Location: Lima, Peru
Max. Cossack Scrap Value: 2,454
SA Infantry: 6,621
RPD Units: 553
Wily Bots: 251
Omniman and Golemman stood uncomfortably in Dr.Wily's lab. A minute
ago they were feeling accomplished and full of pride as they presented
their report to their lord and master. Those feelings rapidly diminished
as Omni wrapped it up and looked down to see their creator leaning
over his workbench, one hand supporting his temple by the fingers,
the other slowly tapping a micro-welder against the surface. His
face was furrowed in the same impatient, irritated, disappointed
look that the Evil Eight had been subjected to for far too long.
The old man kept silent for a moment, mulling something over in
his head. It felt like an eternity to the robotic duo. What had
they done wrong? The mission was as successful as they could have
hoped for.
"So let me get this straight..." the old man finally
spoke up, causing his audience to visibly tense. "I sent you
to North Korea to secure its nuclear stockpile before the SA could
get to it, but you can't find the bombs where they're supposed
to be...so instead of spreading out to search the alternate locations
as you were ordered...you senselessly kill two RPD Watchers and
then lead your troops into a suicide match with the SA forces,
allowing the RPD to gain the upper hand and secure the area...and
then you came back here and...bragged about it?" the summary
was given with an air of exasperated disinterest, until the last
three words which came with an exaggerated upward inflection. It
was the fact that they failed to recognize their failure that confused
him the most.
Omniman responded uneasily. "Master...the Scissor Army did
not acquire the devices either. The evidence in the bunkers suggested
they were cleaned out by the Pyongyang government before its fall.
The new locations..."
"Are certainly in the RPD's hands now! When I said I wanted
those nukes for myself and not Cutman, I didn't mean you should
leave them for the do-gooders!" Wily barked back, exchanging
his quiet annoyance for his trademark excitable temper.
"But Master, the assassination order! Your safety took precedence!"
"MY safety!? Were those two humans or those SA grunts on their
way to kill me right now?!"
He paused, expecting an answer from Omniman, who only stared back,
frozen. Golemman answered hesitantly for his partner. "...uhhh...no?..."
Omniman snapped out of his stupor in attempt to defend his command
decisions.
"The RPD and the SA both wish to see you dead, my lord! It
was our duty to defend your honor."
"I know they want me dead! I knew that from the start!
If I got my hands on those bombs they'd have really wanted me dead!
I'm not afraid of them, or at least I wouldn't be if there were
less nukes lying around they could just drop on my castle! Getting
dragged into needless fights is no way to defend me!"
Omni and Golem hanged their heads in shame. They had heard this
lecture many times, but it was hard to accept. Wily's new appreciation
for covert tactics vindicated everything that accursed Rescue Force
stood for. As much as Omniman wanted to believe in the purity of
direct confrontation, it never seemed to earn them their much-desired
praise.
Wily shook his head at their silence and continued. "And why did
you deviate from your orders again? Something that Skullman of
the Cossack's Comrades told you? And don't go telling me that datapad
was evidence of anything solid. He may as well given you a napkin
with 'Dear assassins, kill Wily plz, love Cutman' scribbled on
it, and you would have bought it! Can't you see Cossack's sprawling
revolutionaries were just using you? I wouldn't be surprised if
the CC walked away with MY bombs, just because YOU were tricked
into fighting both sides and leaving things open for them!"
This made Omniman's eyes widen in horror, and then narrow in hatred.
He wasn't entirely sure yet though. "But...the Comrades...they
fought with us against the Scissor forces. They fought bravely
and honorably."
"Like you? Wonderful, it really comforts me to know that my
creations were outsmarted by robots nearly as dumb as they are.
If they were so busy fighting, they couldn't have gotten much from
salvage before the RPD forces were reactivated. Still, it baffles
me that they all got out of that in one piece. Bottom-feeders like
Cossack's lot ought to be wiped off the face of the earth right
off the bat like the vermin they are!"
The duo was surprised, they had almost thought of the Cossackers
as their allies. "Should we...smash them?" Golem asked,
warily.
Wily groaned in exhaustion. "I don't care! That's the
point! I'm certainly not going to waste my time with those pests
with more important matters at hand. I just wish the RPD and SA
would do their job and eradicate them already so I don't have to
keep hearing about them!"
Omniman seethed. It was true, the Cossack soldiers were not worthy
of his respect. The fact that they used him so transparently quickly
filled him with thoughts of vengeance, thoughts he shared for few
other groups outside the Maniacs.
Dr.Wily finally turned away from the pair and looked back at the
machine on his workbench. He was usually good at tinkering and
holding up a conversation at the same time, and felt gypped, having
realized he wasted the last few minutes chewing out his underlings
with no progress to show for it. He immediately went back to fusing
the seams on the framework as he concluded the little meeting without
looking at his company. "Anyway, I'm sending you to Lima to
secure another weapon that's supposed to be there, the information
is on that tablet at the end of the desk."
Omniman, once more determined to prove himself, quickly grabbed
the tablet and examined the briefing. He noticed something odd
about the supporting units supplement list. "Master, there
are only-"
"Don't bother asking for more bots, you'll just lead them
into a pointless battle and get them destroyed anyway. Maybe with
a complement like that you'll learn how to take a more subtle approach
for once! Now get going, neither of you need any repairs!"
Complying, the two robot masters marched out of the lab and into
the halls of Skull Castle. It seemed they were not going to get
any rest, the mission began immediately. Omniman assured himself
that this time they would certainly make Wily proud. And while
he claimed not to be interested in the Cossack forces directly...
...well, he wouldn't mind if someone wiped that vermin off
the face of the earth, if given the chance...
--------------------
"Holy crap on a pita, that's a lot of Scissor Army troops."
That was Slashman's reaction to the intel that Cossack had recieved
from Lima, Peru. The forces of the RPD and Wily combined paled
in comparison.
"I don't know about you, Slash, but I'm getting a sense of deja
vu."
stated Shademan. "Overwhelming Scissor Army forces with no CO,
and a small Wily platoon with two COs. This is the same state we
were in back at London. What could this mean?"
"I think I have the answer to that." said Dr. Cossack.
