The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

Despair and Hope Part 1

By Cyros

[Stage 5, end of Scenario A]

Warning klaxons were blaring. The hallways and conduits of the space station were rupturing, threatening to breach and send any unfortunate soul into the icy depths of space.

It was time to go.

Four figures raced through the bedlam of panicked robots and mechanisms. Unlike the surrounding crowd, the Wily Rescue Force and their “guest of honor” Flashman actually knew where they were going. All the other robots, including the Sniper Joes, were just going nuts. Had it been a less hectic situation, they would have found it funny.

They had only recently arrived on the station, after narrowly escaping Geminiman's traps in Himeji. Doc Robot had gone ahead of them, to warn Wily of the coming attack. By the time the other WRF members returned, the place was a madhouse. And the teleportation grid had just given out when they arrived. Now they had to escape the old fashion way.

A pipe burst on the wall next to Expressman, bathing him in hot gas. He yelped in pain and moved farther away from the wall. “Damn it! How much further till the escape pods!?”

“Not close enough!” shouted Multiman. He stopped running and pointed toward a nearby wall. “So we’re gonna need to take a shortcut! Barrageman!”

“Unit Barrageman understands perfectly.” The olive green assault android leveled his Ion Cannon at the wall in question, only for Flashman to block his line of fire.

“Whoa, you’re just gonna blast through the wall!? Did you not notice the space station breaking apart around us!?”

Flashman was interrupted by a backhand from Multiman. He stumbled and was helped up by Expressman as the rotund machine glared at him.

“I know what I’m doing, you piece of slag! There’s nothing but a storage bay through here; which happens to be right next to the escape pods!”

“Unit Barrageman says to take cover!” And thus a large green beam of energy impacted the wall, which held for only a few seconds before melting and blowing apart at the seams. A nicely sized hole was left in its wake. “We have ourselves an opening, Unit Multiman.”

“Good work! Now let’s move it!”

All four robots ran through the hole. Indeed, on the other side was a large storage bay, its contents hastily assembled. It was only a short while ago when they had evacuated the planet-side Skull Castle, so the mess was of no surprise. Not like they cared at the moment. Survival was the highest priority.

That was until Flashman turned his head ever so slightly and spotted something. It might as well have been the Holy Grail itself from the expression on his face.

It was his body.

His true body.

After they had moved up to this space station, Flash kept wondering where Wily had relocated the capsule where his original body had been imprisoned. Because, let’s face it, he knew Wily wouldn’t leave something so valuable to the enemy. But being reassigned to the Rescue Force prevented him from doing a thorough search of the station to find out where it was.

Now, as he was fleeing for his life, he saw that which he most desired. He had nearly forgotten about it! Had they not taken this shortcut, he would have never seen it!

Never would he have as good an opportunity as this.

Twisting on his front heel, he angled himself back toward the capsule and ran. It didn’t take long for Expressman, who was right next to him, to notice this. Flashman didn’t care what he was saying; this was his last chance. He had to get his body back. Nothing would stop him.

The creaking of metal said otherwise as a large section of the ceiling broke away and fell. Flashman paused and looked upward. His eyes widened in horror as debris rained down upon him. He was soon pinned to the ground, and good.

He ignored the warnings inside his head and craned his gaze toward the capsule. His hopes fell when he saw nothing but metal. A good portion of the ceiling had blocked his way to the capsule. He tried to swear, but found his voice module had been damaged. Nor was he able to move.

No! This couldn’t be happening. Not now! He was so close! This was his last chance!

His mind was locking up on him and his perception wavered. The next few minutes were a blur. The Rescue Force had retrieved him... they ran out of the storage bay... the reached the escape pods... they launched.

Flashman was propped up next to the window, and he was barely able to see outside at the receding space station. Wordlessly, he screamed in terror as realization came over him.

Skull Space Station exploded shortly after that.

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