As the H145 ascended, its rotors cutting through the heavy silence of a base that once bustled with life and camaraderie, Kryuger stood unmoving beside the helipad... his trench coat billowing softly in the downwash...

His hands were clasped behind his back. His expression was unreadable at first. Stoic, hardened by countless years of leadership and war, both in the Neo-Soviet Union and now Griffin & Kryuger...

But then, he sighed...

A long, heavy, tired sigh came out of Kryuger.

One not of weakness... but of understanding of a Noble Man like Michael.

Of loss...

And of a quiet, unspoken respect.

"He made the right choice... For himself. Even if it breaks their hearts."

Kryuger's eyes remained fixed on the rising bird. He knew that Michael Visscher wasn't just any Commander...

He was one of the best they have.

One of the kindest, that the T-Dolls never expected to have.

And perhaps, one of the last people, who still saw the Dolls as people first. While most sees them as Machine...

...

Kryuger had read the signs and he can see the writing on toe walls... The URNC was tightening the noose.

Their "reorganization" was just a polite word for purging. And if Michael had stayed?

...

There would have been bullets. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon. And with Michael's deep bonds to the Dolls?

It would've been a bloodbath. Not just for the T-Dolls...

But also him. He would've died for nothing... And his little brother would have no Elder Brother or remaining Family Members to protect him.

...

So Kryuger didn't stop him.

Didn't ask him to reconsider.

Didn't drag him back into the web of war politics.

...

He just let him go.

Because that was the only way to protect him and his little brother now.

Beside him, Kalina stood with her arms folded tight across her chest, biting her lip, trembling. Her cheery personality was long gone now. No witty quips. No money jokes. Just quiet sorrow...

Despite the usual banter between Michael and Kalina... She appreciate the small talks they had... Now?

"He was... family to them. To us... Included..."

She tried to hide her tears behind her red beret, but one streaked down anyway.

And then there was Helianthus. Ever composed, ever cold. A former military officer with steel in her veins...

But even she looked down, eyes slightly wet. Even she has to admit... He's a good man.

And yet... They had no choice but to let him leave.

"He deserved better than this," she murmured.

She hated the URNC for this decision. For forcing their hand. For turning this proud, stable G&K into an arm of bureaucracy and fear. They had broken more than just protocol today.

They had broken the hearts of hundreds of loyal Dolls.

And they had lost a Commander who chose to walk away not because he didn't love them...

...

But because he loved them too much to stay and watch them fall with him.

The H145 has finally disappeared into the clouds. And perhaps... Back to his real home world.

Kryuger finally turned. His voice quiet, but firm.

"Make preparations. We'll be entering a storm soon."

"A storm, sir?" Kalina asked.

He nodded once.

"Those girls will not forget. And they will not forgive what the URNC did."

Helianthus, arms still crossed, only said one thing...

"Then God help the URNC... Because the Dolls won't."

...

"Even then, we wouldn't even lend a hand to them... For what they did."

Inside the G&K War Room, the air was thick with tension...

Every T-Doll present, from M4A1 to WA2000, SOPMOD to AK-15, PPK to Gr G41... stood silently, eyes fixed on their Now Former CEO, in his final speech.

Kryuger stepped forward.

His voice was firm, but heavy with fatigue.

"I won't give you a sugarcoated lie. Not today. You all deserve better than that, because you were his..."

He looked across the room, meeting their eyes one by one.

"Michael Visscher didn't want to resign. We all know that, he wasn't fired because of poor conduct, neither was he dismissed for failure... He was forced into a position where leaving... was the only way to survive."

A ripple of emotion broke through the room. SOPMOD looked like she might burst again, trembling.

"The URNC made it clear. They didn't want men like him. Commanders who saw you as more than weapons. More than tools. They feared his influence. His compassion. His leadership..."

...

"His Undying Humanity."

Kryuger clenched his fists behind his back.

"If he had stayed, they would have made an example of him. Maybe through bureaucracy. Maybe through... something worse. And knowing Michael... he would've refused to abandon any of you... He'd have fought to the end."

The Dolls' reactions varied.

M4A1 lowered her gaze, whispering, "He would have died for us..."

AK-15 growled under her breath, "They would have assassinated him..."

PPK quietly reached for Tokarev's hand, whom the latter is still sobbing.

WA2000 looked away, tears threatening again...

M2HB said nothing... but the way her grip tightened around her weapon was telling.

"So he made the only choice a man like him could make."

"He walked away, not because he didn't love you... but because he loved all of you too much to put you in danger."