"According to our limited intel, the Scissor Army has built
a supply port off the coast of Peru, right near Lima. The port acts
as a rearming station, and as far as we know, there might be more
all over the world. It isn't a major port, but it seems to be the
only one in the South American continent."
Slashman pondered this for a while. "But, if that's true, why
don't they have a CO? Major port or not, it's still valuable."
Dr. Cossack nodded. "This is true. However, Lima is already
under full Scissor Army control. No CO is needed, especially not
with the minor forces the other two sides have sent."
"So, what's the misson?" asked Shademan.
The Russian doctor ran a program, displaying a simple animation. "Our
intel tells us that there is a convoy of supplies heading for Lima
from New Zealand. There are no additional troops on the ship, only
weaponry and parts. Your mission is to go to Lima and seize control
of the convoy."
"Easier said than done." said Slashman. "I take it
the RPD just wants to blow the thing sky high, regarless of whether
the convoy is there or not?"
"Fair assumption, but our intel doesn't say." said Cossack. "In
this battle, combat is not essential. You two must use all of your
stealth skills to incapacitate any higher-ranking Joes over there.
Like before, don't engage the RPD or Wily unless your are fired upon."
"One last question." said Shademan. "What time is
the ship expected to arrive?"
"Approxmetally 13:54, two days from now. Good luck you two."
Slashman and Shademan saluted, and left.
--------------------
14:58/Day 1/46 hours and 4 minutes remain
Slashman growled. The humidity was annoying him, and he didn't know
how much longer he could stay within the dense jungle area that laid
South of Lima. Still, he managed to maintain his cool as Shademan
told him the plan.
"Alright, I think I have a pretty good idea of how we're going
to pull this off." said Shademan. "We don't know who the
Wily COs are, they might be friendly. If they are, we'll ally with
them, and split the profit. If not, well, it's just more competition."
"Sounds good to me, but the we haven't been given a map of the
infastructure."
said Slashman.
Shademan considered this point. "This is true. However, an arial
veiw won't give us that intel."
Slashman nodded. "Right. I think I have an idea. I'll scout
around the Scissor Army port. You fly by the other two groups, and
see what they have planned. And please, try not to get caught this
time."
Shademan smiled, and departed. Slashman, meanwhile, dashed off towards
the port, and hid behind some cargo, waiting for a couple of patrol
officers to move...
--------------------
18:05/Day 1
Omniman gazed over the steep plateau overlooking the distant coast.
The setting sun cast a spectacular view over the Peruvian landscape,
but the grim robot master couldn't be less interested in the aesthetics
of his vantage point. Using the telescopic limits of his optic sensors,
his view was fixed on the haze-obscured port at the far end of the
devastated city of Lima. Not known for his patience, the former Wilybot
leader found it exceptionally difficult to wait out the next two
days for the Scissor Army to receive its much-anticipated supply
shipment.
The datapad Wily had given them days earlier as their briefing referenced
the report for another recent mission to Berlin by one of the Doctor's
new battalions. The group had encountered Cutman's incarnation of
the Ascendant Androids, and experienced first-hand the new Napalmman's
devastating special weapon, the Napalm Nuke. Also included in the
briefing were reports of smaller-scale explosions, similar to the
group's descriptions of the N.Nuke, occurring in portions of the
Amazon nearby Lima, which had just been secured by the SA. Since
some of these explosions took place while Napalmman was supposedly
in Berlin, it led Wily to believe the SA was replicating Napalmman's
weapon for more wide scale use. Given Wily's recent interest in weapons
of mass destruction, he sent the Evil Eight to Peru to find and secure
this weapon for himself.
While Omniman and Golemman were not sent with a large force of support
units, the machines they did have were thankfully designed specially
for jungle combat. Many of their complement were initially designed
to support the original Napalmman himself in his hidden base, and
while they were far from the East Asian jungle environment they were
created for, they were just as effective in the South American rainforest.
Their Batton spies quickly found the camouflaged clearing where the
weapon was being developed, and brought back to their commanders
images of the massive, black, tread-mounted howitzer that could have
been described as Napalmman himself with all the humanoid aspects
removed. Large and bulky as it was, Golemman would still be able
to lift and carry it to their teleportation site if necessary. With
the level of defense apparently stationed around the weapon, Omni
was also confident they could take it at any time. If that were all
there was to it, their mission would be over already.
However, fortune eluded the Evil Eight once again. The SA had already
used up all of the test shells for the cannon, and with the shells
themselves being the only thing Wily needed to study to begin with,
he would certainly berate them for another failure if they came back
with nothing but a customized siege battery. He already had plenty
of those.
Rather than show their hand too soon, Omniman begrudgingly adopted
a low profile and furthered the Batton surveillance until they learned
of the upcoming arms shipment, which included sixteen more full-fledged
Napalm Nuke shells, not a long-lasting supply, but enough for Wily
to study and possibly replicate, and maybe just enough for whatever
he was planning for them anyway. All they had to do was keep a low
profile until they arrived, and then a frontal assault would finally
gain them their long-overdue victory.
Here, in the mountains halfway between the port and the weapon’s
storage area, Omniman kept an intent vigil of the direction he expected
the supplies to come from. He had no reason to suspect anything unexpected
at this point, but he simply didn’t have much else to do.
As the sun sank into the horizon and shadows overtook his field of
vision, Omniman decided it was finally time to head back to the camp
and check on Golem and the Joes. It would already be dark in the
basin and it was the perfect time to hunt on all sides. The RPD forces
were concentrated in the city, trying and failing to oust the Scissor
Army, but the jungle was active with both Wilybots and the SA’s
Forest-Camo Joes. Both sides were adept at stalking through the dense
brush stealthily and effectively and never tired in their hunt. While
the SA Joes had advanced militaristic AI on their side, the Wilybots
worked on an animalistic instinct that made them nearly an even match,
as long as they remained in their ideal environment.
Besides the invading robots and native wildlife, there was another
force lurking deep in the rainforest. Human refugees, hiding in the
wilderness, armed themselves with whatever weapons they could find,
and were obviously preparing to strike back at the robotic monstrosities
that forced them from their homes. Omniman didn’t care, but
it was likely the bulk of the SA operatives in the area were there
to wipe out these stragglers. The SA were not having much luck sweeping
the jungle as it was, only succeeding in killing whichever humans
were foolish enough to attack them in attempt to capture their weapons.
