RM Side Story 18: 8492nd (Part 12)

Author notes:

I've decided to split the large last chapter into two parts after confiding with Nicolae, the first part is around 5.8k words in length. As for the second part, it's now sitting at 2k words already. Depending on how I manage to fit my ideas, that second part may even contain my planned omake to wrap up the GFL universe. If it's too long, I will keep the omake as a separate bonus chapter.

Also managed to create a surplus of character images. I need not wait an hour everyday just to draw up one now lol.

Enjoy and peace!

P.S: Next month Pa-treon support, anyone? :D

Bryn but bunny (Head over to Scribblehub if you can't see the 3 pictures)

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Although it was lucky that Kalina still hadn't been able to process all of the wrecks that Sangvis left behind, Morgan felt that the profit she gained from analyzing them was minimal. While she had been able to confirm that Sangvis Ferri's operating system, OGAS, is capable of growing a soul. Morgan was disappointed that the soul would be highly restrained, muted by the base codings of the system. You can even say that the OGAS system was optimized for war and war only as there's little to no room for a soul to be developed. Though it's unknown whether the so-called Ringleaders will be any different.

As for the weaponry used by Sangvis, all of them are either inert due to their built-in security measure or are destroyed. Nonetheless, Morgan was able to bypass the security lock and extract the valuable data of the energy weapons and mechanical walkers. With this new knowledge, Morgan will be able to further energy-based weaponry development by a few years back in her homeworld. Interestingly enough, Morgan offered to share her newly discovered data with Gentiane and Helian. And even though they accepted it with gratefulness, they expressed that they would have to be careful about how to handle the data. For their PMC group, the set of data is like a hot potato. It's better to transfer this to the manufacturer of their T-Dolls instead. Whatever they do with that information, however, is not their business to handle.

Now back to the present. Morgan and the friends she has made at Base 794 are now filing out of the briefing room. Tomorrow will be the big day for Echelon 1, otherwise known as Team FN. It's the day when they will be going behind the enemy line for approximately one week with minimal contact with home. Skipping closer to Morgan and Aria, P90 drapes an arm over Morgan's shoulders, saying in a cheery tone.

"Before the break of dawn, you will be flying ahead to sound out the LZ for us. We will be counting on you two to be our guardian angels, alright?"

Patting P90's hand, Morgan reassures with a confident smile. "We won't leave you girls hanging, don't worry. With us in the air, no one will be able to locate you by anything but visually."

"Sweet!" P90 smiled.

The exact plan for tomorrow is that G&K will be conducting a retaliation strike on known Sangvis outposts as a cover-up to deploy Team FN for infiltration. This involves not just Base 794 of Sector 09 but even the bases of the adjacent Sectors. At first, Morgan and Aria will be flying spearhead, scouting the way and acting as AWACS for the T-Dolls, utilizing their electronic warfare capability to the max. And when the other Dolls are busy raising Hell on Sangvis territories, Team FN will be moving undetected to the new mountainous base of Sangvis Ferri. This will be a long and arduous endeavor so both the pilots and the T-Dolls will be logging a lot of combat hours later on.

Hence it's a no-brainer when Morgan leads the party of humans, a non-human, and T-Dolls alike to the cafeteria. There, a certain Miss Springfield is already waiting with enough ingredients for her and Morgan to cook up a lavish feast for everyone. Before an important operation, it's a must to raise the morale to the very max.

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"This is the 8492nd Squadron to 794 ATC, requesting permission to take off." Morgan requested over comms as both Aria and she was situated in the cockpit of the Arias, prepping for their recon run.

After a couple of seconds, the familiar voice of Kalina is heard over the radio wave. "This is 794 ATC, Avalon Squadron, permission granted, please taxi to the runway. Do be mindful of the Black Hawks at the helipads, won't you? They cost us a hefty penny." Kalina jokingly added at the end., prompting Morgan to respond. "Oops, I accidentally hit the boosters."

"... Seriously, don't." Kalina deadpanned at Morgan when she heard that jest. Giggling at their logistical friend, both Morgan, and Aria begin taxing out of their hangar.

Currently, it's half an hour away from 4 AM and the stars are still very visible. Nonetheless, Base 794 is far from being quiet as the sound of pre-combat preparations can be heard from all corners of the base. Though as the airframes of the Arias come into view with their blarings jet engines coming to life, thus drowning out the other commotions, most drop whatever stuff they are doing to view the lean behemoths in all of their glory. Through the cockpit cameras, both Morgan and Aria can see humans and T-Dolls alike discussing vehemently on their aircraft. That is until their supervisors come to disband the onlookers, still, they keep glancing at the Arias out of the corner of their eyes.

Their reaction is understandable though. For these past few days, their hangar is restricted access only, guarded by the more serious of the T-Dolls at the base. But finally, the mysterious aircraft have revealed themselves, some even pull out their phones to record the strange planes. An action that's put to a stop by the Arias turning their EW suite on, scrambling the digital phones, much to the annoyance of a few spectators. If even Morgan and Aria can notice this in their seats, then the T-Dolls outside sure as Hell can. Gentiane will have a word with these ever-so-curious ground crew later. After all, the less news about the Arias floating about, the better.

After a minute, Morgan and Aria reach the runway uneventfully. Coincidentally, the runway is serviceable for light cargo aircraft and helicopters only, being too small and short for an actual fighter jet. Fortunately for them all, the Arias are VTOL-capable, hence those in the known aren't surprised when the Arias deploy their lift fans and point their jet nozzles straight down, and slowly raise themselves off the ground. Reaching a safe altitude, Morgan turns to Aria's aircraft, watching through the hexagonal camera view. "First one to reach the AO win!"

