The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Dr. Cossack War Journals 6

By Regulus, Winterman

Change of Plans

It was not-so-oddly familiar. Pluto was once again walking to the Doctor's lab, once again worried about his response.

This time, Mikhail would have just completed the new freezer-pack. This time, he would be unable to use it. Thanks to the destruction of his second generation armor, he was using the vastly inferrior original.

Pluto was in this position mainly because of Wraithman's unexpected change in tactics.

(If that dark slimeball had acted the same way as my research pointed out, I would have been fine. So much for "psychological warfare"...) he thought. (Wraith didn't even come near me. Instead, those blasted Seige Joes did all the work...)

This time, the door was closed. Pluto knocked nervously, then waited. No response. Quietly cracking the door open a piece, he found the lab empty and the lights off.

Save for a desk lamp shining on a small note. Pluto went over and looked at the note, finding it was for him.

"Sorry for the broken promise, Pluto. Things have been going very badly, and I couldn't even get started on the part you requested." Pluto read aloud. (It would have been useless anyways...) he thought.

Walking out of the lab, he found the halls strangely quiet. Not a single person was talking as he passed by. As if to say that they wouldn't think worse of him if he quit now.

He entered his room, closed the door and sat down. (Brute force won't work... neither will premade tactics...) he pondered.

Taking a cable and plugging himself into the computer, he spent the next few hours looking for any info on their enemies.

(Nothing, nothing, nothing... NOTHING!) he said in frustration. (If only I could determine the enemy's patterns as they happen....)

Then, an idea popped into his head. He jacked-out, ran out the door and didn't stop until he reached the Great Zodiac.

He was surprised to find Mars there. "Hey, Mars. Can I ask you for a favor?" Pluto asked. "I need attach parts from one of the fighters to myself."

"Sure, what do you need?" Mars replied.

"The fastest combat assesment systems we have."

"Then you don't mind taking parts from the Sagittarius?"

"Not one bit."

They worked through the night, cramming in parts and installing them, upgrading limbs to compensate for the extra load, reprogramming AI subroutines. By dawn, Pluto was a whole new machine.

"There you go." Mars said. "With this upgrade, you'll practically be able to mindread. Not really, but it has a 75% of predicting an opponent's move before it even starts. You have a QPS unit and quantum scanner built in too."

"Thanks Mars, you've been a big help." Pluto said gratefully. He turned to walk back to the citadel, the noticed Mars wasn't with him. "You coming back to the fortress?"

"Nah, I'd rather stay away from those ungrateful-"

"Yeah, I know. But at least it has an internet connection." Pluto said. "Truth is, they changed their attitude. Now they just wonder why we haven't quit. Anyways, see ya later Renard."

"Bye, Wint."

Pluto walked back to the castle, hoping this would be enough. (If it's not, maybe I SHOULD have a change of plans. Switching to Wily to make more of a difference, I think I can see why Saturn left...) he thought to himself...

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Shortly after Good Ideas and Viet Cairo To The Rescue!

Blizzardman and Knight walked through the halls of Cossack's Citadel. The Russian was proudly carrying the limp body of a Special Forces Unit over his shoulder. The massive bulk didn't seem to slow him down at all, as his strength was fairly impressive as well. Skullman met the two.
"My master..." Knightman reverantly dropped to a knee.
Skullman was pleased to have someone bow to him for once in the Citadel. He was starting to miss being the absolute authority back at his castle. "Rise, Knight." He said laughing. Knight did as he was told.
Skullman looked up at the Russian juggernaut, then the RPD powerhouse over his shoulder. "Quite a find." Skullman mused. "How'd you do it?"
"I threw a samurai at him." Blizzardman laughed.
"Ah..." Skullman used. "An exotic weapon, I see."
The two friends laughed heartily. It had been a while since they'd enjoyed themselves.
Zymeth motioned with his head towards Blizzard's quarters. "Your lady's waiting for you." He walked past him, Knightman following behind. "Both of them." He added with a crazed laughed.

Blizzardman opened the door to his quarters. Both Zappers turned to greet him, Toadgal being the more enthusiastic of the two.
"Fox!" They both shouted at once.
Blizzard was expecting this inevitable madness from having two psycho-robots under one roof. He had replicated Zapper's AI from Toadgal into a replica of Centaurgal's armor. Although on the surface both were Zapper, Regulus knew who his real lover was. There were some fond memories Toad and Blizzard had had together that the replica Centaur would never be able to recall. Regulus activated the power down for Centaur, the replica slouching to the floor gently.
"I'm wondering if giving a crazy person two literal identities is a wise idea." Blizzardman mused.
"Don't worry," Zapper grinned. "I know I'M the real one."
"I'll start the upload process." Blizzard said clamly.
Within minutes, Toadgal knew exactly what Centaur had seen that day.
"Cool!" Zapper exclaimed. "We kicked ass!"
"Yes, yes we did." Blizzardman said calmly. "Oh, and he's right there." He motioned to the SF in the corner.
"Oh, really?" Zapper asked. "What are you going to do with him?"
"I shall call him Ivan." Blizzardman replied. "I think he'll come in handy some time. He's a pet project."
Both Robot Masters sat quietly. Zapper leaned on Blizzardman and he put his massive arm around her. Finally, Zapper spoke up.
"Reg?" Zapper seemed concerned.
"Yes?" Blizzard looked back at her. His eyes were no longer filled with blue light. The sky blue glow had diminished to two small points of blue light, giving him noticeable pupils.
"It's really you... right?" Zapper asked softly.
"Is something wrong?" Blizzard looked confused.
"Something awful happened while you were gone..." Zapper said, hanging her head.
"What happened?" Blizzard asked, trying to get her to continue.
"We ran into Mysteryman..." Zapper said, scared. Regulus clenched his massive fists. His pupils expanded and once again filled his sockets with the sky blue glow.
"It's really you, isn't it, Reg?" Zapper asked.
"Of course it's me..." Blizzardman assured her, his eyes returning to his gentle expression. "I heard you guys won, though. What'd you do?"
"I killed him." Zapper said, describing the method in which she obliterated the arrogant SA commander.
"Remind me not to make you angry, love." Blizzardman laughed upon hearing Mystery's grievous end.
"I can't get mad at you..." She hugged the giant around the arm, unable to get her arms around his torso.
"I feel like I need to be Clownman to hug you anymore..." Zapper said a bit frustrated.
Regulus smiled, at least, he would have had his head not been sunken into his chest. "I'm proud of you." He said. "You kept Russia safe. We'd have been in big trouble if anyone other than Cossack had the victory there."
"Yeah..." Toad agreed.
"It's crowded here..." Blizzard noted the cramp corners. For him, at least. "How about we head out to our spot?"
"Sure." Zapper jumped up from the bed.