The humans’
elusiveness was likely the reason the N.Nuke launcher was being developed
there in the first place. As critical as the General was of man’s
ravage of the earth’s precious ecosystem, he obviously wasn’t
above burning the entire Amazon down so they wouldn’t be able
to hide in it.
Omniman’s jet lift moved briskly through the perfectly-carved
tunnel their Rolling Drill mechs had cut through the mountainside
over the last two days. It was a simple route, only intended to allow
them to pass quickly from one side of the mountain range to the other
discretely and to allow them to store supplies. As fast as his transport
could move, it was still nearly an hour before he arrived at the
eastern side of the Andes where he met up with Golemman, stationed
on a similar plateau overlooking the darkened jungle with a small
host of smaller robots.
"Well? Any news?" Omni casually asked his monolithic partner.
Golemman looked like a stone statue staring over the jungle, and
even had several small birds moving around on his back that all flew
away in unison when the statue's head suddenly turned to acknowledge
the question.
"No. Cannon not move. Birds make mess on Golem's armor. Kitty
brought another leg. Other than that, jungle boring."
Omniman looked down and noticed a Sumatron in recharge mode, guarding
a Forest Joe's torn-off leg like a chewed-up trophy. The tiger mechs
were definitely their strongest asset in this environment, their
beast-like ferocity combined with exceptional speed, reflexes, and
armor gave them an edge even over the clever SA forces. In the right
light they were easily confused for real tigers, which could be why
the enemy Joes didn't take them seriously until the metallic teeth
and claws were actually digging into them. One would never find a
real tiger in the jungles of South America, but that tidbit might
not have been in the Joe's database, or it was and it didn't make
a difference.
"Very well. Send more Turbans and Battons to watch the supply
routes, call back the Monkings, and release the Gorilla Tank. Keep
the others on their regular rotation for now. I'm going to recharge.
You keep watch." Omniman gave the orders with little enthusiasm
as he walked back towards the tunnel where his recharging generator
was stored.
"Should we fight too?"
"You know I would love to, but we have to keep off the SA's
radar until the shipment comes, or not only will we be too busy fending
them off, but they may even increase security on our targets. It's
best if they only think we're letting the smaller bots stage minor
insurgent strikes for now."
Golemman let out a low, rumbling groan as he slowly turned his head
back into it original watching position. Omni could swear there was
moss growing on the giant's feet. He turned back towards the tunnel
and continued his sullen march.
"Omni!" Golemman suddenly blurted out.
Omniman signed and turned around again. "What is it? Can't you...oh."
he noticed Golem had craned his head upwards towards an ominously
shaped shadow emerging from the clouds. It was a winged creature,
but too big to be a bird. The figure was circling overhead, getting
gradually closer. The night sky made it difficult to see clearly,
but as it carefully descended, they could eventually make out the
shape of a humanoid robot in purple armor.
"No, this one split off from his team...he's with Cossack. Pride
and Spark Chan encountered them on their last mission."
"Cossack...what do we do?"
Omniman clenched his claw, thinking about how his last mission was
completely ruined by the CC's smooth-talk. "Let's see what he
wants." he said in a low voice. "But on my word, we destroy
him."
--------------------
Shademan cursed under his breath. He was able to spy on the RPD squad
earlier without too much trouble, but the two Wily COs spotted him
right away. Realizing that combat was unavoidable, he started circling
the two Wily bots, his talons outstretched. He figured that if he
could at least snatch up the smaller one, he might be able to make
a quick getaway by holding the CO hostage. It was not something he
wanted to do, but given the circumstance, he had no choice...
--------------------
Meanwhile, Slashman continued to scout out the port. The security
wasn't lax, but he still managed to hide from the enemy SA Joes that
patrolled the area. After a successful scout of the area, he took
refuge behind another crate.
"Alright," he said to himself. "The area's clear.
Now, all I have to do is wait for Shade-"
He stopped mid sentence, and looked out at the water. On the horizon,
a ship appeared. After a few minutes, his sensor array allowed him
to see the ship bore the distinct markings of the Scissor Army. Slashman's
face darkened.
"This isn't right." he said to himself. "Why would
they come this early? It makes no sense, unless this was all-"
His sensors started to go wild as he found himself surrounded.
"-a trap."
Several Scissor Joes had their weapons trained on the wolverine Robot
Master. There were around a hundred of them, more than Slashman thought
he could handle. However, that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
"Tsk tsk, didn't anyone ever tell you?" mocked Slashman
as he crouched into his fighting stance. "It is never wise to
corner a beast. You never know what they might DO!"
At that moment, he pounced at the nearest Joe, claws extended.
--------------------
"What do you want, Cossacker?"
Omniman demanded as Shademan drifted lower. He noticed the vampire
bot looked like he was preparing to attack. "You wouldn’t
dare attack us all alone, would you?" Omni might have retaliated
already if either he or Golem could reach their target from his height.
Shademan decided to take one stab at his earlier plan. It didn’t
look like these were the type of Wilybots to negotiate, but what
did he have to lose?
"My partner and I came here for...supplies. We don't have anything
against you. We just want to deal with the SA and get out alive."
Omniman and Golemman only stared at their winged visitor. They didn't
seem too impressed.
"And...well, I figure you're here to fight the SA too. Possibly
the RPD. Either way, we may actually be able to help, if you don't
mind working alongside us. We could use the backup."
Omniman chuckled darkly. "Backup, eh? You think we need you?
No, obviously you're the only one that needs help here. You say you
want to help us? Admit it, all you want is to use us to your own
ends!"
Shademan backed off slightly. "Woah, settle down. I just wanted
to see if it was a possibility. It's not like it could hurt anything,
could it?"
"Hurt? You want to see how dealing with us could hurt?" Omniman
glanced towards the tunnel and sent a silent signal. Moments later,
a stream of fire erupted from the hole in the mountainside and shot
straight at Shademan. The bat-winged robot nimbly dodged the flames
by letting himself drop for a second. As he regained lift, he could
see the source of the fire attack emerging from the cave. The gigantic
blue dog mech dug its paws into the ground and breathed out another
arcing stream of flame. A few Sniper Joes quickly arrived to add
more ammo for Shademan to dodge, as well as a couple of Robbits,
launching carrot-shaped missiles.
