Welcome to Chapter Two, guys! Unlike the last one, this one will be formatted like a journal, as I messed up and didn't think about the academy phase.

It's really cool to see that people like my stories, because I amost always get them off to rocky starts (unless it's about Halo and Red vs Blue.)

In terms of Easter Eggs, I've referrenced quite a few other fanfictions and authors (the EE sources are at the end of the chapter notes.)

Either way, time for the first entries in Ian's journal.

Ian's Journal

May 1, 2062

Okay, so this is my first actual journal since childhood. I ought to not lose it this time.

Anyways, I was approached by a representative from Griffin and Kryuger, the private military contractor that mainly uses modified IOP Dolls in combat. At first, I thought the Soviets found me and sent her to kill me so they didn't have to do the work themselves. But after her explanation, that seemed too over-the-top and unbelievable to be true.

Either way, turns out, it's the real deal. Griffin's scouts noticed me and sent their rep, an M1911 Doll, to recruit me, and the particular one they sent was made in the US after IOP was allowed to start Doll production in other nations.

Given my situation, Griffin was my best choice, and so, I decided to join.

And that somehow saved me from the Russians.

Now, I'm in a helicopter with the same M1911 they sent to seek me out, flying to one of their academies to continue training as a Tactical Commander for them. We're pretty close to the building, according to her, so I'm probably gonna be going through more paperwork soon. Yay.

Actually, I'm rambling, so I'm gonna put this down and wait for the trip to end.

May 2, 2062

Turns out, the staff are mostly human, unlike the registration building, which all had Doll employees. Either way, I've gotten myself registered into the system and have been assigned to class 3-C. My fellow recruits are an unnamed British Commander with a knack for writing erotica, a hardass WW3 veteran from Canada, a violet-eyed girl whose name suggests a Japanese heritage, and an older guy with a funny moustache.

Anyways, M1911 had to return to a frontline Griffin base, so I'm kind of on my own here. Hopefully I'll get used to it quickly, because training's about to start.

At least I get to wear a sexy maroon trench coat.

May 8, 2062

Okay, I have officially spent a full week in training. As such, here's my assessment of my classmates.

The erotica writer, who the other initiates call "GrandLeviathan," has impressive capabilities at the command console and with the pen. I ought to convince him to write non-erotica stories at some point.

The Canadian hardass, Matthew Hsu, is ruthlessly effective, but he seems to view his T-Dolls as expendable, giving him one of the highest casualty counts out of us all. Apparently that's how Dolls are seen in the West.

The Japanese girl, Juno Itsuki, is pretty nice, aland although she has a similar approach to Hsu, she still has lower casualties than him in the sims. Needs improvement, though.

The moustachioed guy, Jacques Schnee (I think?), was an ex-businessman whose company was destroyed during the war. He's absolutely ruthless and nigh impossible to approach. Only he beats Hsu in friendly casualties.

And me? I know that T-Dolls are, in their barest form, machines, but I've seen enough friends and allies die, so as a result, my strategies pretty much always guarantee zero losses, but I usually only get an A-rank post-simulation. Of course, knowing that I can avoid losing people and kick the enemy side's ass like a champ definitely helps my self-esteem, considering how low it's been for the last eleven years.

Anyways, it's going to be an interesting two months.

May 15, 2062

Week two has concluded, and here's the synopsis of what happened.

GrandLeviathan is still the class' number one erotica author. Enough said.

Hsu is going to be deployed to a frontline base in Sector 07 next week, according to him. He's totally confused as to why we're using civilian Dolls with WW1 and WW2-era weapons in the simulations rather than true, modern combat Dolls, and he mentioned getting his hands on some M4 Carbines to replace any outdated weapons if S07's Dolls had them.

Clearly, he doesn't know that the IOP Dolls Griffin uses are stuck with their designated weapons, or that true military Dolls are too expensive for a PMC to purchase in bulk.

Itsuki's improved a good deal in tactics and preservation (after I spoke to her about it) since my last entry, but she still has room for improvement.

Jacques still holds the most S-rank simulation results, but his casualty count is horiffic (wait, how did he get S-ranks of he had high casualties?) If I didn't know better, I'd say he had just led an operation in World War 3.

In two weeks of training, I've only lost three Dolls in the simulations. I think it's fair enough to say that my trainer's impressed.

Next week, we're being given personal training in case our bases get compromised. I have a feeling that I'll rank pretty high in the final results-- and that Jacques will rank last.

May 22, 2062

For a PMC, Griffin's personal training was rather tough. It was like basic training all over again.

GrandLeviathan performed fairly well for a civilian, but I think our trainer had a nosebleed after peeking at his notebook, though.

What the hell's even in it, anyways?

In firearms training, Itsuki genuinely surprised me. Turns out, her old man had a thing for guns, and that was passed on to her. She even has his personal revolver as her sidearm of choice. She did pretty average in everything else.

Jacques can't fight to save his life. He's probably gonna get stuck in a rearline base somewhere to do logistics.

I did well in every part of it, courtesy of the US Army's training. Still, there's something exotic about having a Doll as a drill sergeant, and it certainly made things interesting.

