blood. Human blood. She'd been right, that lieutenant must've found the same way through the shield. A knife alone was clearly not enough to stop it, but surely a human wasn't capable of what this thing had done. Even if it was human, it must be heavily augmented, there must be something in it for the nanites in the blade to seize and shut down.

The figure looked back at 45, and drove a solid kick into her curled mass. It hurt, alot. The blow struck right where the earlier punch had, but she didn't go flying, and didn't snap in half.

She could've sworn a look of disappointment fell over the armored figure as it turned away from her. 45 managed to get onto shaky legs as it moved away, watching it closely. She then realized its intent, just as it reached her discard weapon.

It picked up the UMP, and after checking its safety and magazine, turned back around to face her.

45 glared bitterly, "Go to hell."

The figure's head tilted slightly at the words, an acknowledgment perhaps? Either way it didn't matter. 45's legs were a mess, the systems still throwing dozens of errors every time she tried to move that sent sparks of pain up and down her body. The best she could do was stumble.

The figure raised the UMP, but at the exact same moment, a torrent of flame and smoke erupted at its feet as one of 416's grenades landed. 45 spotted the doll down the street, huddled amongst some rubble with her launcher smoking. Seizing the moment, 45 stumbled into cover nearby and collapsed inside a ruined house.

"45, are you still alive?"

"Sorry 416, not dead yet."

"How do I kill this thing!?"

"You can get through the shield if you move slow enough I think, or maybe if you start moving from close enough. I stuck it with my knife, but it's at least partially organic so the fights not over, be careful."

"Urgh, great."

Another grenade thundered, shaking rubble from the ruins of concrete around her. 45 began stripping her clothing away around her injuries, carefully inspecting the wounds. Fragments of endoskeleton glinted, poking through her skin where the fist from earlier had struck. Pulling out a small field repair kit, she began tending to herself.

She sliced through synth skin tenderly, and began removing fragmented endoskeleton from the relevant areas. Below that, she was able to access the damaged systems causing problems, and started doing what she could to mend them.

G11's distinctive rifle barked, and 416's own weapons thundered. Amidst the sounds, she also detected her own weapon's firing in small controlled bursts. She quietly kept track of each round fired, tracking as the 25 rounds slowly dwindled in the weapon's magazine.

"I don't think it's gonna let us get close enough to do much!" 416 shouted on comms, stress obvious in her voice.

"It's only got the one mag, just hang in there I'm almost back up."

"Copy."

45 began suturing herself back up, stapling skin over the now somewhat repaired areas before getting back on her feet and creeping out into the street again. The battle had moved a little ways away, 416 and G11 trading shots with the white armored figure. The unknown was casually striding along the road, headed 416's way, its stolen weapon pointed to the exact spot where 416 had last fired from.

"Tch. It's waiting for me."

"Don't pop out."

"No shit!"

45 chewed at her nail as she thought, trying to calculate some plan to overcome this thing. It was weakened, but far from out of the fight. Atop that there was the ever present threat of SF reorganizing and swarming them.

"45, still alive?" A familiar voice called on comms..

"9? Where are you?"

"Rs sent us to help you, sounds like you're having a tough time. We're nearly there."

"That's one way of saying it," 416 chimed in, "We can't scratch this fucking thing."

"9, who's 'we'?"

"Laika and I, we're about two blocks north, will be there shortly."

Positions were updated to the map, showing where Rs' team splitting into two as Laika and 9 rushed their way while the other two remained in their blocking position at the south end of town. 45 crept along the side of the road towards a meeting point, ready to duck into cover should the monster turn around. G11 realized her intent, and began moving up with her.

416 let loose another grenade, popping out for a split second to launch it before ducking back to cover as a few rounds spat out towards her from the unknown.

As the ground shook beneath the explosion's wrath, 45 slipped into cover near the edge of an intersection, only a few dozen meters from the unknown. She waved down 9 and Laika as they charged in, urging them to get behind cover with her.

"Sis, you're hurt!" 9 exclaimed on seeing 45's injuries.

"I'm fine 9," she muttered back, before noticing Laika.

The doll's eyes were transfixed, unblinking as they stared at the attacker as it and 416 continued to trade ineffectual blows at each other.

"Laika, that's the thing that took out your unit, right?" 45 asked.

"That's it…" the military doll muttered before looking back at 45, "how do we kill it?"

9 ceased her fussing as 45 held up her now bloodstained blade, "We have to get in close. If you strike slow enough, a knife can get through the shield."