Shademan was able to dodge the storm of enemy fire, but had to fly
farther and farther away. He noted that while the lesser Wilybots
attacked, the COs just stood there glaring menacingly. Did they have
no long-range weapons? Shademan pondered the worth of just leaving
the Wily forces to their own devices, but he saw a chance to gain
some much-needed resources. He clearly had the aerial advantage against
these robots, and if he could defeat them, he might even be able
to force them to work with him after all.
Changing tactics, Shademan suddenly flew higher and made his way
closer to the cliff, evading all the enemy shots. The gunners lost
track of him when he flew over the peak of the mountain and disappeared.
After a few seconds of trying to figure out if he had retreated or
not, the Wily forces spotted a white energy bolt moving slowly from
the left. Before they could do anything about it, the shot made contact
with the Friender, instantly petrifying the giant canine mech. The
Sniper Joes opened fire into the darkness the white bolt had come
from, but only hit the empty mountainside. Shademan was living up
to his name and stalking through the darkness faster than his enemies
could keep up.
With the biggest threat momentarily neutralized, Shademan found a
good position out in the air with the Joes between himself and the
mountain wall and shot a small, low-frequency Noise Crush past the
enemy forces. As planned, the shot rebounded off the surface of the
mountain and landed in a Robbit's backside, causing minor, but noticeable
damage to the rabbit mech. The Wily forces collectively spun around
to target the side of the mountain the attack had come from. That
distraction was all Shade needed. Talons outstretched, he dove right
in, catching Omniman from behind and lifting the bewildered commander
high above the plateau, making sure to hold him in front of the other
Wilybots, now well aware of his location.
Shademan cackled. "I bet my offer doesn't look so bad now. Come
on, we don't have to fight each other, we should be saving this for
the Scissor Army!"
Omniman was furious. "Blasted traitor! We don't need the likes
of you! Now release me!"
Shademan flew higher over the edge of the plateau and loosened his
grip a little. "You sure you want me to let go? Or should we
just set down and talk about it?"
The idea did little to deter Omniman's anger. "You think you
can threaten me, whelp? I will drag you down with me!" With
that, Omni clamped his claw arm onto Shademan's foot and squeezed
hard. Shade didn't even have time to register the pain before the
appendage was crushed into a mangled mess. The shock caused him to
immediately release his other foot's hold on Omni's shoulder and
the dark robot master began to fall into the steep incline that laid
over the cliff below.
As Shademan screeched in pain and faltered in the air, Golemman finally
betrayed his statue-like appearance and reached out his massive arms
to catch his falling partner. When it looked like he wouldn't have
enough distance, the giant robot looked behind himself and grabbed
Omniman's jet-lift, immediately throwing it back towards its owner
as he fell past him. Omniman just barely managed to catch the transport
as he plummeted into the dark jungle. Climbing onto it, he punched
the flying apparatus to life and struggled to control his descent
until he could level off and begin flying back up to meet the battle
above.
Shademan shakily recovered from his injury just in time to dodge
bullets from the smaller Wilybots again. The Friender had recovered
from the petrification by now too and was spitting intense fire in
his direction once more. By now Golemman was sufficiently enraged
as well, and after remembering he wasn't quite limited to melee,
made use of his powerful arms by picking up and throwing whatever
was nearby. This ultimately involved his own robot troops, and Shademan
soon found himself dodging flying Robbits and Monkings in addition
to the fire breath, plasma bullets, and carrot missiles.
Something inside told him to cut his losses and retreat, but something
else wanted revenge for his foot, and that something wanted it more.
Swooping down low, Shademan shot several Noise Crush shots at the
cliffside, absorbing the reflected sound waves and releasing the
amplified sonic attacks at his enemies in rapid succession. The sound-based
assault quickly demolished rows of Robbits and Monkings, completely
disoriented the Friender, and forced Golemman into a defensive stance.
It was time to show these Wilybots what he could really do.
--------------------
"What gives, you jerks? This was supposed to be a straightforward
supply raid! Why'd you have to complicate things?" Slashman
complained as he cut through the Scissor Joes attempting to surround
him. He kept others from pursuing him with some well-aimed gel capsules.
One nearby Joe was apparently talkative enough to see fit to offer
an explanation. "It was expected testing of the Napalm Nuke
launcher would attract the attention of the other factions. It was
necessary to release misleading scheduling information in order to
rout spies such as yourself."
"A what-what-launcher? I have no idea what you're talking about!
You got the wrong guy!" Slash continued to bound away. He reached
an alleyway between two tall buildings and propelled himself upwards
between the walls until he was on the roof. He didn't have any time
to relax though, as there were more Joes lying in wait up top. They
were quick to open fire and the beast-like robot caught a few holes
in his armor before setting off across the rooftops in the direction
away from the harbor. It looked like he'd be safer deeper in the
city at the moment.
"Aw man! That ship is gonna be docking soon, and there goes
our whole mission!" Finding a quiet rooftop with some cover,
Slashman activated his communicator. He wasn't supposed to break
radio silence unless there was an emergency, but this certainly qualified. "Shade!
Come in! I need you in town here right away! Our delivery came earlier
than expected!"
--------------------
Shademan's eyes widened as the message entered his ears. He immediately
dropped the Sniper Joe he was feeding on, letting it drop with a
crash to the earth below. In a flash he forgot all about his desire
to teach the Wilybots a lesson. Without another word to his enraged
opponents, he quickly turned and flew like an arrow towards the west,
over the mountain peak.
Omniman ordered his troops to hold their fire and be on the lookout
for another sneak attack, but in never came. After a minute, Omniman
voiced his concerns.
"Where did that slippery bat go now? Don't tell me after all
that, he ran!"
The energy-drained Joe lying broken on the ground weakly answered
its commander's query. "Tar...get...received...dizzztress...call...bzzt...in
town...deliv...ery...earlier...bzzzt...expected..."
"What? Early delivery? In city?" Golemman attempted to
interpret.
Omniman came to a terrible realization. "He said he was here
to raid supplies from the SA...the shipment with the Napalm Nukes.
It's here!"
"Should we take our positions, then?" Golemman asked. "Steal
bombs when they come through the mountains?"
