After your suggestion, the expression on Ouroboros' face is nothing short of surprise.
"You're not worried I'll run off?"
"We had a deal, did we not?" you reminded her "Now get out of here, and stay out of sight. I'll catch up to you."
You gave the ringleader a reassuring nod. She lingered for a second, before willing her feet forward with a slight limp. The launchers followed her with noticeable drag, but soon enough, she left your sight, as well as your earshot range. You memorized the direction she took, but it'll probably take some searching to find that exit she was talking about. But since you know the way you came in, and the main entrance, you already have an idea where that third path could lead…
Nevertheless, you look at the still functioning screens within this command center to find information that could be of use to you. A map of the battlefield surrounding the base was visible, with the words "critical mission failure" flashing in the middle. That much was obvious, with Griffin units wiping what little remained of Sangvis' troops. Another screen displayed a communication tab, with several options. Unsurprisingly, the options for Scarecrow, Hunter and Executioner were labeled as lost connections. The option HQ was labeled as terminated, likely by Agent's order. There were other options, the screen didn't allow much more to be recognizable than the letters "Alch-". It seems to be labeled as busy.
You thought about perhaps doing some surface interaction, without connecting to the system and exposing yourself to parapluie, but the screen lost life in that moment. The rest displayed progress bars, referring to a system purge. A standard contingency to keep their data from falling into the hands of their enemies. Part of you curses your inability to stop it, as no doubt the system contained data about where the jammer was being taken. Since they use captured Griffin dolls in their construction, this one might've very well contained Barrett. Not all's lost though, as you can simply ask Ouroboros later. And as the progress bars reach the finish line, all screens shut down, and the data center is now dead. That's when you head footsteps...
It was a quick turn, your weapon drawn and aimed towards the source of the noise. Your defense was mirrored, a gun barrel aimed your way just the same. She's cautious, you give her that.
"Who're you? Identify yourself." she spoke, stern and professional.
"I could ask you the same. I was sent to do recon alone before we send in our troops."
"Recon?" she repeated, but nothing about her posture nor expression changed. "So you're a Griffin scout?"
"Well, yeah." you answer, continuing your bluff. "How else do you think I got in here undetected? I wasn't expecting anyone other than SF though. Did another commander send you?"
"... we could say that." she spoke, firearms still unwavering on either side. "Which commander sent you?"
"How about you lower that gun and then we'll talk?"
"How about you lower yours first?"
"You raised yours first."
The two of your stared at each other. Her yellow eyes like that of a weary predator, face marked with a scar across her left eye. She looked like she wasn't going to back down from this stalemate, but just as you began considering evasive maneuvers for an upcoming fight…
"... alright then~"
A smile had suddenly appeared on her previously cold visage, the aim of her gun actually redirected towards the ground. Her posture had changed completely, almost carefree and friendly.
"Truth be told, I wasn't expecting anyone either. Can't be too cautious these days, am I right?"
Her tone changed too. It's as if every hint of hostility has suddenly dropped. But this was the still doll in question, she looks exactly like that statue. Considering how much of a fuss Ouroboros was making about her earlier, part of you was considering just putting a bullet into her right now and be done with it. But this smells fishy… so you play along for now.
"Anyway, where are my manners? You can call me UMP45." ^^
"... 45? That means you're… from the famous 404 squad?" you feign surprise, lowering your weapon. You were prepared to raise it again the second she'd make a move on it, but she didn't.
"Word sure does fly fast… it's like we really are famous now." the doll looked to the ceiling, as if flattered. "If only we got paid like we're famous." as she spoke, she still did not make any hostile looking moves, but none of her movements seemed to be increasing or decreasing the distance between you two. Perhaps she's checking out your surroundings? "So, what's your name? Did your commander really send you in here all by yourself?"
"Well, commander Heringer always sends me out alone." you begin, making stuff up as you go. "We have other scouts, but he always sends me deep into enemy territory first to check things out. I either come back as quiet as I left, or with a hail of bullets at my back."
"Alone, into a ringleader's base?"
"Hah, yeah, he kinda went overboard this time… but the ringleader doesn't seem to be home, so that's a plus! Right?"
"... right."
She doesn't seem convinced… is she waiting for something…? Oh, right, she asked for your name.
[ ] "I'm Veresk by the way."
[ ] "Oh, my friends call me Heather."
[X] "... you may call me V."
[ ] Write-in
"Well then, little scout…" she calls you short, but she's not exactly a giant either. Below average at best, but still taller than you. "Anything to report? Any signs of the ringleader? Don't worry, I have authorization to know."
"Not really, I only got here a little while ago." you lied. "Sangvis seems to be losing, so she probably evacuated? There's only two exits, so maybe she went that way." you pointed towards a hallway, but she didn't need to know that's the one you came in through. You need to keep the third exit a secret, and hope Ouroboros has reached it.
"Oh, she thinks she can get away…? Hehe, Sangvis, am I right?" the SMG shrugged, and you pretended to laugh along. "But we'll catch her. 404 always gets the job done. No matter what… or who… stands in our way."
"Well, I wish you luck then." you speak, preparing to make your leave. "My commander is definitely waiting for me to report back, so I better-"
"Wait a sec."
You freeze in your movements. Slowly turning around, you see she closed in quite a bit. No signs of hostility, but at this range…
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Um, not that I can think of…"
With nothing but a reassuring smile, the T-doll stretched out her gloved hand, offering it for you to shake. You certainly hope she's got nothing in those long sleeves of that dark jacket of hers. From this distance you can clearly see the yellow armband, displaying an odd looking logo…
"It was a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh… yeah, of course."
