Perry awoke early in the morning and prepared for his day.
After the way they left each other the other day Perry regretted having to return to Doofenshmirtz HQ for his daily assignment. Things had been strained between them for some time now and each time he was told to return to HQ after a mission he feared for his life. He feared that Doofenshmirtz would have him shut down. Shaking the thought of termination from his mind Perry decided to get an early start on today's mission and ensure it went perfectly.
Quickly getting his jetpack on, Perry took off for HQ.
(Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc.)
"Crushed, Crushed, Crushed, holding off attack, in slow retreat" Doofenshmirtz labeled off the pockets of resistance fighters found throughout town and their current situation. For the most part his forces were slowly, if not surely, making progress in destroying the resistance. The problem was that they were getting smarter, as if someone had taken up the position as leader and was coordinating counter attacks against his units. They seemed to be small hit and run attacks but they were taking a toll on his army. Before Doofenshmirtz could contemplate further a small hole in the roof opened and Perry slowly descended to the ground.
"Welcome Perry the Platiborg" Doofenshmirtz got up from his chair "I'm sorry about yesterday I've just been under a lot of stress lately. I hope you can forgive me" Doofenshmirtz kept his signature scowl on his face but Perry knew he was sincere with his apology and nodded
"GREAT!" Doofenshmirtz threw his arms up and showed a small, rare, smile. "Now for today I have you running all over town. First I need you to go to our resources depot and investigate a string of thefts of our resources. Capture the party responsible and make a public example of them. After you will head over to our west perimeter and help my army stationed their advance on a very stubborn enemy. It has been three days and they have yet to advance any closer than the boarder" Doofenshmirtz got a nod from Perry as he listed the day's agenda. "Radio me after these are complete and if there is time I will give you another mission" Doofenshmirtz sat back down and returned his attention to the map.
Perry saluted and readied his jetpack for takeoff when he remembered. The west perimeter had several forces stationed at varying locations and he wasn't sure which one he was supposed to support. Quickly running up to the table Perry tapped the paper outlining the west perimeter.
"Ohhh I forgot to tell you exactly where you're going" Doofenshmirtz immediately knew what he was getting at. "Here" Doofenshmirtz pointed at a small dot on the map "That is the army that needs support" Doofenshmirtz tapped the paper and Perry saluted
"Do you like it?" Doofenshmirtz pointed towards the map "I spent most of the night putting it together. All these small pieces weren't easy to make you know" Doofenshmirtz picked up a small platypus shaped figure "This ones you" He smiled as Perry prepared for takeoff and with a final salute he took off. Unfortunately Perry was still close to the table Doofenshmirtz was using and when he took off.
Doofenshmirtz watched as streams of burning flamed propelled his most trusted lieutenant up and onward to crush this pesky resistance. Doofenshmirtz smiled until he saw it.
Perry had taken off only four feet from the table and the flames were already nipping at the edges of his map. Before he could even react the edge of the map ignited and he stopped dead in his tracks.
"WHAT! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOT MY MAPS" Doofenshmirtz cried as he watched his maps burn.
The Map took all of twelve seconds to be completely engulfed in flames. Perry was gone, his map was gone and all he had left was the constant ringing of the fire alarm.
Norm bots soon arrived and subdued the flames before they caused any more damage to the building. But the damage to Dr. D had already been dealt. He sat down in his chair almost lifeless. His eyes refused to leave the table that, just moments ago, was the pedestal for his night of hard work. Realization had barely sunk in when he started getting mad.
"Why?...Why does that happen to me? Theft occurring under his nose and now the resistance seemed to be getting smarter. Smarter or his troops were being misled. Sabotage from within? And to top it off now his hard work being burned by accident….accident
"Was it an accident?" Doofenshmirtz clenched his fists at the thought and quickly felt a jolt of pain in his right hand.
Bringing his hand up he saw blood start to trickle between the gaps of his fingers. He found the sight of blood almost invigorating as it helped remind him that he was human…and so were his enemies. And like him they could feel pain. As he smiled his usual smile he opened his hand and there, stuck in his palm, was his figure of Perry the Platiborg with his spiked tail stuck in his palm.
