The Cold Truths of WAR.

Chapter 1: Midnight discussions

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!!!"

Accompanied by the clickety-clack associated with trains, whistles sounding loudly, and the happy chattering of wildlife, these are the sounds you will hear as the Fat Controller's number four thunders down the line with the daily express. The engine's name is Gordon, and he is quite proud to be Sir Topham Hatt's finest express engine. At least that's the title he gives himself. Others will tell you he's rather full of himself, but most agree he's one of Sodor's grandest engines.

Sometimes the express is pulled by another engine to give Gordon a break, but rest is not a frequently used word in the big engine's vocabulary. While he doesn't take issue with others being assigned the express, he does believe he's the most qualified engine for the job.

Gordon's journey ends at Vicarstown with a diesel continuing the train to Barrow and beyond.

"So this is the future?" Gordon huffed as a plume of nasty smoke emitted from the diesel sustaining the run.

Gordon had a vendetta against diesels. One specific instance was when a sleek, arrogant class 40 was put on trial and had been rude to the engines. Even though karma bit the diesel right in the fuel tanks, Gordon wasn't happy knowing that the same diesel would be returning to help with the increased workload that comes with summer. Something he and the other engines did look forward to however was the return of the famous Stepney, who would soon revisit the island to assist the railway along with the diesel.

"Can ye believe he'd even entertain the thought of bringing back that pathetic streak of piss you call an engine?!" Donald proclaimed as Gordon backed into the sheds.

"It's despicable!" shouted Henry.

"Disgusting!" Followed up James.

"Disgraceful," Gordon finished as he pulled to a halt in between Henry and Bear.

"Put the grudge to rest already," Bear chimed in. "It's been years since that all went down."

"Bear is right," put in Edward. "Time should heal all wounds, and it's about time he's given a second chance whether we want it or not."

"Give that son of a bitch 10 chances and we still won't want his swaggering ass on our railway!" James yelled as his face went red with anger, red like his coat of paint.

While some engines let bygones be bygones, a great handful aren't so forgiving. Edward knew this, so instead of trying to talk sense into the big engines, he blocked them out and drifted off to a long, peaceful sleep.

Time passed and everybody began to settle down. The three big engines were the last ones awake in the shed.

"James," Gordon said, deciding to break the silence, "Are you alright? I don't see you often use such... vulgar language as you did earlier."

"Uhm, I'm fine. It's just this whole war thing is eating at me."

Henry looked baffled. "War thing? The Cold War? James, it's all just talk. Nothing is going on.'"

James went silent, looking down at his buffers

"Well, because the world might be engulfed in a nuclear winter if the war gets any worse," said James shakily.

"James, how do you know this?" Gordon asked, visibly intrigued by what James mentioned.

James thought for a second. "Well, my driver's friend is a newspaper writer. He's told him all the latest about the growing feud between the United States and the Soviet Union. "Those two superpowers can't get along for the love of Mary, says my driver... Nor their allies even."

Taking a second to digest what James said, Gordon thought for a second.

"Why are they fighting James? From what Churchill said they were on our side at the end of the Second World War."

James scoffed. "From what the driver told me, it's something about how they run their countries, each side hates the other side's way of doing things, it's ridiculous." He looked over to see Bear worriedly looking over toward the big engines, who had been woken up by James' rambling.

"What do you think Bear?" Bear said nothing.

"It's completely bogus I know" James continued anyway, "They are costly at each other's throats, over pretty much nothing from what drivers told me!"

James was about to open his mouth again, when Henry shushed him, "Look at him James, you're worrying the poor bastard." James looked down as Henry turned his attention to Bear, who still looked half-awake at the moment. "Why the face Bear? Well, other than the obvious."

Bear looked up 'Well, Henry, I know this sounds like a ridiculous question but, what if they strike here?" Bear gulped as the others shot confused glares at him. "I know it sounds impractical but, both we and Britain are great friends with the Americans, and we don't have a proper military here either. Maybe, they'd want to cut off one of their allies before hitting the big prize, if you know what I mean."

The long silence was eventually broken by Gordon. "Well, Bear, I don't believe the Russians are as desperate as you think they are. I don't see a reason for them to come poking around here." Gordon looked over to James, hoping he'd say something to reassure his point.

"Ya know, you are right Gordon. From what driver told me, they only care about the United States. Them coming round here seems asinine," James said, before looking down for a second, his expression dropping almost immediately.

"James?"

The red engine sighed "Well, I do see why Bear would be a little concerned. With how powerful those Soviets are, it makes your smokebox run wild, you know."

Gordon couldn't help but agree, although being too proud to admit it, he had a small pit in his boiler for most of the conversation.

"Well, I think that's enough for tonight boys, we should probably get some sleep before the sun breaks," Gordon said the other couldn't help but agree, and soon they were all asleep, knowing they'll have a lot of work to do for a while.