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, even with all the shit I've seen back in the War.

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 in an attempt to make the recruiting smoother.

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 and I'm pretty damn sure I've lost my edge during those years of exile.

At the very least, I get to wear a really nice maroon trench coat while I do it.


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, though.

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. Then again, can't blame him, that was how every military treated them back then.

The Japanese girl, Juno Itsuki, is pretty nice, and 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 the T-Dolls are, in their barest form, machines, but I've seen

way too many 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 still perform well against them definitely helps my self-esteem, considering how low it's been for the last eleven years and that I was never an officer.

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 like the Russian Cyclops, 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 (from what M1911 told me,) or that true military Dolls are far 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. In all honesty, I'm surprised I didn't lose any more than that.

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, but at least unlike back then I was already used to it.

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 because of it.

My combat skills haven't eroded at the very least, but I feel a little jumpier than usual. 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 despite my misgivings about most PMCs, she's the only one I trust at all here), and rumor has it that GrandLeviathan literally 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, and he'll probably get fired for being a dick.)

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.

And here I am, wondering if I've even got what it takes to be a proper officer.

Disregarding that, 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 officialy 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 think I'm getting back into the flow of things, but I dunno if it's just hopeful thinking.

God, I wish I had the Sergeant Major breathing down my neck like before. That would work wonders for getting me back on track.


June 12, 2062

Month One, Week Two.

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

Kinda like the last eleven years of my life.

Griffin finally told me which base I'm being assigned to: a frontline base in the area designated "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.

Matheson, you can stop saying "I told you so" about them going Skynet now, thank you very much...


June 19, 2062

Month One, Week Three.

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

Rippers, the original SF Dolls, now have streamlined limbs and sleeker SMGs with an even higher rate of fire than before. Their visors are no longer outlined with black polymers, their skin is a bit paler than before, (and holy shit, their curves got an upgrade.) They're still rather cute for combat Dolls, in my opinion, but thirteen years later, and I still don't know if they have emotion modules.

Vespids, the mid-range Dolls, have had the same upgrades as the Ripper, but the helmet's visor is now opaque, their rifles have been reworked to be more accurate at medium to semi-long ranges, and more.

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. They still act like they used to when in smaller numbers, but their new wolfpack-like tactics are a fucking pain.

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 way too quickly in a sim before they got nuked by said 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. As for her looks, she's fittingly designed as a biker chick, sith the leather jacket and scarf to match.

Scouts, Prowlers, and Jaguars still get a lot of use, and they now sport new, more streamlined 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 in the night-time simulations, but I'm not gonna go through that right now, because they fucking suck.

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 somehow, because based on some rumors I'm hearing, 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 feeling really twitchy.

I wish I had more time to train, because I am in no way, shape, or form confident in my abilities as an officer, and that'll cost lives. 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 Battle of Berlin sometimes with how overwhelming they are.

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 glad 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 and my old squad and platoon, 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 sorry, PTSD-ridden 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!