The Business of War

Peruvian Fever


Scenario I:
Participants:
Slashman & Shademan (C)
Evil Eight (W)

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.

"Shademan..." Omniman grumbled.

"Drastic Measures...Robot Police?" Golemman recalled.

"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.

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