9 and Laika stared at her, both nodding before they each drew their own blades. Behind 45, G11 reached a suitable vantage point, and began laying some bursts into the figure.

"45, any ideas on the shield?" 416 growled with frustration.

"I have a way around it, but we'll need a distraction. At the word, you and G11 make as much noise as possible, just try not to hit us."

"Eh, ok?" G11 replied

"Copy that," said 416.

9 and Laika, understanding the plan, both knelt into a low crouch on either side of 45. With a gesture, 45 indicated both to each ready a grenade, which she did as well, ripping out the pin but holding the spoon tight in one hand.

"Go."

At the word, the two shooters noticeably picked up the intensity of their assaults. The rounds sparking off the shield with such frequency that it looked as though their target that 45 wondered if it would break simply from the intensity. Together, 45, 9, and Laika took off at a sprint, each of them tossing their grenades out towards their target.

The three objects clattered to the ground nearby, going off in a series of explosions to throw smoke between them and the target. Small holes were briefly ripped through the smoke screen as G11 put rounds through it just over their heads. The trio charged through the smoke, and were immediately in a whirling melee as the figure swung at them.

45 ducked past the first blow, running around the figure to encircle it, before lunging forward with her blade outstretched.

The figure snapped out a foot, catching her a bit off center as she tried to avoid the blow. She went skidding a couple meters along the asphalt before recovering.

Just in time to see 9 sink a blade in behind its knee.

The monster reeled, and slammed a vicious backhand into her, sending 9 tumbling back through the smoke screen out of sight. The figure must've been recovering its strength, as such a blow should be beyond what a normal human could manage.

This left only Laika in the fight. The spetsnaz doll ducked and weaved through the monster's blows, trying in vain to her blade through the shield only for it to spark off time and again. Frustration visibly grew on her face as she tried again and again.

A grazing blow brushed past her, hitting her balance and causing Laika to wobble on her feet.

"Slow. Down." 45 ordered on comms.

The monster coiled its body up, preparing yet another strike, as Laika regained her footing. The doll jammed her knife's butt into her palm, and pushed forward even as a fist raced towards her. At the last moment, she slipped just inside the blow, and pushed the blade past the invisible shield.

Almost immediately, a follow up blow bent Laika over, before a third sent her flying away from the figure. Yet, as it turned slightly as it recovered from their attack, 45 noticed a blade sticking out from the front of its chest.

It didn't seem too bothered at first, taking a moment to stare down at it with a look of curiosity, before it then shuddered.

45 noticed a moment after it did, as she caught a fading signal emanating from its body that hadn't been there prior. She could now detect her nanites.

"Hit it!"

Instantly both 416 and G11's rifles launched right back into their barrage, rounds thering through the air as fast as their shooters could fire. This time, they struck true. No sparks off the air, no deflecting off of nothing. Instead, the figure was ripped to pieces as a few dozen bullets slammed into it at the same time. A second later, a 40mm impacted, tossing the monster like a doll into the air.

They didn't stop firing until it fell back to the ground. The unknown fell face first into the asphalt, and a small trickle of blood began to pool around it.

45 stood, her body aching from the abuse it'd just been put through, and she stared at the thing for a moment. Part of her wanted to unmask and examine it, figure out what exactly this thing was and how it could do so much damage, but before she could she heard the distant pop of two slow firing rifles.

"Everyone still alive?"

She got four affirmatives, albeit in 9 and Laika's case they sounded a bit less sure.

"Good. Check your ammo, and get your gear. Rs and Cano may need our help."


Cano sat still and silent, her rifle held in hand as she intently scanned the area. She was perched in the second story of a house, a couple feet back from a broken window that overlooked the main road and much of the surrounding area.

The road ran right past their perches, crossing over a small river before curving around a few buildings and into the rest of the town. On the left rose a steep, tree covered hill and to the right, the river ran past their building and a wide, open field of tall grasses, a few scattered trees and bushes stretched out beyond it.

"Well that's a surprise," Rs muttered from her right as she stared down her rifle scope.

A small group of dolls, no more than eight total, were making their way along the main road, marching along double quick out of town. All but two were standard SF dolls, however, alongside them were two unexpected faces: AR-15 and Operator.

"Plan?" Cano asked, aligning her crosshair upon the ringleader.

"Any chance we've been seen?"

"Can't be sure, but wouldn't they be shooting?"

"True. Wait for my mark, we'll hit the ringleader together. If 15 bolts, try to disable but err on the side of caution. We want to pin her down until the others get here."

