A few minutes earlier, a frantic internal monologue played out. (Crap, I need a name. Come on, think, think... Ah, yes, I've got it!)
"Hey, respond!" Kar98k's voice cut through the air, her weapon still aimed steadily.
"Ah, my name is Vertin "
"Vertin, huh? Who do you work for?" Kar98k pressed.
"Well..." (Crap! Wait... I really hope this works!) Vertin thought, panicking internally. "I'm a T-Doll working for Zimmad." She offered the name, desperately hoping it would be believed.
Kar98k's suspicion deepened. "Zimmad, huh? What is that? I don't know any Zimmad."
(She ain't buying it,) Vertin's nervousness spiked. "Well, it's a company that makes prototype T-Doll designs. I was sent here to test out my abilities." She tried again, hoping to sell the fabricated story.
A sudden, sharp [WARNING: SANGVIS FERRI REINFORCEMENTS DETECTED WITH A HIGH-RANKING T-DOLL] blared through Vertin's internal systems. She glanced into the distance, seeing multiple Vespids approaching. "Hey, whether you believe me or not, there are incoming Sangvis Ferri reinforcements and a high-ranking T-Doll with them!" she urgently told Kar98k.
"What? How did you even detect them this far out?" Kar98k's confusion was evident,
yet a flicker of intrigue crossed her face
"So, I'm proposing an alliance," Vertin stated.
Kar98k glanced back at her teammates.
"Fine. We'll work together."
"Good"
Destroyer cackled, "Hahaha, the T-Dolls from Griffin & Kryuger are so old, they can't even handle some Vespids!" Her laughter died in her throat as she noticed the units that had surrounded the T-Dolls were gone. "What!? What happened to my units? I didn't even detect the T-Doll... Wait, they got reinforcements? I thought we scrambled their radio so they couldn't call for backup!" Confusion twisted her features.
"If they did get reinforcements... then I should send in the entire force! Yeah, that's good, and I can blow them up!" Destroyer's confidence surged.
[WARNING: SANGVIS FERRI UNITS ARE MOVING TOWARDS YOUR LOCATION AND YAEGER UNITS ARE STATIONED AT YOUR FLANKS.]
(Thanks for the heads up,) Vertin thought, then looked back at the battered T-Dolls. "Hey, don't worry. I can handle them. Stay here and protect yourselves."
"Hey! Even though I don't have any ammo, I can still fight!" MG3 retorted, taking insult at Vertin's words.
"Da, we can help you fight!" AK47 declared, her gaze determined.
"And can you even hold them back using that Lewis gun?" Kar98k asked, skeptical.
"Don't worry, you'll be surprised what this gun can do," Vertin replied, trying to reassure them.
[WARNING: THEY HAVE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED THE BUILDING.]
(Copy. Once outside, activate my rigging.)
[UNDERSTOOD.]
Looking at the battered T-Dolls in front of her, Vertin felt a pang of sadness and pity. "Don't worry, I will defeat them all," she vowed before leaping out the window.
[RIGGING ACTIVATION... JUDAH SYSTEMS ACTIVATED... SIEG ZEON.]
Just as she was about to hit the ground, Vertin accelerated, flying over the Sangvis Ferri units. She pulled her Zaku Bazooka from a hardpoint on her leg.
"Eat this!" she yelled, firing towards a squad of Vespids.
Boom!
A massive explosion ripped through the street, taking out an entire block. "Whistling... Damn that fire," Vertin remarked, assessing the damage from the Zaku Bazooka. "Lucky it isn't a nuclear warhead."
[WARNING: YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED.]
Before she could react, multiple bullets whizzed past her. "High-Performance Balancer, Assault Booster... Heh, time for some close combat." She put away the bazooka and drew a Heat Hawk and a Zaku Machine Gun.
"Huh!? What's happening? Why are my units disappearing?" Destroyer's concern mounted, her voice taking on the tone of a child whose favorite toy had gone missing.
"My Vespid units are disappearing, and my Yaegers just disappeared too! What's happening!?" She sounded even more like a petulant child. "You know what? If those piles of scrap dolls are doing this, I will just blow them up!" She puffed out her chest, though there was a noticeable lack of it.
[THERE ARE 6 HOSTILE T-DOLLS LEFT, INCLUDING THE RINGLEADER.]