M1911 also managed to pay me a visit, and let me tell you, she was a sight for sore eyes. She was impressed by my performance so far (and is the only one I trust at all here), and rumor has it that GrandLeviathan wrote erotica about me and M1911.

Hey, she's attractive, I'll admit that, but I refuse to think of her that way. She's more like my late twin sister than a girlfriend.

May 29, 2062

Four weeks later, and here we are.

Jacques got shipped out to a rearline base (as I suspected.)

Juno's gotten much better at commanding her troops, and even a blind man could tell.

Grand got shipped out, too. The stubborn bastard gave me that M1911/me erotica before he left, and I have now hidden it in a place where nobody can find it. I told him to try his hand in non-smutty stories before he left, because he can accurately write about a person or character even if he only hears a few lines from them. Now that's badass.

I think the other initiates are joking about me marrying this journal, though, so I'm just gonna end this entry here.

June 5, 2062

Month One, Week One.

I have now spent one month here. Juno was shipped out to Sector 02 at an intermediate base, and now some rookies are taking her place.

Anyways, I got moved to a more advanced class, and everything's pretty much harder by default. I'm still a certified asskicker, but it's a bit more challenging this time around.

There isn't much to report this time, so I'm just gonna end this entry here.

June 12, 2062

Month One, Week Two.

I'm actually operating alone this time. No classmates to rely on for aid my operations, just me.

Kinda like the last ten years of my life.

Griffin finally told me which base I'm being assigned to: a base in Sector 09. Turns out, it's right at the forefront of the conflict against rogue T-Dolls from Sangvis Ferri Manufacturing, a Romanian weapons manufacturer who made the Dolls I fought in the war.

How fitting that they call themselves Iron Blood.

Either way, I'm gonna be sent there next month, so I still have time left to get ready for it.

June 19, 2062

Month One, Week Three.

The simulations are now featuring Sangvis Ferri Dolls as enemies. And I missed out on a lot of their advancements.

Rippers, the original SF Dolls, now have streamlined limbs and less-bulky SMGs. Their visors are no longer outlined with black and they're paler than before. They're still rather cute for combat Dolls, in my opinion.

Vespids, the mid-range Dolls, have had the same upgrades as the Ripper, but the helmet's visor is now opaque.

Jaegers, the sniper Dolls, no longer have active camo in their cloaks, but they now hide behind units like Rippers and snipe targets from behind them.

Guards are a new class of Doll with heavy internal armor plating and a shield. They only have pistols, but their armor makes things more difficult, especially if they're escorting Jaegers. Had to withdraw an AR/SMG Echelon in a sim before they got nuked by the Jaegers.

Dragoons are high-end ones that literally ride miniature assault mechs like they're motorcycles. The Doll herself can operate separately from her mech, but the robot's the main problem.

Scouts, Prowlers, and Jaguars still get a lot of use, and they now sport new designs as well.

Dinergates are basically hordes of miniature attack dogs with little laser guns on their backs. Enough said, they suck.

There's armored military units in there, but I'm not gonna go through that right now.

And we're fighting all of them with civilian Dolls using antique firearms.

However, it seems as though the White Death's spirit carried over to a Mosin-Nagant Doll, because she has killed over 500 Sangvis Ferri Dolls throughout her career from what I heard.

Okay, time for the next entry.

June 26, 2062

One more week, and I get shipped out.

Good thing, too, because I'm kind of itching for some action.

Although it's only been two months, I feel like I'm ready for anything SF can throw at me-- although in terms of commanding anyone, I'm honestly worried that I'll get people killed by making a wrong choice-- despite how well I did in the sims. Anyways, I've gone ahead and packed all my stuff up so I can take it with me when I leave, and the rookies got me a bottle of champagne to celebrate my graduation.

How nice of them.

The sims are at their most difficult right now, and it's getting harder and harder to keep up with it all. Honestly, it seems like the first US assault in Germany sometimes.

In about seven days, I'm off to Sector 09.

July 2, 2062

Whelp, it's time.

The chopper's en route, and my graduation is underway.

Turns out, my most consistent ratings were A-ranks and S-ranks, with some B-ranks slipped in from more... difficult simulations. But, it was enough to qualify me for Sector 09, and I'm gald I managed to succeed. Honestly, it's been a long time since I've been on a battlefield, but for the sake of any Americans still stuck here, I won't fail.

Now that I've noticed it, it's almost Independance Day. Maybe I can celebrate it with whoever staffs my base when I get there.

Either way, I'm about to go out and get the official congratulations from the staff, and then? Only time will tell what's in store for my ass.

Life's a massive bitch, by the way.

Okay, here's the referrence sources:

Matthew Hsu is the protagonist of ClearlyInvisible's Toy Soldiers, a story you should go check out, because it's a good one.

Juno Itsuki is the protagonist of On The Frontline, an AO3-only fic. Another good one.

GrandLeviathan is an author on FFN who specializes in smut. His GFL stories are pretty good, so check those out as well (if you're old enough.)

And of course, Jacques Schnee is the father of RWBY's Weiss Schnee. His moustache is just too funny to not include in some form.

Beginning III will have a normal perspective, as well as the real challenge: make the actual canon parts as unique as I can while keeping the general theme (and differentiating from Toy Soldiers.)

I'll see you all in Beginning III!