Girls' Frontline Fanfiction: Tsar of the Mountain

Tsar Meets Tsar

The world UMP40 found herself in was strange, yet somewhat predictable. Conversing with Horris and Zeldri caught her up to speed on the current state of the world during the year she was offline. The virus had worked. But, so did her plan to save her sister as, upon accessing Griffin's servers, she found no t-doll registration for a UMP45. Looking through Team One's report also revealed they never found a doll that carried a UMP45. She had hope that her sister still lived somewhere out there. Looking for her, though, would be impossible. Commander Zeldri had taken her in which put a lot of restrictions on her movements. Them being in the middle of nowhere in a mountain bunker also didn't help as the only way to communicate with the outside world would be by using the Mountain's equipment; which Zeldri would know about. So, since she couldn't explore the world, she would explore the Mountain.

"Morning, 40." All the staff were friendly to her despite her being something picked up during a mission and would even offer casual greetings when she passed them in the halls. They treated her as one of their own. This kind of treatment was a far cry from her days at Sangvis Ferri where she was seen as just a machine to take orders. The world hadn't changed that much while she was out, so she figured this was a 'Griffin' thing. Though, it might be a 'Mountain' thing as she'd never seen dolls and humans care for each other like the ones at the Mountain. The human staff treated the dolls like they would any human with conversations, friendly interactions, and casually hanging out with them. The dolls, in return, seemed very attached to the human staff, and UMP40 discovered the rigorous training regimes the t-dolls regularly went through. Though, 'went through' would be putting it incorrectly as it was more like the t-dolls actively sought out time to train and hone their skills. Even normally troublemaking dolls like P7 and MDR would get oddly serious during training.

"The training courses?" UMP40 went down to the café and decided to ask one of the dolls there about it. Sten MkII and SV-98 were drinking some soda at a table when UMP40 approached them with Sten speaking first. "I know Mondragon and Jericho are in charge of them. Why, did you have a question about them?"

"Yeah," UMP40 made sure she kept her cheery demeanor, "They seem super intense, yet I haven't seen a single complaint about it, so I thought it was kinda strange."

"Hmm," SV-98 took a sip of her drink before continuing, "I guess it's because you're new you wouldn't understand."

"Understand?" UMP40 tilted her head to the side in confusion as the mood of the two dolls in front of her shifted to a more somber one.

"Understand how much we've already lost." A new voice made UMP40 turn around to see StG44 approaching them. "Grüße (Greetings), UMP40."

"What do you mean lost? This place seems fully staffed."

"Yes, but that's only after we lost many people to an attack from Sangvis on the Mountain..." While the same somberness overtook StG44, she decided to continue explaining as it was only fair that UMP40 got an answer to her earlier question. "The Ringleader, Scarecrow, launched a surprise attack on the Mountain and we lost a lot of people, many of whom we dolls considered good friends. While we ultimately won, it cost too much. In response, the Commander reorganized our training regime with the help of Jericho and Mondragon to make sure every t-doll, no matter the specs, would perform at their best."

"Which is why you're all so gung-ho about it." UMP40 connected the dots and saw what was going on.

"We don't want to lose anyone else," StG44 confirmed. Sten and SV-98 nodded in agreement at the sentiment. "Was there anything else you were curious about, UMP40?"

"...No," UMP40 shook her head, "Though if I do think of something else, I'll be sure to come to you for help!" She added that last part to brighten the mood which seemed to work as the three dolls all had smiles on their faces when she left. "..." UMP40 idly wandered the base as she thought over StG44's words and the actions of the dolls and staff. Her wandering eventually led her to a door in the stairwell labeled for sub-level five. She'd gotten a tour from the logistics officer, Annika when she arrived and was told levels one and sub-level five were still locked despite how long it's been since they took over the facility. Annika also seemed nervous whenever UMP40 asked questions about the sealed levels, specifically sub-level five. "...Hm." UMP40 approached the terminal next to the door and found that it was connected to the network like all the electronics in the base. The Mountain's network was still heavily encrypted, but that wouldn't be an issue for a doll specializing in electronic warfare. After making sure no one was in the stairwell, UMP40 connected to the network and started to pick at the door's firewall. For some reason, the security surrounding this lock wasn't as tight as others she saw. "...!" After a few minutes, the terminal chirped and the door to sub-level five opened. There wasn't much on the sub-level, just two massive doors. Ignoring the one that had a 'Freight Elevator' sign over it, UMP40 went to the other door to find it also locked. And, a few minutes later, had that terminal chirping and the final door opening to reveal the Heart silently sitting on the floor in the middle of a massive room. "!!!" UMP40 slowly approached the hydrogen bomb, its massive form almost beckoning her towards it. She reached out her hand...