Description: Afghanistan's new governing body barely holds its own against rebels, as most of the occupying forces have been sent off elsewhere on almost universally failed assaults across the globe. The arrival of Cammy White may suggest a renewed hope for the Null Squad's mission to hold and protect an important base from intrusion. Until... an unthinkable order comes down from Lord Vega himself...
Afghanistan is not looking good for Shadaloo forces - their only saving grace right now is how disorganized the rebels are. Their strikes have been frequent, but small - most of the main force that isn't being spread out abroad is being slowly eaten away. All it takes is a well-placed explosive here and there to really start causing problems for everyone involved. As vicious as Shadaloo was in taking the region some time ago, the rebels are willing to match or even exceed this out of religious fervor, or at least just a rage-filled taste for revenge.
The Null Squad - the best unit there is to spare at the moment - is not at the front lines where the rebels are staging something close to being an actual all-out attack upon the weakened infrastructure. They have done a remarkable job of converting a historical building into an impromptu Shadaloo base - all the way down to automatic electronic doors wired in seamlessly with an old structure that does not initially seem capable of supporting such. (Some of this stuff was skimmed off the top from NESTS while they were playing ball with Shadaloo back in the day - these doors are actually pretty amazing, if one is really into the hows and whys of the design of automatic doors, especially those installed in areas not specifically meant to ever house them.)
"All right," says the Null Squad leader - Lieutenant Turell, a respected ex-secret agent for the UK whose work in subverting security and spying on governments was one of the reasons they were even able to take this nation to begin with, "our men seem to be holding the line."
His squad does not appear particularly trusting of this, given the news.
"We have intercepted hostile communications - we have every reason to believe the Ikari may be operating within the Middle East. We are to guard this location and the data with our lives. We have had no record of any personnel movements in this direction aside from local rebels. So long as there is no surprises from any 'fighters' or what have you..."
It's always what it's boiled down to, hasn't it? The overwhelming force of the Chinese forces bolstering Shadaloo's own being overturned, somehow, by several individuals of extraordinary capability.
COMBATSYS: Null Squad has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cammy has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy is surprisingly disconsolate. She hasn't received any orders for a while now, and she seems to be - ignored! It's a new experience for her, given she's always had special treatment in Shadaloo before. She only found out about Afghanistan being in trouble from the news, and after some agonising, she decided to come here in person, as it does border Russia after all, and all her transport access seems to have dried up as well.
Clearly Lord Vega isn't happy with her. She can understand that. She isn't very happy with herself, either. In fact, whenever she mulls over events in Russia an uncontrollable anger builds up inside her, so bad she shakes and feels quite nauseous - it's a new experience for the normally placid Doll, and not one she likes. Maybe this is how Juri feels, she reasons. And if she feels that way about herself, what must Vega feel?
She is quite glad, though, to have found this base, and been admitted. The doll feels kinda weird, off to one side in the room listening to the Lieutenant giving his briefing, not with the squad but slightly apart from it in her blue uniform. It's like she's just a grunt, lined up with the rest of the mooks, no longer getting orders direct from the Master.
It makes her sad.
Cammy's welcome into the makeshift base is cold - maybe reassuring, to some - but she's largely regarded coolly. She is Vega's favored Doll, after all - if she's here, this means they are being watched very, very closely. Vega might be looking for someone to blame all these failures throughout Asia on, after all. So few commanding officers have survived their encounters so far that those who are still alive feel the added pressure.
Especially Turell.
"At this rate, we can keep this foothold," says Turell to the rest of them, casting a glance to Cammy. She /is/ well-known for her fighting ability, after all, as he paces up and down the line.
There's a sudden silence that follows as the Lieutenant brings a hand to his ear. "Excuse me."
His hand is clasped over his earpiece - his gloves are made to absorb sound to make it exceedingly difficult to pick up any overheard transmissions. He gives Cammy another look briefly.
"Yes," he whispers. "Yes," he says again. There's a long pause before he quirks an eyebrow, but remains silent before saying another, highly cryptic "yes," ending with, as is typical... "Lord Vega's will shall be done."
He lowers his hand away from his ear. "Formation 5138, Code Jasper."