"That's no longer possible! Those damned Cossackers! They're
here for that shipment, and if we wait they'll get it first! We have
no choice but to attack Lima directly!" Omniman activated his
jet lift once more and flew off in pursuit of Shademan while sending
a radio signal to all the standby mobile units to follow.
Golemman watched as the various small mechs around his feet scurried
off to follow his partner. A flock of varied flying robots jetted
off over the peak behind Omniman as well. Golem wasn't quick enough
to grasp what had happened entirely, but he knew one important thing:
it was time to smash things. Shortly, a large Technodon stopped beside
him and allowed the massive robot master to saddle up. With a series
of agile leaps over the side of the mountain, Golem's ride was on
its way to Lima.
--------------------
Jungle around Lima. 17:45
"Sir, why such a small platoon? We could use more men."
The marshal sighed. That question seemed to be coming up a lot lately.
Someone in intel must've screwed up big time, because the Scissor
Army had a whole working port with a powerful weapon when they were
supposed to have a small force.
However, he couldn't let this disuade him. He would help free this
world from the hands of this maniacal robot, who clearly didn't know
his place in this world. He was always good at beating the odds.
After all, he was Marshal Reeve, senior officer of the RPD, and veteran
of war.
"What's our most recent intel?" he asked.
One of the Special Forces bots saluted, and handed the marshal a
datapad.
"No human survivors in the city. The facility is housing some
sort of weapon, and will be getting a new shipment of warheads in
either a few hours or a couple of days. The radio chatter is giving
mixed messages, probably on purpose."
Marshal Reeve nodded. "I see. Alright men, here's the plan." All
of his Special Forces troops stood at attention.
"Now," said Reeve. "There are no humans in the area,
and we can't hope to overtake the facility by force. What we can
do, however, is prevent the weapon from ever being used."
"But sir, isn't that going against orders?" asked a lowly
soldier.
"The orders can be changed." barked Reeve. Sometimes, his
troops were very hard to reason with. "Listen up, all of you.
Once that shipment comes in, we will use the other two factions as
decoys to lure the Scissor Army away from the city. So that they
don't get suspicious, we'll divide into two groups. One group will
fight the enemy outside the port. The other group will sneak into
the ship and sabotage the warheads. We should be given ample time
to escape the area."
"How large would this blast be?" inquired another soldier.
--------------------
Lima, Peru. 50 kilometer from the base. 20:50
"In my estimation, it would destroy the whole city. Since
there are no survivors, it's a risk we can take."
Shademan didn't know why that memory was triggered, but it left a
bad taste in his mouth. The RPD was wrong. There were humans still
in this area. They were just well hidden. Would the RPD really be
that blind and unwittingly kill innocent people?
Shademan shook his head. No, focus on the here and now. His partner
was in danger. Later on, they could worry about the RPD. He continued
to fly onward, keeping himself at a high altitude in order to avoid
detection.
--------------------
"There he is!"
Slashman just finished sending the transmission when he was spotted
by several more Scissor Joes. Thinking quickly, he curled into a
ball, and barrled through their line of fire. The Joes were all knocked
sensless, but as soon as Slashman got to his feet, more were around
and about.
"These guys just keep coming!" observed Slashman. "Is
there no end to this?"
Another Joe got a shot off at Slashman, and managed to miss by a
centimeter.
"I can't keep this up forever." mused Slashman, preparing
to strike.
"Shade, you'd better hurry up!"
--------------------
22:15 - Lima
The stage was set. The supply ship had docked and the SA remained
fully in control of the port. Scissor troops unloaded the supplies
while simultaneously arming their new weapons and distributing them
among the soldiers heading out for battle. RPD forces struggled against
the freshly re-armed opposition with little success, while newcomers
swarmed the besieged city from the east. The majority of the Wilybots,
forced to abandon their optimal jungle environment for an only marginally
analogous cityscape, did not last long individually, but with a strong
push, allowed the Evil Eight to make it towards the coast.
Strangely enough, the city saw the arrival of a more unexpected invasion
force, its former residents. A human militia, consisting of Peruvians
that had previously been hiding in the Amazon, stormed the city with
their sights set on striking back at the robotic monsters that drove
them from their homes and murdered their families. They were armed
with weapons and armor stolen, stockpiled, or bought through shady
means. Some were used to guerilla combat already while others were
simply civilians before the war, but today they were united in their
resolve to take the fight back to their distracted and unsuspecting
hunters. Many knew it was likely a suicide mission, but they were
finished cowering in the wilderness while their fate was decided
by the fighting of other robots.
Amidst the chaos, the Scissor Army found itself effectively fighting
three enemies simultaneously. Despite their extensive hatred and
distrust of one another, the RPD, Wily, and Human forces did nothing
to act against a target that was not SA. If the circumstances were
different, it would be a four-way brawl, with no room for alliances
or negotiations. However the Scissor Joes still had the advantage
of territory and preparations, while their aggressors had no choice
but to focus on the nearest SA-based threat, often working side-by-side
with their sworn enemies without realizing it.
In the middle of this battle, a lone warrior hacked ferociously at
any Joe that made it within his range. In his blind, terrified fury,
he didn't even notice the newcomer from above until he was airborne.
Slashman continued to swipe madly at the air for a few seconds before
he realized his mane was in the grip of Shademan's remaining foot.
The vampire robot flew higher, into the smoke created from the flames
that had erupted below, as he made his way west towards the port
with his scorched and battered partner in tow.
Slashman tried to look up at his rescuer, a difficult task with his
skull gripped like it was. "It's about time you got here! Man,
what happened to you? Looks like you flew through a war zone!"
"What do you think this is?" Shademan responded, looking
down to more closely inspect his comrade. "I think you look
worse right now. But needless to say, the Wily COs were not playing
nice. We're both pretty roughed-up, but if we hurry, we might be
able to hijack a couple hover transports in the confusion, make this
mission not a total waste."
Slashman tried to peer ahead through the thickening smoke. "I
heard something about a Napalm Nuke weapon. That's what this insanity
is all about. Some kinda trap we missed the clues for. Whatever that
weapon is, it sounds nasty. I don't think we should leave it behind
for one of these guys to pick up. What kinda damage could they do?"
Shademan grew unnerved again. "Enough to destroy the entire
city..."
"Eh? How do you know?"