Seeing no way out of this, and since it seems like a harmless handshake, you take her hand and proceed to do so. You were watching each other as you did, her grey-ish long hair going well past her shoulders.
But the more the handshake progressed, the more that reassuring smile of hers thinned, and the warmth from her eyes faded. A few more moments passed, and she was still holding your hand. It was starting to drag on, awkwardly so. Reluctantly, you ask…
"Um… is everything alright?"
"... no… not really."
It was then that her true nature finally revealed itself, in the form of a tightened grip, and her firearm being aimed your way. Luckily, you never ceased being prepared for this sort of attack, and deflected her aim with your own gun. It became a wrestle for control, where both had to keep the aim of the other away from their person, while trying to aim their own weapon their opponent's way. Shots rang out, both silenced and loud.
Her gaze had turned cold. You managed to avoid her attack, but to break the stalemate, she raised her knee sharply to hit you in the stomach. And it wasn't just a normal hit, her left leg seemed to have an exoskeleton attachment, enhancing its speed and strength. It knocked the breath out of you, and she would use this moment to get a good aim and shoot you. But you knew what would happen if you didn't act immediately, so from your hunched over pose, you lunged forward. Since she was only on one leg, it was easy to knock her off balance, though you had to fall along with her.
After the both of you impacted with the ground, you quickly put your knee on her gun arm, pinning it. This would've given you the opportunity to aim your firearm at her, had she not let go of your other hand to intercept your gun arm. It was another wrestle, but since you had both hands free and she only one, you could overpower her. But then, something started to feel wrong. You were getting internal errors, your vision was glitching. Motor functions were starting to get less responsive… just what is going on?!
Is this… a cyberattack?
Going off of that hunch, you quickly deploy a system defense program. Lock everything down, isolate anything that looks like a virus, get everything working again for a moment at least. By the time your vision returned to normal, you felt the SMG's left foot pressed against your chest. The next moment, you were kicked away like a ragdoll, flying across the room and away from the T-doll. The shots your fire during your flight were less than accurate, but so were hers.
Thankfully, you land behind one of the terminals, just full enough of electronics and metal to halt any more rounds coming your way. You use it as cover, quickly delivering suppressive fire so that she doesn't get any closer. The battle has now shifted into a firefight, and you used this moment to make a self diagnosis. Just as you have guessed, you were subject to a cyberattack, one that targeted your vision and movement specifically. This means that UMP45 contains an e-war module, a rarity. By isolating the cases, you were able to purge the virus and fix the damage it has done. It feels familiar, doing this. Must've been another common thing in your past…
"It is just a job." spoke your opponent, her voice echoing in the room. "We're not here for you, just Ouroboros."
"Real friendly way of saying that." you reply, firing a few more rounds at her cover, making it clear that her words won't distract you from the fight.
"Nobody can know 404 exists. Trust me, this is for your own good."
"Hah, what a coincidence. Nobody knows I exist either." you point out, swiftly changing cover before reloading, so that if she were to charge, she'd charge your old position.
"Figured you aren't Griffin." her fire was keeping you in check this time. "Sangvis, then?"
"Neither." you shoot some screens above her position, raining down sparks on her. "I'm a wildcard, like you."
"Then I see two ways we can settle this." she begins, neither of you shooting for once. "Either you tell me where Ouroboros went and I'll let you on your merry way, or I'll just download the information from your digimind and delete the rest."
"What makes you think I know where she is?"
"Simple, really. You misused the authorization code 416 gave you to clear out a path for yourself while leaving our path obstructed, allowing you to get here before us." she spoke without skipping a beat, matter-of-fact like. "I do not know who hired you, but Ouroboros is our query. So you better hand her over, unless you want to be enemies for life~"
"... heh, and I thought this was just business." you chuckled. "Making enemies for life is bad for business, you know?"
"... I'll take that as a no then."
Pssssss~
"You guessed correctly."
The sizzling made its nature clear with the smoke clouds rising in the room, obstructing vision. Negotiations are ending, it seems. Well, if she's expending additional resources, so shall you. With as many grenades as you still have, at least one of them must be able to save your skin.
UMP45 is dangerous, that much is clear. She might not be on par with a ringleader, but being close means exposing yourself to her cyberattacks, and her ranged tactics aren't easy to counter either. And now, with smoke filling your surroundings, she's no doubt altering the battlefield so that it benefits her particular set of skills. To say she's got the advantage is an understatement. It'll take quite a lot to get out of her grasp. So, during this fight, you should…
[ ] Try to escape unnoticeably.
[X] Attempt to incapacitate her.
[ ] Kill her.
You pull out a grenade, rip out the pin, and roll it into the smoky black. The fight continues, between two lonely dolls who don't exist, within the illuminated abyss.
…
..
.
--- Base Chordeiles, messaging system ---
Groza,
I hope you're doing well.
Please delete this message after reading.
Things have… gotten a little bit out of hand. Had to disappear.
However, I am holding you to your end of the deal.
I'm sending a set of coordinates.
I want you to send AA-12 and…
[X] yourself (Ots-14)
[ ] Ots-12
[ ] Specter M4
[ ] SPP-1
[ ] JS05
[ ] PSG-1
[ ] M249 saw
[ ] MP5
[ ] Astra
[ ] HK23
[ ] A dummy, if you have one.
Just two, packing supplies. Trust me, it's necessary.
Do not forget the package.
- V