Cammy knows exactly what this code is, given her time as a Shadaloo operative. This is a formation used very, very, very specifically for securing a room, 99% of the time to make sure someone doesn't leave a space alive. There's only about a dozen men total, but of the four exits from this room, two to three men each stand guard.
Turell seems a bit nervous about this, as he stands with his hands behind his back while turning to Cammy.
"Ma'am," he nods - there's no salute, like one should when addressing a superior that answers only to Vega themselves, "I've been instructed to give you special mission details," he says after a suspicious pause. "I will not be the person to tell them to you - speak to Hartman, over by the southeast room exit."
Whoever that Hartman guy is, he raises a hand as if to say 'hi, it's me.'
A few other soldiers immediately check their weapons.
COMBATSYS: Null Squad focuses on its next action.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy tilts her head, vaguely curious. Secure the room? She looks around the place with some slight bemusement, perhaps expecting to find Guile hiding under a console or something. She's about to impulsively wander around just to check for this eventuality (hey, she met Angelo hiding in a truck underneath a coat, you never know), when Turell speaks to her, making her come up short.
She slowly turns, and blinks at him. Well, this is highly irregular. And she then looks over at the guy who raised his hand. Her heart sinks. Isn't that guy a private? She's like, bottom of the totem pole now. In an organisation with 10,000 people, she is Number 10,000, when before she was number 6, at least! She bows her head a little, ashamed, though little of this inner turmoil reaches her blank face, and obediently, if rather sadly, trudges down the room to wait by the guy who raised his hand, looking glum.
COMBATSYS: Cammy takes no action.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
As Cammy turns her back, Turell reasserts his stance. He flashes a few hand signals over to the others, who remain motionless as Cammy makes the approach towards Hartman. Hartman actually /looks/ a bit nervous as Cammy comes close to him - she is a very fearsome individual within Shadaloo's ranks, after all.
He does go through the proper motions to salute her. "Ma'am," he says to her. "I have your mission details. You see," he pauses, "there's... a problem, that we need you for. You're the only one who can do this, given your... track record, your... reputation for getting the job done, not... letting your feelings get in the way... always earning the love and admiration of the great Lord Vega..."
Behind Cammy, Turell nods to some men who are giving confused glances. There is a sharp glare as he points his finger down, and that is the last silent gesture made before...
There is gunfire. The two men to the exit to Cammy's right have raised their guns and opened fire. Mystifyingly, there are no intruders in which to shoot at, no interlopers that are being dealt with, no sudden appearances of the dreaded Rust, the traitorous Sagat, or the misled Quon - or anyone Cammy might consider an overall hostile individual worth shooting at.
No. They're shooting for /Cammy/, in the meager hopes that Hartman's stalling was convincing enough to have her lower her guard entirely.
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Null Squad's Bullet Spread.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy doesn't really have to generally think to get out of the way of things. She can dodge bullets after all, and that sort of thing happens without conscious thought being too involved. If it was involved, she would probably end up shot! So when there is the sound of guns being cocked and drawn, she's already half turning around - and when there's muzzle flash, she instinctively hurls herself off to one side, bouncing off one wall like a rubber ball, only to roll along the grilled floor into a standing position.
She blinks at the guards. Well, she knew the Chinese guys were useless, but these guys are doubly useless! They were shooting at /her/! Either that, or they really are bad shots. She looks over at Hartman, wondering to see if he was a traitor needing executing, or maybe the dreaded Rust is hiding behind him or something. "What is going on?" she asks, looking over at Turell. Some small part of her seems to realise what may be up, however - as her voice has an unusually plaintive tone. "You are... bad shots...", she mutters, thinking they must have been aiming for someone else. They must have been!
COMBATSYS: Cammy takes no action.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
Turell actually takes a step back when Cammy is looking over to him. Everyone has their guns pointed up now - even Hartman, over there. There is no suspicion being cast his way. No. Every set of eyes, every gun, every laser sight (three of them forgot to turn theirs off, that's a no-no in 5138 Jasper) is on Cammy. In every respect, she is the one out of place - she is being regarded as though an outsider. A threat. Something worth pointing guns at.
Is it a rebellion?
"It is... exactly, as you see," says Turell, with no small amount of sadness - or perhaps hesitation, given now that she is entirely alert to what it is that's happening here! He backs away a step entirely for his own safety, even if Cammy could probably reach up and snap his neck in less than half a second if she were of the mind - she is one of Shadaloo's very, very best, after all.
