The Business of War

RPD War Journals 5


Junkman's War Journal #4: Triumph and Despair

RPD Headquarters

Well, we did it. We save that stinking fatass senator from Dr. Wolfland's clutches. Finally, we had a successful mission for once. It sure felt good for me to get the memories of what went wrong out on our previous missions.

I sat on a windowsill over looking the city. The people down there look like ants from up here. It's funny how we protect the people from whatever can cause them the most harm, yet we're perceived as the biggest threat to them. It's hard to understand for me, you know. I sat there and thought about what we have gone through so far.

We had to fight a former friend in Geminiman in Toronto. We saw our faithful friend and ally Freezeman getting sliced like he was a damn tomato in Hong Kong. We had to deal with the psychotic mind games of that damned priest Xelloss in Monte Carlo. Yet, I felt good about this moment. That was before the news came breaking in...

Someone heard on the news that apparently the Citadel for Cossack's forces, the group that Slashman and Shademan left us for, was destroyed. The Scissor Army, lead by that monster General Cutman, tore the land apart. The rumors were spreading that Cossack himself died in the battle and whatever was left of the group fled for safety. This caused concern for the others because they still see Slashman as a friend and as a team mate.

"God.. I hope Slash is OK." muttered Burstgirl. "It would be awful if we lost another friend."

"I agree, Burst." said Turbo. "It would be awful for us if he was killed..."

That's when I spoke up. "Heh. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. I could care less if that treacherous Wolverine wannabe dies at the hand that psychopath."

This shocked everyone on the team. "How... How could you say such a thing, Junk?" asked Burstgirl. "Yeah. This is not like you, Junk. Why now?" mentioned Springman.

"You guys really want to know how I feel? I could care less what happens to Slash now. He and Shademan left us for no reason! NONE! At least Freezeman knew why he didn't want to fight, and that was because he wanted a peaceful solution to this. Those two didn't want jack shit. They wanted an easy way out, and that easy way came in the form of Cossack. Look at it now. The Citadel is wiped off the map, the doctor is good as dead and the followers are more or less like a damn chicken with it's head cut off: It's gonna be a matter of time before that monster and his army get to them and tears them to shreds. They deserve what they're getting, if you ask me."

"Are you crazy, Junk? No one deserves death!" shouted out Turboman.

"No one deserves death except for a traitor. He left us high and dry, god dammit! I say he deserves the coward's death sentence that he's been given."

With that, I left the room and headed to a quiet place. I decided to sit in a small, empty room and just let myself... go. I fell in a heap, down to my knees wondering if there is any hope whatsoever in this war. I may not make it.. This war isn't worth it.. It's not worth it.

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Night

((occurs five days after Stage 4))

Makenshi ran as fast as he could, but it wasn't enough to get away from his pursuer. Finally, he tripped over something, and he began falling in slow-motion as his assailant continued to advance rapidly.

Waveman seized him by the color and lifted him high into the air. Their eyes met, the psychotic Android's red eyes glaring, and that mad, voracious grin. His shrill laughter reverberated through Makenshi's body, gripping him with absolute terror.

And suddenly, Waveman thrust his cranium forth. Only until Makenshi's mouth was pried open that he realized to his horror what the aquatic demon was doing. Makenshi tried to scream, but asphyxiated gurgling noises only came out as the liquidy mass forced itself down his throat. The water's icy touch began consuming him from the inside, until his entire body went numb.

With a startled gasp he awoke. He was in a cold sweat, laying in an awkward position in his cot. For once he felt relieved to find himself in his office, safe inside RPD headquarters.

He was still gasping for air as if he were still being suffocated. Waveman couldn't be in HQ. But he still kept imagining that the mad robot would burst through the walls at any moment.

Makenshi got up, turned on the lights, and began pacing back and forth to calm himself down.

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Conduct Report for: Shiken Max

First Deployment:
Formed a temporary alliance with Cossack faction's Deep Impact to defeat SA officer Wraithman with my approval. Attempted to arrest DI immediately afterwards, but failed.