"...My spying did generate some results. Listen, if we
see any RPD officers when we get there, we'll have to take them out."
Slashman chuckled. "Hey, you don't have to twist my arm."
Shademan continued. "This...this could get especially dangerous.
We have to find this weapon...whatever it is, and stop it without
detonating it. There's more at stake this time than just our salvaging
and ourselves."
The wild orange bot was dismissive. "Yeah yeah yeah. Did you
think I was going to head into the heart of the entire operation
and go easy on the enemy? I think you're the one that needs to take
this more seriously. You got caught by Wilybots, for crying out loud."
"...hmph. Very well then. Heads up, we're coming in."
The smokescreen thinned out and Slashman could see what Shade was
seeing through echolocation. The Lima harbor was lit-up with searchlights
as Scissor Army forces adamantly defended the large cargo ship in
port. A small firefight was already underway on the surface as RPD
Special Forces units pushed their way into the defensive line. The
SA soldiers not occupied with them were quick to spot the two robot
masters coming in from the air and opened fire at the duo, now diving
in towards the boat itself. Shademan dodged the plasma onslaught
with quick-winged agility while Slash gripped his carrier's leg and
hung on for dear life.
Shademan cackled, "If it weren't for your bright colors, I may
have been able to sneak in closer while avoiding detection!"
"Grr...glad I could make this part more interesting for you!" a
nervous Slash responded sarcastically as he twisted his body to avoid
shots that were getting far too close for comfort.
"Hang on, I'm going to dive in faster!"
"You can go faster? Woaahh!"
Soon enough, the fireworks display spraying into the night sky ceased
as the small bogey that intruded on the SA's airspace touched down.
For the errant members of Drastic Measures, the challenge was only
beginning.
--------------------
Not far from the docks, Omniman and Golemman fought alone against
the Scissor Joes that were rapidly surrounding them. Their support
units were finished. Sumatrons and Power Musclers laid strewn in
pieces around the battlefield. Somewhere deeper into the city, other
Wilybots fought on, but only the Evil Eight had made it this far.
"Golem SMASH bad Joes!" Golemman roared while stomping
and punching his way through a crowd of enemy forces tearing into
him. The armored robot took plenty of damage, but shrugged it all
off. In all honesty, he was enjoying himself, and some of the SA
troops had noticed that and were attempting to back off to formulate
a more appropriate strategy for such a dangerous target.
Those that did back off would have done well to watch where they
were going, as the city streets were suddenly and inexplicably stripped
away to reveal deadly spike pits. All Omniman had to do was stomp
one heavy cleated boot on the ground to cause this horrible transformation
of terrain. The dark robot master released his wrath on the enemy
legion, impaling some on his lance, crushing others in his claw,
kicking many into his spike pit mass-graves when he had the chance.
Despite their fervor, Omniman recognized that his chances of success
were slipping away. He could see the RPD making their infiltration
into the ship for a while now, and just then he saw the Cossackers
swoop in like an arrow. The SA continued to mount an overwhelming
defense, but no matter what, he had to break through. He had to succeed.
He just had to.
How many more chances could Wily give him?
--------------------
"Sir, the operation is going according to plan."
Marshal Reeve nodded absently. "Still no sign of survivors?" he
asked.
The Special Forces unit shook its head. "Not a soul. Those bastards
must've wiped them all out."
Marshal Reeve sighed, practically in relief, and partially in disappointment.
Half of him wanted to find some survivors, but the other part knew
that once the weapon became active, there was no way to save them.
"Carry on. Remember, once the place becomes ready to blow, all
soldiers must teleport out right away. Command will then close off
the area from teleportation. I want nothing from the Scissor Army
to survive, and if means destroying the other enemy forces, then
so be it."
The soldier saluted, and charged into battle.
--------------------
"Shade! Scissor Joes are converging on our location!"
Shademan nodded. Slashman's sensor array was usually right about
these kinds of things. Sure enough, a small squad of Joes burst through
the door and opened fire. Unfortunately, even with Slashman's advance
warning, there was not enough room to dodge.
Shademan went in front of his comrade, and blocked the incoming attack
with his wings. Seeing an opening, Slashman jumped out from behind
the protection, curled into a ball, and charged full speed at the
advancing Joes. The attack sent a good portion of the enemy troops
flying into the walls or off of the building. However, three Joes
still remained.
The vampiric Robot Master flew after his comrade, trying to help
him even the odds of the fight. One Joe saw him coming, however,
and opened fire. The blast hit Shademan square in the shoulder, causing
him to lose his balance, and collapse to the ground. Slashman, using
this as a distraction, slashed the unfortunate soldier who attacked
his partner.
The other two weren't about to let that stand, and charged. Slashman,
however, was aware that they were coming. Giving a quick nod to Shademan,
he leapt to the side.
Shademan, using his free arm, fired his Noise Crush at the wall next
to him. It reflected, and charged his buster with more power. He
fired again, this time at the Scissor Joes. The two enemy troops
were knocked off their feet, one falling off the roof, and the other
flying into the wall.
Slashman got up, and looked at his vampiric comrade. "You okay?" he
asked.
Shademan nodded, but still held onto his shoulder. "Those buster
shots seem to do more damage than normal. The Scissor Joes might
be using whatever that shipment was to power up their weapons."
Slashman nodded, and then looked at his partner with concern. "You
sure you're alright?" he asked again.
Shademan's face became serious as he got to his feet. "Even
if I wasn't, we don't have time to recover. We need to get into that
hold and disarm that weapon before the RPD gets to it."
Slashman nodded, and the two Robot Masters went into the hold, not
knowing what to expect...
--------------------
Outside, the battle had gotten out of control, but for Omniman and
Golemman, they could almost count themselves victorious. They had
both taken extensive damage, but could still move and use their weapons
while both the RPD and SA contingents in the area were too crippled
to do much of anything. The section of the harbor was nearly demolished
in the crossfire, and the ship itself had a gaping hole in the side
from the explosion of another robot being thrown into its side. The
boat was sinking as a result, but not too quickly. There was just
enough time for the Evil Eight to make it onboard and grab the warheads.
