The Business of War

Orchestrated By C.M. Rich (Magnetman)

RPD War Journals 2

By Shadowstrike, Seadragon, Makenshi

OCCURS RIGHT AT THE END OF STANDOFF IN ALBERTA!

Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Makenshi carried out one last sweep of the area. His forces had completely spread out, searching for survivors. They had not seen any civilians during the course of the battle, which was strange.

He was alone, scouting through a decrepit building when he heard something topple over. Immediately darting to the source of the noise, he found someone. He was a robot, obviously not suited for fighting, and his were filled with fear. Makenshi crossed his arms, covering up his RPD badge, then approached the robot.

"P-Please! Leave me alone!" the robot said, cowering.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. Where are you going?"

"Max, what the hell do you think you're-" Spiegel said, but the robot's reply made him stop.

"I-I'm going to Dr. Light's."

"What? You know where he is?" Makenshi asked excitedly.

The robot nodded. "Are you seeking safety from this war as well?"

"No, but-"

"This is good. He can lead us right to the doctor," Spiegel cut in. "Get him to take you there."

"But I must speak with him," Makenshi finished, and he carefully folded a hand around his badge and removed it, sliding it into his coat pocket without showing it.

The robot looked skeptical at first, but he nodded again. "Okay. There's a teleporter not too far from here, but we might get caught by the RPD..."

"They were all gone when I came here, so it should be fine," and then Makenshi muttered, "Hide," to his units out of earshot of the robot.

RPD Headquarters

"I can't believe it. I didn't think we could find Dr. Light so easily," Spiegel said with a smirk.

"Sir, are you sure that it's okay that Shiken's bug has been removed? We won't be able to see anything he does," Vatnick commented.

Spiegel shook his head. "It's fine. We still have him tracked and audio bugged, and what could he possibly do?"

Vatnick didn't answer, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"Here it is," the Watchers heard the robot say through their audio feed.

"All we need is for your tracker to get the location of Light's hideout. Don't fight, just get in and get out," Spiegel ordered to Makenshi through his mic.

The hum of a teleporter was heard, and Spiegel and Vatnick immediately looked over at a computer screen. A red dot that pinpointed Makenshi's location disappeared. The officers waited for it to return.

"Here we are," they heard the robot say, but Makenshi's dot had not appeared.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here," Makenshi remarked.

The still had not appeared. "Damn it, they must have blocked the tracing of any signals," Spiegel cursed. "Shiken, ask where you are."

"Where are we?"

"It's a place that's secluded from the outside," the robot answered without revealing anything more. There was some suspicion in his tone.

"Can you describe the place, Shiken?" Spiegel asked.

"This is a beautiful meadow."

"We're actually indoors. This is just a simulation."

"Wow, that really helps," Spiegel muttered.

No one spoke for the next couple of minutes. Then, "Well, the doctor's over there. I need to go get repairs," the robot said, and he was heard walking away.

"Alright, we can't trace the place's location. Leave," Spiegel ordered.

"Wait, I have to talk with someone."

Spiegel sighed. "Fine, but make it quick."

"Are you sure about this?" Vatnick asked.

"Like I said, what could he do?" Spiegel retorted.

"Hey," Makenshi said.

There was a pause. Then, "Sorry, do I know you?" the voice sounded like a girl.

"Goodness, first you can't even remember where you first found me, then you steal my vodka, and now you can't even recognize me as your old Wavey?"

There was a gasp, and after a pause, the sound of shuffling.

"I... I knew that you were still out there. Ever since that time when that shot was fired.... I knew it was you!" the female voice cried happily.

"Wait, wha? Is that really you, Makenshi?" came a voice that sounded male.

"Yeah.... It's been a while, Nick," Makenshi's voice said.

"Geez, the whole team disbanded mainly because of you, and then you dare to come back after one and a half years?" Nick asked jokingly.

There was a pause.

"You know what has happened to our armors, right?" Makenshi inquired.

Another pause.

"Yes..." Crys affirmed with a solemn tone in her voice.

"I'm.... I'm going to make sure that every single one of those SA officers go down," Makenshi said.

"You're not honestly thinking of fighting?" Crys said worriedly.

