1.
Roschach's Journal.
December 26th, 2105.
Watchmen on patrol. Satellite located multiple signals. Must be Sand People. They are going to raid again; must be stopped.
Observed the other Watchmen before landing. The backseat allows keeping an eye on all of them. Don't like what I see. Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are rookies. Comedian is a good fighter, but he is sexually attracted to Silk Spectre, she distracts him. Useless to talk to Comedian; don't like pity looks he gives me. Same problem with Nite Owl. Caught frequent glances in her direction; constant daydreaming. Just as annoying as Comedian's flirting.
Silk Spectre is unreliable. Doesn't like Comedian's advances; expected her to do something to stop him; she does nothing. Noticed an expectant gaze towards our seats. Wants Nite Owl to step in? Uses Comedian to attract his attention? Enjoys being a center of attention of two men at once? Disgusting. Women can't be trusted.
Old Hooded Justice was twice a warrior as three of them combined. Too bad he had to retire after losing a leg, New Hooded Justice is good, but he went on peacekeeping mission with Captain Metropolis and Silhouette. Fool's quest. Words weight nothing. Good intentions mean nothing. Peace can only be kept by force.
Must concentrate on the surroundings. See enemy before he sees us. Lost previous Silk Spectre in the ambush; weren't careful enough. Not my fault; wasn't out of Hospital yet when it happened. Don't want to lose another one of the Watchmen.
Must figure out how they fooled Mothman. Why he failed to detect Sand People. Not the smartest of us, but the radar was in working order.
Preparing for landing…
The data from the satellite wasn't flawed. The Sand People were on the warpath again. And now they attacked a caravan of settlers.
Rorschach heard the multiple gunshots. Caravan master organized a line of defense, but there's only so much you can do when you are attacked by a tribe of bloodthirsty savages.
It was a job for Watchmen.
He pulled out the guns, found the closest group of raiders and opened fire.
Three down, two to go.
The light exosuit allowed faster movement and provided better camouflage, at the expense of the armor and built-in weaponry. It was perfect for scouting, but in the heat of the battle Rorschach often felt the lack of firepower. If he was Comedian, he'd just use grenade launcher or flamethrower to take out all of them.
Rorschach saw Nite Owl and Silk Spectre defending caravan from Sand People who came too close in their bloodlust. He saw Comedian, laughing, and the river of bullets from his machine gun.
Where's Mothman?
The Sand People yelled, pointing out at the new enemies. They recognized the Watchmen. Good. These savages have a lot of reasons to be afraid of Watchmen. And the Fear is a weapon.
Four down, one… no, two to go!
Silk Spectre lost one of her guns when she was hit by a stray bullet. Light exosuit can't absorb the damage completely. Nite Owl rushed to cover her.
Rorschach killed the last of 'his' raiders and started looking for their chieftain. That's when he heard the sound of Mothra's engines and the Gatling gun singing the song of death.
"Rorschach to Mothman! Forget the gun, use the flamethrower!"
"Do whatever you want on the ground, Rory! But the skies belong to Mothman!"
Rorschach grumbled "Pompous bastard!", then gritted his teeth and turned off the communicator to kill as many Sand People as it's possible before their inevitable escape.
The settlers rejoiced; they were saved just in time, saved by legendary heroes, the Watchmen. Rorschach wasn't in the mood for the party; he was sick and tired of empty victories.
When Mothra landed, he left Nite Owl and Silk Spectre at the makeshift camp. He needed to talk to Mothman.
He approached the pilot, who was painting new stars on Mothra's wings, and said, "Wasted too much bullets. Could have used flamethrowers".
"Flamethrowers are for the monsters, Rory".
"The Sand People are the monsters".
Mothman yawned, "And according to them, we are the monsters. So what? Let's kill each other?"
"Sand People don't want to die in fire. It's against their religion. Could have used their fears and superstitions, to scare them for good, make them stop the raids. But you didn't. They ran away, to come back later. They always come back," Rorschach was fuming with rage. "You are too soft, Mothman! All of you are too soft! Can't do what needs to be done! You'll get killed if you don't take this war seriously!"
Mothman replied carelessly, "What a pity! And I thought I'd live forever!"
"Leave jokes to Comedian. Yours are not funny".
Rorschach noticed that Nite Owl and Silk Spectre left the settlers and were listening to his talk with Mothman.
Nite Owl said, "Seriously, Rorschach, what's the deal with you? Why are you upset so much? We won, the settlers are saved, what else do you want?"
What else do you want? Rorschach thought for a moment. He can explain, but can he make them understand? One way to find out.
"It was my first mission. A gang of Screaming Skulls attacked a camp of the Sand People. Warriors of the tribe weren't' in the camp; left old men to protect women and children. They stood no chance against raiders. The Screaming Skulls killed old men and children. They left young women alive to rape them. Were too busy satisfying their flesh; couldn't raise the guns in time when we attacked".
Rorschach's tale wakened painful memories; he shrugged off the pain before continuing his tale.
"The leader was alive. Interrogated him." Nite Owl shuddered; he witnessed Rorschach's methods of interrogation firsthand. "Learned that we got only half of the gang. The rest of them were heading for the hills, to hide the loot. Wanted to pursue them. Silhouette stopped us. Sand People or not, they were women and they were rape victims. That's what she said; Silhouette tended to their wounds, left them some food and water. I was losing patience. Couldn't let the Screaming Skulls get away. Almost lost their trail because of the delay. Used Mothra's rockets to create the rockslide; sealed the passage. The Screaming Skulls couldn't escape; they were sitting ducks. Justice was served.
Silhouette said that we must return, check on women. When we came back...," the black and white spots on the mask shifted angrily, "the women were dead. Not by the Screaming Skulls; the warriors of the tribe did it. Stoned to death because they were raped; tainted by rape, disgraced the tribe. The Sand People killed their own women, women they couldn't protect," Rorschach concluded, "The Sand People are monsters. No mercy for them". Rorschach repeated gravely, "No mercy".