Second Deployment:
Ignored Wily faction's Fatal Five as they assisted our troops in defending the Trans-Alaska Pipeline against the SA.

Third Deployment:
Contact was lost for 3 hours. Makenshi alleges that he had been captured by Mesmerman, then narrowly survived a fight with SA faction's Waveman.

Fourth Deployment:
Did not participate in engagement with the Fatal Five and Saturn of Wily's faction. Alleges that he was trying to find a way to unlock a door that had sealed us in.


Captain Spiegel read over his report. Short and to the point. Satisfied, he rose from his seat and stretched. It was 3:42 AM, the time to be fast asleep. But Spiegel's nights had been restless. Ever since that image of his father, engulfed in flames and reaching for him was engraved into his mind.

He walked out of his office. The halls were brightly lit, though he was alone as he moved through the halls. Eventually he found himself in the lobby. It took him a moment to notice Makenshi who was reclined on a couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. Spiegel only shrugged and went to the coffee vending machine. He ordered a regular black coffee and waited for the hot can to tumble out. Then, his gaze turned back to Makenshi, who was still in the same position, apparently unaware of the Captain's presence.

Spiegel walked over to Makenshi with two cans of coffee in hand. He placed one on the table right in front of the gunslinger's face, whose eyes slowly drifted to the can. Then, Makenshi shifted into a sitting position to make room for his Watcher. For a while they drank in silence. Then, the Captain finally spoke.

"I've held on to my beliefs for such a long time. What you said back in Norway may be true, but... It's just hard for me to discard what I had believed for so long."

Makenshi continued to sip his coffee. Spiegel thought that he was being ignored, but after a minute the gunslinger replied. "It's true, a handful of people become lost to the power of robots and lose all of their humanity. However, I remember the time when I became a robot. I was a better person than I was as a human. If that robot body hadn't given me the chance to restart my whole life, who knows just what kind of a person I'd be today." He rose, then started to walk away. "Thanks for the coffee," he said before wandering off.

Captain Spiegel sighed. This whole thing was all too confusing. He finished his coffee, but he was still feeling drowsy. Placing the empty can on the table, he began to sink into the couch, laying down on it and staring blankly at the ceiling.

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The Sane One in the Room

(Post-Stage 4)

Turn after turn, Nox was led through the hallways towards the Interrogation Room. Guards flanking all sides made sure he kept pace, getting only glimpses in open doors of offices of the humans and robots working side by side, immersed in paperwork. Finally, they reached a metal door, marked with the name "Interrogation Room B". One of the officers turned to face Nox, who was silent during the entire trip.

"Human, you are being held under suspicion of conspiring with outlaws wanted by the Robot Police Department. You are expected to cooperate with all directions until such time that you are cleared of any charges. Any attempt to use force will be punished to the full extent of the law. Do you understand?"

Nox nodded in assent. The officer unlocked the door, and Nox was lightly prodded into the room and left alone by the robot officers.

He was met by the gaze of a human in a nicely kept suit, with his badge neatly pinned onto his jacket. Though he looked nicely dressed, his face was tired and slightly unkempt as evidenced by his unkempt goatee and wild hair. When he spoke to Nox, the words came out in a slightly deep tone.

"Alright slick," the officer said, "you heard what guard said outside, so I don't want to have to repeat myself. So let's start with your name, age, occupation...all that vital stuff."

Nox stood at attention, straight up as if he were a soldier. "My name is Nox, I am nineteen years of age, and I am a nomad," he replied without missing a step.

"Nineteen? A nomad? Kinda ambitious, aren't you? Striking out at such a young age, alone in a battle zone with no protection except some rags. What the HELL were you thinking going out there? You could've been dead, kid! Sit down, and tell me the truth. I'd love to hear it."

The officer motioned to a chair next to Nox, which he quickly sat down in.

"In truth, officer..."

"Horn."

"...officer Horn, I was seeking the aid of the Robot Police Department in getting out of the area. I was passing through, I heard a robot shout about evacuation, and I made my way over to the first officers I saw."

"Kid, I was born at night, but not last night. One of our officers saw you teleport out of there with some crazy magic or something...magic, that's another thing, how do you know stuff like that?"