(Copy. Can you give me the location?) Vertin thought, removing the Heat Hawk from the head of a Vespid.
[ALERT! EMERGENCY EVASION CONTROLLER ACTIVATED!]
Her AI system spoke, and her body automatically dodged shots from the ringleader behind her and the remaining units.
"Damn, that caught me off guard," Vertin muttered, using her thrusters to hover above the ringleader.
"So, you're the T-Doll disrupting my fun," Destroyer said in a teasing tone.
(So, who is this?) Vertin asked her AI.
[ANSWER: DESTROYER, ONE OF THE SANGVIS FERRI RINGLEADERS.]
"Hey! Are you deaf! Answer me!" Destroyer yelled.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," Vertin replied, trying to tease Destroyer.
"Hey! I'm not short! I'm average height, you know!" Destroyer retorted, clearly insecure about her height and growing angry.
"Hey, hey, calm down, shortly... Oops, I meant to sa—" Vertin was cut off as a shot zipped past her. Destroyer, now enraged, looked ready to unleash all her ammunition.
"You. You. YOU! WILL DIE!"
Multiple lasers whizzed past Vertin.
[EMERGENCY EVASION CONTROLLER ACTIVATED!]
Her system automatically dodged all the shots from the Sangvis Ferri units, allowing her to land on a roof. She fired her machine gun, managing to hit three T-Dolls, but Destroyer spammed multiple grenades towards her, destroying the roof and sending Vertin tumbling into the house below.
"Not bad. Activate Minovsky Particle Scrambling," Vertin commanded.
[UNDERSTOOD. ACTIVATING.]
"Heh, that's what you get! Quickly, surround her!" Destroyer ordered her remaining units. But then, the Minovsky Particles activated.
"Ah! What is happening? My system is getting disrupted!" she cried out, feeling pain as her systems were scrambled.
When the Minovsky Particles activated, all surrounding T-Dolls had their Targeting Systems, Sensory, and Communication Disrupted.
Inside the house where Vertin had fallen, she used her thrusters to boost up and hover above the T-Dolls.
"Heads up!" she said, pointing her machine gun before firing at them while they were still affected by the Minovsky Particle scrambling.
"N-o! I will not lose t-o you!" Destroyer stammered, trying to fight the scrambling with no success, getting shot all over.
"Well, that was easy," Vertin said as she hit the ground, moving towards the severely damaged ringleader. "Still functioning, huh?" She pointed her gun at Destroyer's head.
Destroyer was silent, unable to speak as the Minovsky Particle Scrambler was still active.
"No last words, huh? That's fine by me," Vertin said, preparing to shoot, but multiple machine gun fires erupted towards her. She managed to dodge them as her Emergency Evasion Controller activated.
[WARNING: MULTIPLE SANGVIS FERRI UNITS LOCATED. YOU ARE SURROUNDED.]
(What? Is the Minovsky Particle Scrambler still active?) Vertin wondered, confused as to how these units were able to move.
[ANSWER: THE MINOVSKY PARTICLE SCRAMBLER IS TAKING TOO MUCH POWER FOR CONTINUED USE, BUT IT IS STILL ACTIVE ON A SMALLER SCALE.]
"Are you a T-Doll? Or a new model of T-Dolls?" Agent asked, her voice laced with interest.
"You could say that. But can you tell me who you are?"
"My name is Agent, second-in-command of Sangvis Ferri," she replied, giving a slight curtsy.
"So, what now? Do you want to chat or fight? Your choice."
"Mhm... You don't look like a Griffin T-Doll. Can you tell me who you are?" Agent inquired.
"I am Zudah, a prototype mobile suit."
"Prototype? Well, I've seen your work here, and I've never seen such movement. At first, I might have mistaken you for a jet, and the fact that you don't appear on any kind of radar—it's like you're invisible. It's fascinating."
"Well, if you're thinking that I'll let you open me up, then you're mistaken."
"Open you up? No, no, no, you're mistaken. Our leader wants you to join us."
"Join you? Why would I even join you?"
"Our leader has found you interesting, and the fact that you can disrupt electronics within your frame without disrupting yourself is intriguing."
(Mhm, what to do? Should I accept? I mean, what are the benefits of joining Sangvis Ferri? than griffin & kryuger) Vertin pondered.