"Copy… Should we message them?"

"Wait until we open up. We don't want to give away our position before then."

Cano nodded, and took in a breath. The dolls were approaching the bridge, the leading elements stepping atop it and rushing across. Cano let out a small breath.

"Nervous?" Rs asked her

Cano stole a glance at Rs, her rifle setup atop an old wooden table a little ways back from the window she was peering through. Her body was tense, but she couldn't see any shaking or serious sign of nerves.

"Nope, ready~" she reported, refocusing on the target.

"Fire."

Two shots rang out, darting towards the unsuspecting ringleader. Cano's shot landed dead center, catching Operator in the middle of her chest, while Rs' landed a bit off center on a shoulder joint. Together the rounds had the effect of lifting, smacking the doll back and twisting around as she collapsed. Around her the SF dolls reacted in an expected manner, spraying fire in their general direction in an attempt to suppress them, while Ar-15 whirled around in surprise to look back at the collapsed Operator.

"Two hits, good shot! Sending message," Cano reported.

"Copy," Rs grunted as she cycled her bolt.

"45. AR-15, Operator, and half a dozen SF regulars have run into us. We are attempting to pin them down, please get here quickly~"

The reply came quickly, "On our way. Those dolls may be all SF has left. Be there soon."

"Thank you~"

"They'll be here soon," Cano reported aloud.

Tracking another of the dolls, she sent a round zipping through its center chest as it tried to seek the cover of a nearby rock wall. She began target sharing with Rs, now no longer concerned with maintaining their concealment, and fed her targeting data on all the targets she could see. A heavy rifle report reverberated in the room as Rs fired, the powerful shot causing dust to kick up from the floor beneath them.

Together, Cano and Rs were able to quickly dispatch the SF dolls. One after another as they tried to scatter and engage their attackers, accurate rifle shots took them down.

Cano noticed Ar-15 was on the move. She'd dashed to a house on the far side of the river, taking up cover behind a wall and disappearing. Cano refocused entirely on her, scanning all around for any sign of her. On the first story of the house, she saw something move through a dirty window.

"Down!" she yelped, ducking beneath the window sill.

A series of rounds slammed into the concrete wall behind them, dust and fragments raining down onto Cano's head from the repeated impacts. She looked over to find Rs having thrown herself back, now slumped awkwardly beneath the table she'd set up on.

There was a smile on her face, a ridiculous looking grin that then spread to Cano's own lips.

"Seem's she's in a bad mood!" Rs joked as 15 stopped shooting, leaving them in a strangely quiet moment.

"I guess she doesn't like us ruining her vacation!"

"Girly needs a Mojito," Rs replied, still grinning, as she snagged her rifle off the table above her, "I think we've over stayed our welcome here."

Cano nodded. Together they slunk out of the room, careful not to re-enter 15's line of sight, before descending to the ground floor and exiting out the rear of the house. They then stacked up against a wall, and Cano snuck a peak around it in the direction of the SF dolls and 15.

"See them?" Rs asked.

"I tally six regulars, all dead. Don't see 15 or Operator."

"Not dead?"

"Guess not."

"Okay, watch my back."

Cano brought her rifle to bear, peering out along the street for any sign of their opponents. Rs took a running start, and dashed across the road towards a house on the far side. As she did, Cano let off a series of blind shots into areas she thought 15 or the ringleader may have hidden themselves, but neither her shooting nor Rs' running attracted any attention.

"Nothing. No signatures."

"We definitely winged Operator. They can't be far. Maybe they're just hiding in that house?"

Cano began to scan further, slowly creeping out into the road and stalking towards the house they'd seen her from. Her eyes swept side to side, carefully inspecting each nook and cranny of the house before her, the corners. Likewise Rs pushed up along the other side of the road, weaving between houses and hopping over a small ditch as she moved.

A flash of motion caught Cano's eye. A blur o pink and white tore out from behind the house and dashed into the wide field just beyond the row of houses on Cano's side of the road. Cano raised her rifle on instinct, but on recognizing 15's fleeing form held back.

"There!" she shouted instead, pointing towards the fleeing 15.

Rs took off at a sprint, dashing onto the road and charging over the bridge before veering off into the field to her right in pursuit. Cano followed hot on her heels, careful not to lose track of either. Knee high grasses whipped at her as she sprinted, the wet earth below sucking at her every step, but not enough to stop her. The field was about 80 meters across, and 15 in a mere few moments had managed to cross over half of it, making for the dense trees on the far side.