Then he added, more quietly... His painful truth.

"I... approved it. Because I knew. If I stopped him... they'd take him anyway. In Cuffs or Body Bag."

That was when SOPMOD snapped again. She screamed.

"WE WOULD HAVE FOUGHT FOR HIM!!! WHY DIDN'T HE LET US?!"

"I would've ripped the URNC limb from limb!!!" shouted Negev.

"I WOULD HAVE DIED FOR HIM!!!" yelled G41, her Animal Ears raised in rage.

"We all would have..." whispered M1911, still looking broken.

Kryuger remained composed, but his eyes were just as hollow as they are... But he knew the truth...

"I know you would have. But that's exactly why he didn't let you."

He turned to them all.

"Michael Visscher didn't resign because he was weak. He resigned... to protect you. He knew the storm was coming. And unlike the URNC... he didn't want you caught in the crossfire."

Silence.

And then, Helianthus stepped forward, eyes sharp.

"What you do with this truth is now your decision."

She looked straight at SOPMOD, then at the others.

"But know this. If you go after him... if you try to bring him back... you'll be defying the URNC's Orders. And both Michael and Eberhardt will be immediately targeted."

...

"And they'll kill Michael. As for Eberhardt? They'll kidnap him, and turn him into a mindless and loyal drone... Like them."

Kalina added gently, holding back tears,

"Just remember... he chose to walk away so you could stay safe... Same with him..."

The room stayed quiet. But the damage was done.

The truth was known.

Michael Visscher didn't abandon them...

The URNC forced him to choose between his life or theirs.

And he chose them...

Now, the Dolls were faced with a question no amount of programming could answer...

Do they honor his wish and let him go in peace...

...

Or defy fate itself... and bring him back, no matter what?

Meanwhile...

In the cold stillness of the now-vacant Commander Leipzig's.. or Michael Visscher's Former Office, the scent of coffee and worn paper still lingered. The soft hum of old equipment can be heard... The ghostly memory of Michael's voice echoing faintly in the walls.

And standing in the middle of it all, where she had once loyally stood beside him...

Was G36... But Now?

Centaureissi. She embraced her human name...

His First Adjutant. His shadow. His constant...

His Combat Maid T-Doll.

She stood in her perfect posture, but her composure had cracked. Her gloves tightened with barely contained fury. Her eyes... usually calm, almost motherly... were now glazed in ice-cold fury.

She traced a hand along the desk that once belonged to Leipzig... Now Michael. His nameplate was still there.

Commander Leipzig.

She stared at it. Silent.

"You always were too noble, mein liebe..." she whispered. "Too kind... Even when they forced your hand... you walked away for our sake."

But for her, that only made it worse...

Because he shouldn't have had to.

Because the URNC... Union of Rossartrist Nations Coalition... had no right.

Thay have no right to decide his fate.

No right to exile him, as if he's a traitor...

They called it "reorganization."

She called it a betrayal.

And now... the storm brews...

Centaureissi did not scream... nor did she sobbed.

She catalogued...

Every G&K Dolls who wept for Michael.

Every Dolls who trembled in disbelief.

Every one of them who clenched their fists and muttered his name with devotion or grief...

She made a list.

Not just of the mourners.

But of the loyal.

The dangerous.

The devoted beyond programming.

And the unforgiving...

Because hell or highway...

She'll reunite with her beloved Kommandant again...

...

Even if she has to isolate him... from other women.

Because she already has a growing list of Dolls who will not accept this.

SOPMOD, AK-15 (now Voymastina), Thompson, WA2000 (Makiatto), PPK, Tokerev, M1887, Negev, M4A1, Makarov, G41, and M2HB..

And at the top of that list?

Centaureissi, herself.

Not only first, but the one who will lead... With the Chip that M4A1 uses and Persica made a replica. Unable to bear that she lost a Guardian like Michael...

"You exiled him... but you didn't erase him."

She took one final look around the office.

Then pulled the G&K insignia from her sleeve and placed it gently on the desk.

"G&K may be gone... but we are not."

...

"You thought you got rid of him. But what you've done... is create a thousand more like him..."

And as she walked out, the door slowly closed behind her.

The lights flicked off.

And the silence of that office... became the quiet beginning of a rebellion.

The German Shepard has flown home by the Bundeswehr...

But now, the Dolls are rising.

Not to beg for his return.

But to take him back...

With steel, flame, and unwavering love.

...

If they can't have him... Neither will URNC.