"Sabotage from within" Doofenshmirtz smiled as he hit his intercom "All available Norm-bots report to HQ Immediately.
(Danville West Perimeter)
Perry arrived shortly after departing from the resources depot. He discovered the perpetrator quickly as he noticed a Norm-bot acting suspiciously. Upon further review he discovered why. Built into the circuit board was a manual bypass hooked up sloppily but effectively. It allowed for manual control of the Norm-bot from someone in close vicinity of the sabotaged robot.
A quick scan of the area showed no one though so Perry followed through with his orders and disabled the Norm-bot, quickly putting the manual override device in his parts compartment. Then dragging the disable Norm-bot into the center of the courtyard and smashing it to pieces in front of all the others. This was a public display that treason would not be tolerated and would be met with a sentence of immediate destruction.
Perry arrived to find the Norm-bots under heavy fire. Which was surprising as the resistance was not known to hold such attack strength. It was as if they had their own weapons being used against them.
Perry shook himself back to reality and quickly ran up to the Norm-bot leading this particular squad. They were always easy to identify as the leader would always make a small burn mark on their forehead with their finger torch so he and Doofenshmirtz could identify them in any situation.
"Chatter"
"Oh Hello Lieutenant Perry. What can I do to assist you today?" Norm-bot commander inquired.
"Chatter, Chatter" Perry made some hand motions.
"Of course Lieutenant" Norm-bot politely responded before switching him and his group to the battle masks.
With Perry there the Norm-bots became reasonably organized, as it sat all Norm-bots were programmed to attack until the resistance was crushed. The reasoning behind a commander was that all Norm0bots in the immediate vicinity would be connected to the one. This made it easy to command a whole army when all you had to do with explain the plan to one and it would portray the message to all the bots under its command.
With Perry guiding the attack the Norm-bots began a steady barrage of heavy fire that seemed to suppress the resistance long enough for Perry and a few bots to advance on the side unnoticed.
Perry's plan was to make it look as if the bots were operating like they always have just with coincidental heavy fire. It was risky as he was banking on the resistance not realizing that something suspicious was up.
A few more simple barrages later and Perry was within ear shot of the resistance. It was hard to make out but he could hear a discussion going on only yards ahead of him, almost as if someone was receiving orders from someone else. As if on cue to snap him back to reality the next barrage of heavy fire hit the resistance line and it was time for Perry to move again. He now had a destination though.
Quickly weaving around the rock Perry was almost stopped dead when he realized that the latest attack on the resistance had destroyed any possible cover for the Norm-bots. But Perry was Lieutenant for a reason and with a quick motion he ordered the bots to stay back as he dove for cover behind a small nearby rock. Perry was on his own now but he knew what that was like. He cast his thoughts aside as he remembered the mission at hand.
Scurrying from rock to rock using his bots attack to cover him and using any gap in resistance attention to move forward.
Although the gun fire was loud and distracting Perry knew he was closing in on his target. The voices were getting louder and he could start making out sentences between gun shots. Siding up behind a fairly large rock he missed something that sounded like an order. Then he heard his heavy weapons support silence the resistance fighters. He took his chance.
Perry glanced behind the rock and finally saw the voice. The one who had seemed to been giving orders.
"It's too much of a coincidence" The man on the screen spoke to the commanding officer
"I'm sorry sir? They have yet to move forward" the officer offered
"Exactly. What are they waiting for?" the voice came again
From Perry's position he could not make out the face on the screen. But the voice…something about the voice was familiar. Before he could think another thought though he was silenced in both mind and body.
"Move and I'll kill you" Perry turned to see a resistance fighter holding a Norm-bot arm cannon.
WAIT! An arm cannon? That was impossible. Norm-bots were designed so that their weapons could not be used against them. The arm would not operate without the circuit board on the back of the main robots. Perry made to jump when the soldier pulled the trigger and the cannon fired.