Just one more obstacle stood in their way, a battered Special Forces
unit. The smoldering and sparking hulking robot was the ultimate
victor in the standoff at the entrance to the ship. The remains of
SA Joes and police bots alike littered the ground and floated on
the surface of the water. With the defense shattered, the ship was
ready for boarding, but the SF bot only turned the other way to face
the Wilybots, blocking their path.
"Turn away at once." The SF unit commanded. "I cannot
allow you to interfere with an RPD operation."
Omniman had almost had enough. "Do you think this ship's cargo
belongs to YOU!? The fight for ownership isn't over yet! Golem! Finish
this straggler off!"
Golemman lurched forward and swung a powerful fist at the evenly-sized
police mech. Though the damaged SF's reflexes were shot, so were
the damaged Golem's. The blue tank caught the giant fist in one hand
and returned with a punch to the head with the other. Golemman barely
registered the hit and continued to attack, but the two robots were
evenly matched at this point. Omniman attempted to tip the scales
by impaling the SF unit's leg with his lance, but the latter was
alert enough to kick the smaller opponent away when he got too close.
Omniman rolled roughly on the ground and hoisted himself back up
in pain. His frustration was growing exponentially. "Urrgh!
Why are YOU wasting time out here!? Do you know there are raiders
from Cossack on that ship this very moment? If we don't get the warheads,
THEY will! You should be going after them!" Omni wasn't sure
if their enemy would appeal to reason, but they were wasting too
much time with it, and if anything, it was worth a shot.
"Negative. No one will acquire the warheads on board. They are
being sabotaged as we speak."
Omni stopped cold. Golemman kept struggling, not bothering to understand
what that meant. "What do you mean, 'sabotage'? You're not going
to destroy the bombs, are you? You can't I won't allow it!" Omniman
leveled his lance and prepared to charge. There was no time to waste
any more; he would go right through the Special Forces robot if he
had to.
Before he could begin his final charge, however, his target suddenly
stopped and stepped back from a shocked Golemman. The SF unit stood
at attention and looked into space as it received a private transmission. "Mission
objective completion acknowledged. Commencing with evacuation." With
those words, the blue mech disappeared in a stream of teleportation,
obviously not caring if the E8 continued onward at this point.
Golemman stood confused for a moment, but remembered that time was
of the essence and began to run up the ramp into the ship.
"Wait!"
Golem stopped in surprise and turned to see his partner, still standing
on the docks below, shaking nervously. "What wrong? We must
complete mission...right?"
"You heard what he said, the RPD sabotaged our target...and
now they're evacuating! Don't you realize what that means?"
If Golemman's face were more expressive, he would have been showing
shame and frustration as he tried to realize what it meant, but it
merely translated into a few seconds of motionless silence. Omniman
became increasingly unnerved.
"The bombs are going to explode! The whole city is going to
be destroyed!"
"Uh...maybe we get them first?" Golem shrugged. "Maybe
we stop explosion?"
Omniman fidgeted. It was a possibility, wasn't it? But if they couldn't...if
they couldn't even find it in time...would it be worth the risk?
Omni wanted to succeed in his mission more than anything, but every
second they stayed threatened him with annihilation. "No...no,
I can't risk it. Please forgive me, Lord Wily. We must teleport back
to base immediately!"
Golemman was disappointed, but complied with his leader...or at least
he tried to. "Teleportation still blocked."
"What!? No! We just saw the damned police bot leave!"
"Maybe...RPD control teleportation barrier?"
"...then...run!"
With no more hesitation, the two Wilybots dashed off towards the
east as fast as they could move. Omniman would have to wait until
later to reflect on his failure and ponder whether or not the RPD
tricked him into believing a lie just as the Cossack's Comrades had
done in his previous mission. At the moment, he only cared about
survival.
--------------------
A couple minutes earlier, inside the ship, Slash and Shade had made
it to the cargo hold, only to find the SA guards inside already disabled
along with a few broken police bots.
"How'd they get in here ahead of us?" Slashman wondered
aloud.
"They must have snuck in through an alternate route..." Shademan
answered. "Hurry!"
"This way! There are still active bots in that direction!" Slashman
pointed.
The pair zipped through the cavernous maze of unloaded packing crates
until the found one package that had not been opened. Warning signs
covered the outside of the tightly bound casing. At the base of the
large box stood two RPD police bots, one was attaching a charge to
the side to match a few similar charges scattered around the sides
of the case. The other was standing guard and was quick to spot Slashman
when he bounded into view. "Damnit! We're too late!"
"Halt!" The officer shouted just before opening fire on
the Robot Master. Slash easily avoided the shots until his ally could
descend from the shade and eliminate the threat before he even knew
what hit him.
The other police bot hastily finished his work and pressed a button
on a remote while backing away from the new arrivals. "You're
too late. The charges will detonate in five minutes. Any attempt
to displace or disable the charges will only cause them to detonate
immediately."
Shademan hovered closer to the officer upon hearing this. "How
could you do something like this!? You have to stop it!"
The officer calmly shook its head. "It can't be stopped. Our
mission is complete. The RPD has secured the SA's teleportation shield
generator and will drop it momentarily to allow a coordinated evacuation.
You are advised to use that moment to escape. You are former members
of Drastic Measures, are you not? You should return to your allies.
The RPD would still welcome-"
"Shut up! This is no time for that!" Shademan cut the inviting
RPD soldier off. "Your explosion is going to destroy the whole
city, and hundreds of innocent human lives along with it! You have
to stop it somehow!"
The RPD bot was taken aback. "Impossible. There are no human
survivors left in the city."
"There are now." Slashman interjected. "They were
hiding in the jungle until they saw your attack as a chance to get
their home back."
The officer was unsure of how to react to the information. "The
explosion cannot be stopped. The charges cannot be removed. If the
humans cannot be evacuated in four minutes..."
Shademan, his purple armor charred black by plasma fire, sighed deeply.
He looked back at the case of bombs and in a moment of desperation,
he had an idea. First, he shot a steady stream of Noise Crush around
the cavernous cargo hold. The shape of the enclosure allowed an amplified
echo effect, and he drew in all of the reflected sound waves back
into his buster. The sonic weapon vibrated dangerously with overcharged
energy just before releasing the largest Noise Crush wave it had
ever produced. The other two robots covered their ears as the deafening
reverberations punched into the ceiling several meters away from
the group. When the smoke and debris from the destruction settled,
they could see the blast left a massive hole leading straight up
into the night sky.