"I already am."

"It's too dangerous! Without your armor you're just a human going against machines that can break your bones with a flick of their wrist!"

"Heh, of course I'm equipped to meet their standards though. And when they underestimate me I get the upper edge."

"Yes, but how long can you rely on that?"

"I don't know, but I can't just sit back and do nothing. It's exactly like before."

"Oh please!" Nick interjected. "BEFORE didn't have circumstances as messed up as this war. The Scissor Army versus the RPD versus Wily versus Cossack. It's crazy!"

"Oh, by the way, Vulcan is in the RPD," Makenshi added.

"What? That's not like him. I would never have expected him to go with them," Nick said.

"Well, maybe he was forced to, you know?" Crys mused.

"Yeah, that's what happened to me," Makenshi said, and then he whispered, "I'm with the RPD as well."

Spiegel decided that that was enough. "Alright, you've had your time to chat. Now go. Now."

"Well.... I... have to go now," Makenshi announced. "But.. it was nice seeing you two again."

"Already? But...."

"Sorry..... But I promise I'll come back. And we can have a drink and talk as much as we want."

"You'd better keep that promise!"

"I will.... Bye, Crys..... See ya, Nick."

"See if you can get outside and get out of the field that's disrupting our signals," Spiegel commanded.

Makenshi's footsteps were heard.

"Uh, Maks?" came Nick's voice faintly.

"Huh?"

"The teleporter's right there."

"Oh..... heh.... Right...."

Damn, Spiegel thought. He couldn't give up here, but before he could give any further orders to Makenshi, the gunman had already teleported back to RPD headquarters.

Location Unknown

Both Nick and Crys were crying. It had been one and a half years since they had seen him, and they weren't sure how long it would be until their next meeting, or if they would ever even see him again, for that matter.

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Junkman's War Journal #3: Return from the Abyss

Note: This takes place after the end of Truth & Darkness, the White Knight doth approach....

After I fell in the battle against Geminiman, the world was nothing but black. I laid unconcious after I used the Hellfire Blast on the clone. Thankfully, the team rescued me before the fall of CN Tower and managed to teleport back to RPD headquarters.

I'm now laid down on a cold hard metallic bed. Scientists working on me, trying desperately to repair the damage I took from the SA Joes, Geminiman's laser and, of course, Cloudman's errant Thunder Bolt. The first thing they did was to reattach the claw arm after it was torn apart from the Joes and the Gemini Laser. Then, they worked on the various damages I took in battle. It took about 3 and a half hours, but they finally finished repairs on me. They allowed me to sit up and let me feel how everything worked.

"How does it feel, Junkman?" said the one who was named Dr. Matthew Sonderham. Dr. Sonderham was the person within the RPD who gave us the upgrades and gave me the liquid metal coat that made me different. "It's going to be a while, Doc." I said. "That jerk did major damage to me. I'm shocked that the team got me out of there though. By the way, what did happen in the rest of the battle?"

Dr. Sonderham told me that the Scissor Army, led by the traitor Geminiman, overtook Toronto. The others fought hard and valiently against him, but he was too much. At least the people were saved from being torn asunder from this psychopath. I felt angered that I couldn't do anything to save the city. But, the only thing I could do now, is to return to the team.

RPD Headquarter

Turbo, Burst and Spring were sitting in a small room after they returned from Toronto. Turbo apparently lost an arm in the battle, but that was quickly repaired. Burst had some internal issues that were also quickly repaired. Spring came out surprisingly unharmed.

I knocked on the door "Who is it?" asked Turboman. "You know it's me, you fool. Let me in!"

The others were happy to see me back and at 100% after the battle of Toronto. "Ugh.. It still feels like a freight train just ran me over again and again." I said. "But, at least I'm back to normal. I can't wait to get back to the battlefield again!"

"But, Junk..." said Burstgirl, "What about what happened in Toronto? Aren't you afraid of having this happen again?"

"No... To me, having the chance to get back at that damned Scissor Army is good enough. Trust me, if I had the chance, I would of skewered that treacherous bastard right there and then. The next CO of the Scissor Army I run into... will not survive my wrath."

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