"Fire," he says plainly, as they all go through another short round of burst fire in an undeniable attempt to ventilate the young woman with lead once again. The first time might have been able to be construed as a (to one's career and livelihood, fatal) mistake, but this second one should cement it.
They're trying to kill her.
COMBATSYS: Null Squad successfully hit Cammy with Cover Fire.
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Null Squad 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy is ready this time, and tries to bounce away again, but there's a lot of them firing, and someone has to get lucky, right? She gets winged as she leaps, a bullet just clipping one of her thighs, which may not be Chun-Li in proportions but compared to the rest of her are probably as big a target as any.
When she stands up, she looks down at her now bleeding leg in disbelief. Not that it's bleeding very badly, but a trickle of red over her blue leg paint certainly stands out. "You must be traitors. Or... this must be a test." she decides, remembering Lord Vega setting her against his minions before - and promptly hurls herself at one of the nearest soldiers boots first, aiming to smash into his midriff with main force.
She's bleeding this time though, she's already doing worse than she was the first time around!
COMBATSYS: Null Squad blocks Cammy's Spiral Arrow.
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Null Squad 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Cammy
The Spiral Arrow is a fearsome technique - if the soldiers had bunched themselves up together close enough, she might have wiped a good number of them out in one shot, but as it stands, she manages to nail two of them - one who is caught clean, the other having attempted to bring up a proper guarding defense with his rifle. It's the narrow difference between 'cracked ribs' and 'completely shattered spine' between the two of them, as they are both hurled to the floor.
Cammy might be able to escape that way... except the Lieutenant has just keyed in the codes to shut the doors tight immediately.
"This is no test," assures Turell. Everyone is afraid to even want to try and step up to the Zero Doll, her abilities in close quarters combat matched by extremely few and exceeded by even fewer yet - their only hope is that she can go down under a hail of firepower.
"Grenade!" Cries Hartman, which is good communication with a squad but really bad when you are trying to kill someone who has such killer fighting awareness and speed as he and a few other squaddies toss a few high-explosive grenades in Cammy's direction.
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Null Squad's Grenade Volley.
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Null Squad 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy is getting up after the spiral arrow, and there was probably an opportunity to be had there, at least until warnings are shouted at her. That really isn't all that smart. She cartwheels over towards Hartman himself, reasoning, well enough, that the person calling for grenades doesn't plan on being hit by one himself, so the safest place to be is - right next to him, pushing off with her hands at the last moment and trying to snap her legs around his neck.
Assuming he doesn't get out of the way, what follows is, after a brief moment before the pain where she's wrapped around him and he's still standing up, an evidently painful grounding, with all manner of crunching noises before the doll rolls away from him to jump up, looking for the next victim.
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Null Squad with Frankensteiner.
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Null Squad 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cammy
Hartman does not stand a chance to Cammy's excellent combat instincts as she comes up to the soldier and gets his legs around him. His eyes immediately tear up, knowing what's going to come next - even some of his squadmates, knowing full well what's going to happen the very moment they come within arm's (...or leg's) length of her. They, like Hartman himself, are embedded in the old stone and clay cracks of this repurposed ruin, the impact so earth-rattling it's almost a wonder the roof doesn't suddenly cave in on them - to say nothing about Hartman or those other soldiers he is slammed into as they are all just about as good as pancaked under the Frankensteiner.
"It's over, Cammy," says Turell, ever-so-calmly, even as his squad is getting grievously wounded or killed by Cammy's own strength, "I'm sorry. But you will not be leaving this nation alive." Granted, he's not sure he will be either, at this rate.
The soldiers yell the names of injured and fallen friends alike - one of them actually loses it and rushes Cammy with his knife out, screaming bloody murder. Two other squadmates join him, as they all seek to try and restrain /him/ from feebly attempting to knife Cammy to bits.
Whatever's going on in the big picture, there is no act to how Shadaloo's own men are behaving - they really mean to kill her.
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Null Squad's CQC Training.
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Null Squad 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy gets swarmed, but even with them all pressing in around her on all sides, she somehow manages to duck, slip, weave and slide between them all, at one point a knife slidig harmless along the side of her leotard but not quite managing to hit her squarely enough to slide into doll-flesh. Somewhere along the line she flips down onto her shoulders, and spins around with boots flailing away in all directions, kicking any foolish enough to be too close even as she she hops back up onto her feet again.