Without waiting for Aria to even react, Morgan switches off the lift fan and turns the engines back to flight mode. With experienced control, Morgan swiftly pushes her plane to top speed, enjoying the acceleration and the fact that she has left Aria behind in the dust. Morgan laughs wholeheartedly over the comms when Aria shouts at her. "Yggdra damn it, Morgan! That's cheating." To catch up with Morgan, Aria doesn't hesitate to use the afterburner, leaving behind a wave of hot air and stunned spectators. Mere seconds later, the Arias disappear from the visual range with 794 ATC being the only one in the know about their location right now.

Inside the Air Traffic Control tower, however, the officers of G&K can only smile wryly at the abrupt departure of their friendly pilots.

"Had I not known better, I would have doubted the efficiency of those two." Helian shook her head, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the early morning antic of Avalon Squad.

Kalina adds with a soft giggle. "Look on the bright side though, them flying away like that would have woken up even the heaviest sleepers of the Dolls."

Gentiane adds, nursing her coffee mug. "One less trouble to deal with, eh? At least, this way, the first wave will arrive on time."

Both Helian and Kalina nod at that. The upcoming overt operation will be carried out in waves, with the first waves being rotated out by successive ones. This ensures that G&K will always have fresh T-Dolls on the field and extend the operation time long enough for Team FN to secure and extract the required intel. A mixture of helicopters and ground vehicles will be required to coordinate seamlessly in this endeavor, however. It's why Morgan and Aria will be acting as flying command centers for the T-Dolls. This is the first time that G&K has conducted an operation of this magnitude and suffice to say, there are many things on the line right now. Failure is not an option.

On a side note, Helian informed them earlier that there will be spectators of IOP, the company that produced their T-Dolls, to oversee and gather combat data. Hence, it's imperative that the operation must go smoothly, after all, IOP promises to sponsor them in return.

After a few minutes of waiting in relative silence, a data link from the jets to Base 794 is established by Morgan. When the announcement comes, the officers rush to the digital command table, eyeing the updated tactical map of the AO with serious gazes. Thanks to the Arias' powerful sensors, the clarity and accuracy of the map are undisputable, allowing Helian and Gentiane to quickly adjust the planning of the attack that is a mere hour away.

They also remind themselves that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. It's their hope that with Morgan and Aria in the air, they will be able to react accordingly to the developing situation.

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"Commence Operation Linebacker!" With the order given by Helian, a never-before-seen assault by G&K was commenced over the Carpathians outposts of Sangvis Ferri.

In a bold move that will no doubt place both the combat and logistical forces of G&K under a fiery test, the PMC company mounts attack upon attack on any Sangvis outpost that is adjacent to their territories. With the real-time data provides by their eyes in the sky, the T-Dolls of G&K easily bypassed the enemy perimeter security, storming the surprised Sangvis Ferri troops with everything they have. Notably, Base 794 is the most active in this endeavor.

As one of the few bases of G&K equipped for heliborne assault, Base 794 is the firefighter and stalemate breaker of this operation. And due to the fact that its echelons regularly see combat, the veterans of Base 794 can handle any unexpected situation that arises. Under the combined force of both ground and heliborne assault, outpost after outpost of Sangvis Ferri is taken out, forcing the rogue androids to deploy more and more units to retake lost ground in a hurry. The sudden ferocious assault by G&K has sent the thinkers of Sangvis Ferri under a train of confusion. They have no idea why G&K has launched an all-out attack this abruptly and methodically.

Is this a retaliation strike because Base 794 almost fell a few days back? If that's the case then why attack all of their outposts at the same time, rather than just one or two? G&K, at the end of the day, is a PMC. For them to field this many units at the same time will be hurting their budgets way more than what they can get in return. It just doesn't make sense, not to mention the fact that they're so well-coordinated. A few Ringleaders have been deployed to intercept the enemy, yet as if knowing exactly when and where they will arrive, G&K will retreat the force in that area before the Ringleaders even show up. They move as if with foresight that allows them to perform hit-and-run attacks with extreme efficiency and minimal losses. This has upended the previous notion of G&K being more barks than bites for Sangvis Ferri. Thus, Sangvis Ferri Ringleaders immediately scramble to learn of the reason why G&K has up their game to an astounding degree. Very soon, they review the only major engagement that occurred a few days back, one that was interrupted by an unknown third party. And if they expound on the idea the third party is working in tandem with the current G&K, they can conclude that it won't be farfetched if G&K or the Neo-Soviets hired them to be their eyes in the sky...

Regardless, the current relentless attacks need to be stopped, theorizing about the reasons behind these can be done later. Deep in a hidden stronghold of Sangvis Ferri, a maid can be seen moving down a metallic hallway with a dark finish. Stopping in front of a sliding door, which automatically opened, the maid then steps inside the heart of Sangvis' operations. It's here that the maid performs a curtsy to the short, chocolate skin girl in front of her, greeting. "Master, the situation at the front is being stabilized. But at this rate, both sides will reach a stalemate that will not be favorable to us."

The brown skin girl, who has been standing motionlessly while watching the live battle feeds on the many, many computer screens in front of her, turns around. The little girl is what one will classify as a cute loli with silver hair and brown eyes. On her forehead is a red inverted V symbol and she is seen looking at the maid with a face that betrays no emotion. Don't forget, for her to be at the center of Sangvis Ferri, means she is not normal by any means. With a singsong voice, the Mastermind of Sangvis Ferri announces.

"Deploy our anti-air units. Search and destroy the unknown aircraft. Their identities can be investigated later..." Turning around to look at the screen once again, the Mastermind finishes her sentence. "Agent."

The maid, Agent, bows at Mastermind. "As you wish, my Master."