"Officer, I am a Mage. Teleportation is a basic matter to accomplish, provided you have a spot to go to. I assure you, I do it all the time."

"A magician? Do they really exist?"

"Officer, you have surely seen stranger things in your time," Nox calmly replied, "you are surrounded by robots, and as far as I have seen, this world has aliens, ghosts and all other sorts of inhuman beings. You must have some faith that Magi, not magicians, can exist."

"Fine, assume they do. That doesn't explain why the hell you had your escape point already made before the evacuation. Some of our robot units caught a guy dressed in a cloak EXACTLY like yours walking in at about a quarter past eleven. Wait, didn't you also have another guy with you?"

"He is my guardian, Tempest. He is resting, and he cannot come out now. "

Horn looked at Nox with an annoyed look on his face. "Well kid, you still haven't answered me! Now what were you REALLY doing there?"

Nox stood up and held his hand out, as if to congratulate Horn. "Very good, very good indeed. You saw right through my lie, very observant. If you must know, it is because I seek to join the RPD, here and now."

"Join?" Horn said, clearly surprised. "You want to join the guys who are keeping the peace, and you lie to me about it? Why didn't you just come out and say it?"

"To be honest, I wished to speak to the man I talked to back out in Niagara Falls."

"Lieutenant Riley? He's a very busy man. Right now, you are dealing with me, and as far as I see, you have no choice in the matter. Were you expecting to be welcomed with open arms here or something?"

Nox lowered his hand back to his side. "I was expecting to be treated with mistrust and fear. I am not stupid, Officer Horn, I understand that you are in the middle of a war, and any stranger asking to join out of the blue would be laughed at, if not thrown in prison on sight."

"Good answer," Horn said, "but it doesn't change a thing." He pondered something for a few minutes, and looked back to Nox. "You know what? I should let you try anyway. I can't do much in the way of information, but our Processing Department will put you through the wringer, they're so thorough. Yeah, that's a great idea! If you're a spy, they'll catch you no problem, and if you're clean, you can join all you want! Sounds like a win-win deal to me."

"I find no problem with it, though you will not find any sort of thing like spying. I assure you of that."

"Yeah, we'll see kid."

Horn radioed for officers to take Nox to the Processing Department. As they came in, Nox turned to follow them.

"Oh wait, Officer Horn, one more question. I noticed you haven't once asked me to remove my mask. Is there any specific reason why?"

"Easy one kid. You'd probably refuse to take it off anyway, like you're a superhero or something. That, and I know guys who wear a mask like you have some real messed-up reason for doing so, and I'd rather not know it. Now get going, I have a stack of papers sitting at my desk and the boss wants them pronto."

Horn waved Nox off, and he exited the interrogation room with the robot officers. Nox remained silent for the rest of the walk, and he went through the rest of the "processing" with no incident. Shockingly, the rest of the officers he met were not surprised that he was a Mage, nor did they ask him to remove his mask. Nox could only guess that they were either too scared of him, or they thought he was some sort of freak--both possible, given that such behavior was to be expected from non-Mages.

As Nox sat in a waiting room after filling out more paperwork, waiting on the decision from the RPD, he seemed to be contemplative, almost asleep. In the back of his mind however, Nytris Oxyde knew that his guise was working, and that things were going all as he expected.

--------------------

Rebirth

9:15 AM, Unknown Location

"Wow, this place hasn't changed at all."

Nick and Crys wandered into a familiar underground lab, nostalgia hitting on them. It appeared that it had remained undisturbed since the last time they were in here, so the Scissor Army must not have found it yet.

Nick opened the mini-fridge. Surprisingly it was still working, keeping an assorted amount of beverages cold for all these months. "Hey, look what I found!" Nick exclaimed, waving an unopened bottle of White Russian with a grin plastered on his face.

"We'll drink it when we're done here," Crys said.

"Oh alright..." Nick put the bottle on top of the mini-fridge. "So what are we looking for here, Crys?" he inquired, examining stacks of blueprints scattered messily on a table.