"What the heck are you doing, Shade?!" A confused Slashman
questioned his winged partner, who converted his burnt-out arm cannon
back into an ordinary hand while flying back towards the bombs.
"The charges won't automatically detonate if the entire package
is moved, will they?" Shademan asked the bewildered officer
while clamping his hands and good foot onto the top of the massive
box.
"No, but how...?" the officer began to speak when against
all logic, the furiously flapping vampire bot managed to lift the
object many times his size and weight off the ground.
"Slash, I'm going to take the bombs into the ocean..." Shademan
explained with heavy physical strain. "One way or another...the
explosion will still probably wipe out the docks...but the rest of
the city should be safe...You should escape now."
The officer bot gazed in awe as the heavy package began hovering
towards the makeshift exit in the ceiling. It then received a signal
from another unit informing him of the teleportation window. It gave
one more look to Slashman.
"I'm sorry." The bot then teleported out.
Slashman only gaped in horror. "Wait! You really want to save
this area? We have nothing to gain from it. What's gonna happen to
you? We gotta teleport now, or we're trapped!"
Shademan looked back at his animal-like partner. "We have no
other choice. You 'port out! This is too important! Don't worry about
me, I'm the only one that can do this!" He continued on, he
was halfway through the hole, and Slashman leapt after him.
"This is crazy! I know we can't let innocent people die...but...but
think about it! Maybe these people are about to die anyway! If you
save them like this then the Scissor Army is just going to finish
them off!" Slash hated what he had just said. He couldn't stop
himself from saying it though. He believed Shade was doing the right
thing, but he couldn't stand the thought of the costs.
"You really don't mean what you say, do you Slash?...You just
don't want me to die. I understand your concern, but don't worry
about me. I'm a demon, remember? I can't be killed by a mere explosion.
I'll just lose this body, and that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
I'll see you again if I find a new vessel. Either way, I'd rather
die while my principles live on, then have my principles die while
I live on."
Slashman perched on the edge of the slowly sinking ship as Shademan
picked up speed, flying towards the west. Slash was distraught and
angry, but he couldn't fight what was happening. With reserve, he
nodded grimly. "I understand. I see now what you must do. Well,
I guess this is goodbye for now." Slashman attempted to teleport
out, but his hesitation had cost him. "Uh oh, the teleportation
barrier's back up already."
Shademan cackled. "You'd better run then. At least you're fast.
And now I have to move this time-bomb for your sake as well. Take
care of yourself, Slashman. And give General Cutman an extra-vicious
beating for me."
Slashman nodded, and saluted his vampiric friend as he flew off with
the active bombs. The orange robot then sprung his agile form back
towards the city. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop with as much speed
as he could muster. His internal clock had neglected to mark when
the five-minute mark would end, but he could feel that it was drawing
close. Soon enough he caught sight of a herd of Wilybots rampaging
through the streets in the same direction as himself. Omniman and
Golemman were riding fast-running Technodons, with others following
behind. Figuring it was no time to pass up hitching a ride, Slash
landed on the back of one of the large running dinosaur mechs. Through
his previous experiences he knew the creature was completely passive
towards riders.
Figuring none of the other Wilybots would notice him in the blind
rush, he held onto the dino's neck and turned back to look out at
the harbor. After a few seconds, a blinding flash over the water
illuminated the night sky. A deafening explosion and an earth-shattering
shockwave followed a moment later. A tidal wave lifted up above the
docks and crushed what remained of the coastline as burning napalm
arced through the air and rained down over the decimated homes nearby.
The flames from the explosion seemed to spread across the horizon,
turning the ocean into a lake of fire.
Slash knelt down and closed his eyes. "He didn't need a gun
to his head to do that." Slashman said to himself. He sighed,
and decided to look back one final time. I guess I'm on my own
from here on out. he thought. Godspeed, Shademan. Your death
won't be in vain.
--------------------
Later, at Skull Castle, Wily went to his hangar to welcome back the
team he had deployed days earlier, hoping he would not be disappointed
for once.
Inside the large storage area he found a couple dozen damaged robots,
including a forlorn pair of Evil Eight members. Omniman noticed his
master enter and sighed. Wily narrowed his gaze as he walked up to
meet his commander. Alright, what's your excuse this time? You only
brought back a tenth of your support bots! And look at the shape
you're in! Do you even have anything to show for it?"
Golemman meekly pointed behind Wily. The old scientist turned around
to notice a large black cannon sitting in the middle of the floor.
How did he not see that on his way in?
"You actually got my weapon!? I can't believe it! Well I'll
be damned, you two aren't entirely useless!"
Golem and Omni looked nervously at each other. They should have been
telling Wily that the weapon they stole after making it back to the
Amazon with their remaining forces (not to mention what was left
of their dignity) had no ammo and was essentially worthless in the
grand scheme of things, but it was hard to form the words at this
point. They had planned to give a convincing argument that the cannon
could be converted into a standard defense battery for the exterior
of the castle, but for now it was easy enough to accept what little
praise they could get. Wily would figure out what they brought back
for him eventually, and they hoped to be far away when that happened.
Omniman thought back to the last moments of the raid in Lima, when
his retreating forces had exited the teleportation barrier. There
were many frightened armed humans evacuating alongside them. The
city may have been safe from the explosion directly, but the burning
cloud on the horizon and the fiery napalm that continued to rain
from the sky even this far out was enough to drive the sprawling
freedom fighters back underground. Omniman couldn't care less about
the humans, but at the last moment he noticed Slashman riding along
with his own forces. The Cossacker teleported away before he could
even say anything. He didn't know what happened, but somehow the
explosion didn't instantly eradicate the city and there was no sign
of Shademan alongside his partner. He definitely owed the RPD a terrible
vengeance for ruining yet another of his valuable missions, but just
how much could he blame the Cossack bots as well this time? In the
end, it seemed they didn't interfere with him at all. If anything,
they may have very well saved his life.
But now was no time to be thinking of misplaced respect for his enemies.
He had to focus more than ever on mercilessly accomplishing his goal
and going through all the other factions to do so. As he watched
Wily excitedly inspect the empty weapon, he awaited the inevitable
punishment that would follow. As long as he remained active, he still
had a chance to prove himself.