Perry was wide eyed when he realized that someone had managed to bypass their security protocol and turn inactive weapons against the bots that used them. That was why they had not been able to push forward and they were losing bots. These cannons could pierce the Norm-bots armor and destroy them easier then regular weapons.
"What was that?" The commander ordered when he heard the shot within his vicinity.
"I caught an intruder" The officer motioned for Perry to move which he complied
"You caught him?" The commander looked Perry over
"Yes sir" The officer never took his weapon off Perry
"Do you know who this is?" The commander looked at the young kid who just gave a blank stare "This is Lieutenant Perry. Leader of Doctor Doofenshmirtz's army" the commander seemed overly impressed
"Sir?" The officer didn't realize what a catch he made
"You captured the lieutenant?" The voice on the screen sounded nervous as if he knew what he was capable of
"Yes Sir. We have him" The commander stood at attention. Obviously the man on the screen was of the utmost importance to the resistance to command such respect
"Quickly kill him" the voice sounded desperate
"Sir? Don't you wish to interrogate him?" The commander seemed confused
"GET RID OF HIM NOW COMMANDER OR SHOULD I FIND SOMEONE ELSE WHO WILL" Perry noticed the panic in the voice of the man on screen
"But sir" Perry acted before the commander could finish
Quickly kicking the gun out of the distracted officers hand Perry pushed a special button on his wrist that had all Norm-bots in the vicinity go on a full out attack.
"WHY YOU…" The commander advanced on Perry but was stopped by loud shouting and a frantic stampede of his own men
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The commander ordered
"THEY'RE COMING…FULL FORCE SIR…WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE" a small man stumbled up to the commander in all the commotion
"I told you to get rid of him" The voice came again as the commander weighed his options
"Commander…report back to me immediately" The voice ordered
"Sir! You two secure the prisoner" The commander ordered
"Leave him"
"Sir?" Commander asked
"I don't want him giving away my location. Now return to me immediately" Came the order
"YES SIR!" the commander looked at Perry who was now abandoned as the two young men joined their friends and comrades in frantic retreat.
"I'll see you later" The commander pulled a knife and made a small cut on his forehead "So you'll remember me"
"RETREAT" was his final order
Perry quickly jumped over to the screen and looked up just in time to see it turn off. But in the split second before it shut off Perry saw him…the man behind the voice.
A small child.
"Lieutenant" the commanding Norm-bot approached Perry with a salute "Incoming message" A screen popped out of his face and lowered to Perry's level
"How did it go?" Doofenshmirtz got right to the point
Perry saluted and then raised up the Norm-bot arm gun the resistance soldier was using
"It's an arm cannon so what?" Doofenshmirtz seemed uninterested, that is until Perry fired off a shot
"WHAT DID YOU DO? THOSE SHOULD BE NON FUNCTIONAL" Doofenshmirtz yelled at Perry who attempted to answer
"Hold on…WHAT! REALLY? FOR THE LOVE OF…" Doofenshmirtz turned his attention back to Perry "This is the last you'll hear of me right now. Report to these coordinates immediately…and bring the arm" Doofenshmirtz then deactivated his communication and Perry was left waiting for Norm-bot commander to print out the directions.
(Doofenshmirtz HQ)
"How many?" Doofenshmirtz inquired
"Three hundred ready and a possible forty more on the way" the Norm-bot responded
"That will have to do…Alright then let's move out. We have a Platiborg to meet" Doofenshmirtz got up
Doofenshmirtz left for the old abandoned warehouse with over three hundred armed guards.
(Next time on Strained Trust)
"WHAT'S THIS?" Doofenshmirtz yelled out
….
"ATTACK" Doofenshmirtz ordered as a part of him broke
…
"You failed to follow my orders. Now we may have lost our best bet to win this war"
"I'm sorry Dr. …"
(Author Note)
Sorry about the late update again guys. I have some free time in the next few days and I hope to update this with yet another chapter as well as Three's Company.
Sorry again but please read and review :D
Love you all.
3rd-Generation