"Just need to make some finishing touches on our stuff," she replied. Crys moved across the dusty lab, scanning the counter at the end of the room until she found what she was looking for. It was a large box-like machine with a plain looking orb nestled at the top. "Nick, give me the watch."

"Oh, right." He walked across the room and produced three plain-looking digital watches from his pocket. Crys took them and retrieved various tools from a nearby shelf. "Let's see if I can still make these things," she muttered.

All of a sudden, laughter cut through the air. Crys and Nick darted around.

"Hahahaha! This place sure brings back memories! I was just wandering around, but I didn't expect to find you two here!"

The former Ascendant Androids recognized the voice of this unwanted presence and a feeling of dread came to them. All they had were weak plasma pistols, hardly enough to defeat this guy...

9:15 AM, RPD headquarters

"Natalie, you do maintenance on the SF units, right? Do you know happened to my bodyguards?"

Doctor Beeson looked up from her work. "Oh... Well, the officials didn't like how you tampered with them, so they reverted the upgrades you gave to them. They're also not your bodyguards anymore."

Makenshi yawned, drinking a smoothie and mending his tattered coat. Some of the hidden minuscule protective plates had fallen out from the inside. "Oi, well that's a shame. I spent quite some time on them."

"Honestly, I'm not sure why you cared so much about them. They're only machines, without any individuality..."

Makenshi was now picking at one of his revolver cartridges. "I was one of those machines once... And really it's a shame that sentient beings like them have constraints put on them that limit who they can be. Maybe if I treated them differently than how everyone else treats them, then maybe I could teach them things that would break those constraints..."

Beeson nodded absentmindedly, though she didn't quite understand what her accomplice was talking about. "You're a strange one, Shiken. But you're nice."

"Heh, I've been described along the lines of 'strange' all the time, but 'nice' is a rare one."

"Oh." The doctor walked away from her lab table towards Makenshi. "Well, I'm finished patching up your revolvers. Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"Yeah," he said, arm outstretched with an empty plastic cup in his hand. "Get me another smoothie and you're done for today."


One day later
4:23 PM


"Okay, what the hell happened here?!" Spiegel demanded.

"He collapsed half an hour ago in the lobby. He's been neglecting all of his injuries and it's finally taken its toll on him," the doctor explained.

"What the hell?! I thought he was supposed to make full recoveries before going back on the battlefield!"

"Yeah.... All those times he'd been.... releasing himself early."

"GRAGH!" the captain yelled in frustration.

"You're being too loud, Nick," came a groan from the infirmary bed.

"Shut up, Max," Spiegel grumbled. Then he turned to the doctor. "Well, Beeson? How long's it gonna be?"

"Oh, he's free to move around after a few days, but I don't think he'll be seeing any action for a while. Not until he's healed completely. I'll make sure of that."

"Hah! Now that I think about it, this is gonna take a great load off of my shoulders! Well then, I'll check up on ya later, Max!" and with that, the captain walked out.

Doctor Beeson blinked, then looked down at Makenshi. "I'm going to run diagnostics on the SF units. Bye." Then she left as well.

Makenshi sighed.

4 days later
3:22 AM


Another long, sleepless night. Makenshi was familiar with these times. The halls were completely deserted, save for the security that worked night shifts. But otherwise he was free to wander around without the human officers' contemptuous glances.

It felt like such a long time since he had been completely pardoned and released from prison. But some people still saw him as a criminal, a criminal who had committed horrible acts many, many years ago....

And they have every right to think that, Makenshi thought bitterly.

He had been stuck inside headquarters for 4 days straight. He yearned to go out and fight, but he was being kept under close watch by Doctor Beeson and Spiegel to heal completely before going back into active duty.

Wandering aimlessly through the vast corridors, sipping a hot can of coffee, his mind continued to drift on to other matters. Cossack had fallen. Could he have done anything to prevent it? How was Vulcan doing? What about Crys and Nick? And where could his other long lost teammates have gone to? And why-

He ducked and whipped out one of his pistols with his free hand, aiming behind him at the intruder, who also had a gun fixed on him.