The spot Blizzardman had been talking about was a large cavernous structure on the side of one of the mountains surrounding Cossack's Citadel. The cave was blocked by an enormous boulder, to hide the simple furnishings that Regulus had placed in the cave to give it a homey feel. To all the world, that boulder was merely part of the cliff face, but Regulus and Zapper could pick it out of a quarry. Blizzard moved the boulder with ease and led Toadgal into the structure. He had brought a battery with him, and was now hooking it up to the simple light structure he had set up.
"Reg?" Zapper sat down on the couch Blizzard had hauled up the mountain weeks ago. "Who are the good guys in the war?"
Blizzardman connected the wires, then looked over to her. "We are, of course." He said as he walked over to her and sat on the couch next to her (Thankfully, it was built to sustain his weight).
"Ok..." Zapper said. "But Wily helped us out. At least, Saturn helped out. But he's with Wily. Isn't Wily the bad guy?"
"I suppose Wily is a bad guy..." Blizzard mused. "But we've been receiving a lot of help from his lackeys as of late."
"Yeah, we got some help from Plant and the rest of our team in Cairo, huh?" Zapper asked, making sure her newfound memories were correct.
"Yes." Blizzard affirmed. "Wily is still a bad guy in this war, but it's remarkable how he often ends up being the lesser of two evils with these two extremist groups duking it out."
The light flickered for a moment. "Shoddy wiring." Blizzard mumbled.
"That's ok..." Zapper curled up next to the Russian as he put her arm around her.
"It would appear as though you've found a special someone, dear Zapper..." A familiar and sinister voice said in a calm tone.
Zapper looked up. "Wraith!" She shouted in shock.
Blizzardman instantly got up and stepped in front of Zapper, willing to take the Black Lotus robot head-on if it meant protecting Zapper. "At least in Siberia, I have the advantage of snowfall." He thought to himself.
"Blizzard, he'll kill you!" Zapper whispered to Regulus, frightened at the thought of having to take on Wraithman.
Wraith held up his hands, showing that his scythe was nowhere to be seen. "I carry the olive branch, Blizzardman. There's no need for violence, not now." Wraith chuckled a bit. "At least not for now..."
He reached into his cloak, prompting Regulus to draw his Taurus Tracker from his trench coat. As Regulus withdrew his weapon, he was surprised to see Wraith merely retract a closed hand from his cloak. Regulus was still wary, and decided it might be a ploy to get him to put his gun away.
"What's in your hand?" Blizzard pointed using the barrel of his revolver.
"Death is a terrible state of nothingness..." Wraith slowly walked forward. Regulus readied his Tracker. "Death isn't. For robots, it's banishment to oblivion. The horror of having no human soul..."
Regulus put the Tracker down. "Brevity is the soul of wit." He said, attempting to get Wraith off his existentialist tangent.
"I've brought the soul of another." Wraith extended his hand and opened it, revealing a microchip in his palm. "A soul of silicon, that is."
"Who's "soul" is this?" Blizzard questioned, putting his Tracker back into his coat and holding his hand out.
"Mercury of the Cosmic Gladiators." Wraith explained. "I took it from him, but killing him is a punishment unsuitable for him. I know how horrible that dark abyss can be..." Wraith recalled his fear of death.
"I find it hard to believe you fear death." Blizzard said. "Seeing as you look like it."
"Facing fear is the only way to overcome it." Wraith started towards the exit. He stopped and turned towards Toad. "I think I know what you fear most, Blizzard..." He said menacingly.
Blizzardman repositioned himself to completely obscure Zapper from Wraith. "I suggest you leave..." Blizzard's pupils had expanded once again to fill his eyes and chilled air was rolling over his massive body.
Most robots were off-set merely by the size of Blizzardman, much less seeing him so enraged, but Wraith was not impressed. He chuckled, "Very well. I'll leave you two alone." He began walking off.
"Wraith." Blizzard called after him. Wraith stopped. "I suppose thanks are in order..." He said, still obviously furious at the robot of shadow.
"You're welcome." Wraith said. "I should thank you for answering my request." With that, Wraith leaped down from the cliff face and bounded off through the snowy mountain pass.
"Wraith confuses me..." Zapper said quietly.
"Yeah..." Blizzardman looked at the chip he was holding. "I'm a little confused as well..."

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