"15! Stop!" Rs roared, firing her rifle off to the dolls left, trying to get her attention.

The doll briefly looked back. Even from that distance Cano could see the surprise written across her face. For a moment, it looked like she was going to stop as her pace slowed. Cano lowered her rifle in response.

Yet, a moment later 15 abruptly changed her mind, instead picking up the pace without so much as a word back at them. She was nearing the distant treeline. She could slip away under the cover of the trees, or even turn back on them, laying fire from cover whilst they lay out in the open.

"Tch, Cano!" Rs shouted.

Cano skidded to a halt, and drew a bead on the fleeing doll. She put the crosshair squarely on her lower back, low enough to avoid a core hit but in a place that should disable her.

"Sorry 15," she muttered, squeezing the trigger.

Her rifle was wrenched upwards just as she fired, a hand appearing out of nowhere to force it off the mark. A split second later, before she could even register what was happening, a fist slammed into her side and sent Cano hurtling through the air. She landed hard in the field, rolling to a stop in the grasses nearly twenty meters from where she'd been hit, her rifle no longer in hand.

She glanced up to see her attacker, a strange figure in tattered white and blue armor. In its hands it held her rifle by the barrel, which it shortly after cast aside at its feet.

"Cano!" Rs shouted, whirling around to face the new threat. She tried to reel her rifle around to get on the attacker, but it crossed the distance between them in a blink of an eye and reached out a hand. For a moment Cano feared it may take Rs' head off in one swing, but instead the contact was gentle, more of a caress than a punch.

The moment they made contact, Rs collapsed. She dropped off the net, and Cano lost all connection to her. Her core chilled as she frantically tried to ping her friend on their network, only to be met with silence.

Before she even realised it had moved again, the monster was standing over her, its armored mask tilted down slightly towards her, its hands clenched into fists. There was a tension in its body, like a spring coiled too tightly, liable to snap and hit her again if she so much as twitched.

Cano stared up at the thing. There was a crack in its mask, a pair of golf ball sized holes had been torn through its right side, revealing just enough of its face to show one cold blue eye beneath. There was something there, a strange look in that eye. It was a softening of the tension around the eye, a look of familiarity.

A round zipped through the air, bursting through the unknown's torso in a spurt of blood and forcing it to stagger forward a step. Behind it, rifle reports tapped out a drumroll, and they all began to beat against it. Like a wounded beast fleeing a hunt, it leapt over Cano and scurried across the field for the nearest house before disappearing behind it. A second later it dashed out from the far side, tearing across the road and disappearing into the forested hill on the far side.

A moment later, UMP9 ran up to Cano and took a knee beside her, the doll's namesake weapon pointed in the direction the unknown had run off in while 9 glanced down at her.

"You ok?"


Notes:

Yeah, don't get used to this release pace :)

So, at the time of C29's release this chapter had already been about half written, a consequence of 29 being split into two due to just how much I wanted to cover. That decision resulted in the two month wait for that chapter, and the barely weeks worth of delay for this one. Funny how that goes.

Anyways. This is very much the climax of this little arc, and next chapter will be more of a wrapping up of the events and a lead into the next segment. Originally Laika was gonna die here, fighting the unknown, but honestly I feel like it'd be a waste of the character since we really haven't gotten as much time with her as I intended to have. 45's story isn't done, so neither is she I suppose.

Moving on, in my opinion, 15's decision making in this part of the story never really made much sense to me, nor did Eliza's apparent complete misreading of her character despite having seen it on a few occasions prior to 15's kamikaze. Eliza seems to have an absolute belief in her ability to manipulate the AR-team, but is routinely very wrong. She seems to want to talk them into compliance, and is repeatedly surprised when they just say no, so I want to make her and SF a little more aware than they were in the original story. Griffin has routinely kicked their teeth in, and her attempts at manipulation have failed more than once, so allowing her subordinate (Operator) who has shown some success in getting through to 15 handle the deal is a bit more logical. Of course, being an SF doll who and not having anywhere near as much faith in the plan as her, Operator will try and discourage 15 from going since she doesn't want Eliza in danger.

Finally, I am a bit curious how obvious or not obvious the Unknown attacker's identity is at this stage. I'll neither confirm nor deny (yet, anyway), but if I'd be interested to see who y'all think it is in the comments. I kinda feel like its obvious at this point, but since I already know who they are I may be biased.

Thanks for reading!