"I am not doing so well as last time when I played with the troopers. You shot me. Because I hesitated again." she curses, whether it hits or not. "Lord Vega is angry with me because I keep doing that! I hope he will not hold that against me. It was only a little scratch.". She clearly plans on redoubling her efforts! That said, the soldier screaming about his fallen comrades does make her think a little. Maybe she shouldn't hit them so hard. But maybe that will annoy Vega even more! Oh, decisions.
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Null Squad with Light Kick.
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Null Squad 1/--=====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cammy
"The last time?" Turell quirks a brow. "This is no test, Cammy. Why, I had a hand in organizing some previous exercises," he says calmly enough as Cammy boots the oncoming knife soldier so hard that he is thrust into his buddies hard enough that the three of them are knocked out.
Four men still stand. Three underlings, and their leader, Turell.
"In my short conversation, it is not ultimately about your hesitation," he explains as he walks closer to Cammy with a sudden renewed bravery to keep something of his poker face going as his three men all stand with guns pointed at her - for all the good they'll do.
"No, Cammy. Everyone... everyone throughout has paid a heavy price for failure," Turell says as he keeps his hands behind his back, "and it has come... straight from the top. A notice to every general, every commander, every squad leader, Cammy."
He bows his head slightly. "You are to be executed on sight, by order of Lord Vega himself."
The three standing soldiers aside from Turell immediately bunch together (this is a bad call) to try and gun her down, emptying out the remainder of their clips - given her speed, if they don't somehow drop her /now/, they are all dead anyway.
COMBATSYS: Cammy dodges Null Squad's Focus Fire.
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Null Squad 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cammy
Okay, now the Killer Bee isn't very happy. Rolling forward under the gunfire, she jumps up when she's right next to them, and tries to simply brush aside the underlings, pushing one hard into his fellows with an outstretched hand so hopefully they all end up in a heap.
Then she walks right up to Turell, so they are practically nose to nose - well, as much as she can be given he is undoubtedly a lot taller than she is. She doesn't actually touch him - yet. "Why are you saying such things. You are lying to me. Lord Vega likes me a lot. He is just in one of his moods again... you know he has his moods. He has a difficult time, especially at the moment. But I am here to help." she says somewhat forlornly. "See?". She waves a hand to indicate the fallen Shadaloo fodder. "I am useful still. Tell him.".
COMBATSYS: Cammy successfully hits Null Squad with Quick Throw.
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Null Squad 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Cammy
Cammy makes taking out even well-trained soldiers with just the minimal of effort and force applied look so simple, so easy, as she knocks them all down together. With that, Cammy has successfully subdued or crippled every single member of the Null Squad. As she stands nose-to-nose with the sole standing member of the group to plead her case, he stands stone-faced.
"I cannot plead your case," he says as he taps a button on a nearby keyboard that brings up a monitor. What is shown may be nothing short of terrifying. It's something that nobody in Shadaloo would have /ever/ expected happening.
The steel corridors are damaged after what is reported to be an hour-long rampage following the debriefing of the Russia - and overall war situation - to one Lord Vega. There is records of notices passing through the rank and file - ending in a bonafide recording of one Lord Vega's own words.
For failure in her duties and allowing opposing forces to recover irreplacable territory, Cammy White, Zero Doll, is to be killed on sight.
None are clearly thrilled with the order. After all, this is the 'Killer Bee,' the top personal assassin of Vega himself. What chance would any of them have against her? Would they be willing to deny an order from Vega himself, when the fate could be worse than death...?
"I'm sorry," says Turell, "but orders are orders. You... are now as much an enemy of Lord Vega as those who stand against him."
COMBATSYS: Null Squad takes no action.
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Null Squad 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Cammy
"That cannot be... Ugh.". She's feeling that nauseous feeling again, as she reaches out to lean against the wall to steady herself. "Evil Rust, I am sure it is his fault somehow." she says miserably. "And stupid Quon, the fool. Stubborn fool!".