"My, my, you're still the sharp one. It's okay, I've jammed all frequencies around us including the bug on, so you can turn around."

Pistol still fixated on the figure, Makenshi whirled around to face the mysterious guest. He gasped as he saw who it was. "You....." he growled.

"Yeah, it's me," Pride said.

"How did you get in here?"

"It's quite simple, really. If you can transform yourself into a sound wave you can go anywhere you want," the white-haired robot replied. "You know, out of my two grandpas, you're certainly the more favorable one."

"Grandpa?" Makenshi echoed with exasperation. "Are you trying to act cute now?"

"Well it's true. You and Wily-"

"I'm surprised you're not working with that incompetent scumbag."

"Oh, I was. That is until I found out that he was indeed a scumbag."

Makenshi lowered his gun. "What do you mean?"

"Are you aware of a Robot Master by the name of Spark-Chan?"

"Of the Mechanical Maniacs? Yes, I do."

"Dr. Wily reprogrammed her to be his wench. And to top it off, he's threatening the same treatment for anyone who is disloyal." Pride paused to examine Makenshi's shocked expression. "Yes," he continued. "I wanted to see what my other grandfather was like, and now I know. He's just another example of why humanity sucks."

"Well then, I assume you've already set up bombs in this place?"

"No, that's not why I'm here. I've lost my spark to fight, honestly," Pride answered with a yawn. "I'm here to make a delivery."

Makenshi raised an eyebrow. "And what is it you're delivering?"

"Your armor's complete." Pride tossed something in the air, and Makenshi caught it. The gunslinger's eyes widened as he saw that it was a blue, customized digital watch with an envelope attached, recognizing it as a certain scientist's handiwork. He looked back at Pride. "Are you trying to tell me Crys trusted you to give this to me?"

The robot grinned. "Well, they said they couldn't find any other way any other way to get this to you, and I am quite the charmer, am I right?"

Makenshi scowled. "I still don't trust you."

Pride shrugged. "Fine, then. I've done what I had to, see if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." He then took out his red guitar and struck a chord. Instantly he dematerialized into a flash of light that sped off to placed unknown.

Makenshi was alone now. He carefully scrutinized the watch in his hand. There was no doubt that it was made by Crys. Everything that he had planned from the very beginning of this war led up to this. This watch not only gave him power, but it also had a secondary function that served as his ticket to freedom, his ticket to escape from the RPD.

But now? Things had changed since the war began. Did he really want to run away from this place? He had to, didn't he? He couldn't fight for something that he didn't believe in. He couldn't fight on the side that supported the Shutdown Code.

No, that wasn't his real reason for running away, he realized. Stating that he didn't believe in it was sugarcoating it. In actuality, he was just scared of the Shutdown Code. He was scared that he would have to have it installed in him. He had been willing to abandon everyone in the RPD..... Vulcan, Drastic Measures, and the Mechanical Maniacs..... All because he was scared.

He couldn't run away. He won't.

Makenshi dumped his empty coffee can into the trashcan and made his way back to his office.

--------------------

Alright Maks, here's some important stuff I felt like telling you just to refresh your memory.

Once you press that big red button on the right hand side of your watch, your armor will be transported from wherever it is to wherever you are and you'll merge with it instantaneously, making you a robot. I have no idea where all the extra matter with your human part goes, but let's not worry about that. Also, you can internally input the coordinates of where you want your armor to go once you demorph, so you should do that so you have the armor beside you to add on to it.

One important thing you should remember: Now, say if you were to lose an arm while you were a robot. If you demorph, your human arm will still be intact, but just remember to repair your armor. Same thing goes the other way around, though you can't really "repair" a dismembered human arm. So you pretty much have two separate bodies to take care of. HOWEVER, if you were to die as a robot, your human self is dead as well. And then you're dead for good. So be careful. A rule of thumb is that decapitation, getting squished, and blood loss (your robot self has artificial blood running through you that serves as fuel) equals death.

And there you have it. Now have fun with your new toy! Mwuaha.
Don't die though.
Seriously.

~Crys

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