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[prostheticbody]

[The Major isn't wearing her usual provocative attire today, but rather the khaki dress uniform of a JSDF officer.]

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, ostensibly a day to honor those who died during military service, though it seems to mostly be an excuse for cookouts. I didn't serve in the American army, but I did fight alongside plenty of American soldiers during World War IV, many of whom didn't survive.

How many others here have been in the military? Whether it's the American armed forces or a military that doesn't even exist here, I'm sure we've all lost comrades. I'm going to visit some of the cemeteries around Maurtia Falls and put flowers on the graves of soldiers who may not have surviving families. Maybe you'd like to join me, or do the same in your city of choice.

Comments

[knaval]

I wasn't really drafted... well, I suppose I was, but not in the organic way. I don't know about organics, but people like me are... kind of a little lower than the actual soldiers who picked up arms. It's a little annoying.

Questionable history, huh?

[go on...]

[prostheticbody]

Does that mean you were... created for warfare?

[She's not sure how else to read his statement, and she generally doesn't want to offend people, so she treads lightly on the subject.]

When you allied with the Axis powers, and Nazi Germany in particular, it's hard to celebrate your proud military history. And not to mention causing a few atrocities of our own during World War II. It's something Japan has tried to move past, to the point where we no longer technically keep a standing army.

[knaval]

Yes. I'm an MTO - made to order. They needed a certain type of Autobot for a mission so me and the other Hydrobots were created. Our life expectancy was... about ten minutes. MTOs were too disposable.

[which riptide finds sickening, considering what started the war...]

Were they bad? You can't really categorise a war as good and bad.

[...unless you're a nazi. then you're DEFINITELY bad.]

[prostheticbody]

Well, on the bright side, you seem to have exceeded that life expectancy. I suppose I'm similar, in a way. Full-body cyborgs are especially sought out by the military since we can lose most of our bodies in combat and return to the frontlines after just some maintenance.

[She sighs slightly. The sins of WWII still weigh heavily on some nations.]

Both the Nazis and Imperial Japan engaged in campaigns of mass terror and genocide. There are always shades of gray, but World War II was probably the last time that there were fairly clear-cut 'good' and 'bad' sides. America gained much of its current national identity from that struggle, and they've been reeling from less easily-justified conflicts ever since.

[knaval]

By about three million years. I'm gunning for ten, just to really rub their faces in it.

[well, at least she's not an AI. could be worse.]

Heh, justifiable is a slippery slope. I'm sure Megatron could justify Simanzi, but that battle killed the planet and cut our race population in half.