She glances around the now toasted room, filled with the injured, some probably mortally. "Are you going to try to kill me still?" she asks, looking over Turell. "Because if not. I think I will wait here.". She turns away from him, and walks slowly towards one corner of the room, where she sits down, thinking. Lord Vega angry with her? And... what about all her sisters? And her home? Her eyes slowly fill with tears. She has no idea what to do.
COMBATSYS: Cammy takes no action.
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Null Squad 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Cammy
"You cannot stay here, Cammy," says Turell, with the shake of his head. "He knows you came here. If you leave here alive... I, too, will be ordered to be executed." This is a declaration of fact, not an unfortunate acknowledgment of difficult circumstances. Up until now, Cammy has been a stalwart assassin under Vega's command. What pity can there really be between villains, in the end?
There's sudden rattling at the doors outside. The entire structure shakes every so often. Explosions, muffled ones, can be heard as dust and dirt loosen every so often from the aging cracks of the almost ancient architecture. It's a crying shame that such a historic place would be converted into a base for hostility, for war - but it seems that those outside have gotten over this sadness and seem more than willing to take it down.
"Oh, no," says Turell as he looks to monitor views of the outside, "they've broken through. The front lines... they've fallen. They'll be in here soon..."
At this point, he looks to Cammy with a stern face. "Regardless... you are likely to survive this encounter, let us not make mistakes despite my intent. My mission, however... is to keep what's here out of enemy hands."
His hands glide over the keyboard, rapidly pressing buttons. Sirens immediately start to go off. Cammy should know what this means.
"The rebels may catch you, Cammy, if you leave. If you stay... you will be destroyed alongside myself and my squad," says Turell with a certain resolve in his voice. "Either way... should you survive, Vega's men will hunt you down. They will not relent. It may not be me who will kill you, unless you choose to give up right here, right now, but..."
He bows his head. "I will die for the will of Lord Vega."
Cammy only has scant seconds to get the hell out of dodge - she might be able to take down a door with one well-placed Cannon Spike.
COMBATSYS: Cammy parries Null Squad's Full Auto!
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Null Squad 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Cammy
"...No." Cammy mutters, as she abruptly gets up again in the blink of an eye. How /does/ she do that? "You can die if you want to. But I know Lord Vega needs me still." she says doggedly, in the face of all evidence to the contrary. She stalks over to the already damaged door, and kicks at it, as hard as she can manage.
It is pretty hard. The door sags, and then collapses, kicking up a great mass of dust and making a horrible screech of torn metal.
"You have failed, not me! I am not the failure here!" she shouts at him, just before she bolts through the door - to run right into some mujahadeen types who were just about to storm the place.
Predictably, they promptly go to open fire when the Doll appears, but she reaches down for the ruined metal door, and channelling Zangief for a moment, somehow manages to pick it up and use it as a shield - a shield about three times bigger than she is, blocking their view of her completely.
After a few moments, the door slowly topples again and falls to the earth - but the Doll is gone.
COMBATSYS: Null Squad successfully hit Null Squad with Full Auto.
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Null Squad 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Cammy
COMBATSYS: Cammy takes no action.
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Null Squad 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Cammy
Shortly after Cammy's departure, a huge explosion rocks the building - there is no reason to dwell on the fates of the Null Squad, as the Afghanistan rebels all recoil at the explosion as much as they attempt to try and shoot feebly at Cammy - she may owe her escape, entirely, to the greater immediate threat that the self-destruct sequence possesses as she moves with her newfound resolve that she may not in fact be the failure.
Yet, any and every Shadaloo or Chinese scout that see her will be quick to report any sightings - quick to move to shoot her. Even the rebels, unaware of what exactly went down, see her as nothing more than another lapdog of the enemy to bring their wrath upon.
Shadaloo's clutch on Afghanistan slips with every step Cammy takes through the Middle East on her return trip back to Vega. It's the same she may hear everywhere - China is being repelled, they're falling everywhere. The end of the war is nigh - her failures may not be hers alone, but Vega has made especially clear what the price of failure is.
If she is not welcome by the world at large, and no longer welcome by Shadaloo proper, what place is there left for her in this world...?
COMBATSYS: Null Squad takes no action.
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|====---\-------\0 Cammy
COMBATSYS: Null Squad can no longer fight.
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|====---\-------\0 Cammy
Log created on 16:02:50 03/07/2012 by Rust, and last modified on 00:05:41 03/08/2012.