Sonic: War and Chaos ¦ sequel to Dawn of the War Chapter 1: Foreword, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

WAR and CHAOS
Sequel to DAWN of the WAR

aka WAR and ASCENSION

THE SAGA OF ENTROPY: BOOK THE SECOND

AUTHOR'S NOTES
A FOREWORD TO
WAR AND CHAOS

This book is the second in a series in which Dawn of the War is the first. If you haven't yet read Dawn of the War, I would highly recommend it; HOWEVER, this book is written such that you do not necessarily have to have read Dawn of the War to understand it. DOTW events that are of importance to this story are recapped as necessary in the text of this story; thus, this book stands alone enough that you can read it without having read its predecessor. However, I would recommend that you read DOTW first so that you can have a greater understanding of its events and its characters. The choice is fully yours: you can either first read Dawn of the War (it is also available here on FF.net), or you can jump right into this book.
It is also of worth to note that some formatting has been lost in the transduction to FF.net -- namely the use of different fonts. I use a certain font to denote that the speaker is a machine (Nicole or a robot -- Uncle Chuck's text is in the normal font), and another to distinguish certain first-person portions of the text. These font selections do not transfer over to the FF.net version of this story. As a result, some confusion may arise; however, it should not be significant. If you are confused, let me know and I'll clarify. You can also, at your option, view the text at its mirror location on my site, where you can also download the special fonts. selan.escee.com /files/story/warandchaos
This book is inferred to take place in the SatAM universe; however it also includes Knuckles, the Floating Island (Angel Island), and the Chaotix. As well, it also contains new characters who either arise in this text or were introduced in Dawn of the War (like Laine and Caero) -- note that I handle new characters in such a way that they do NOT unrealistically steal the spotlight from cardinal characters. That's not to say they are unimportant; no, quite the contrary. It simply means that I do not introduce my own homemade characters and simply interpose them into Knothole and make them "one of the bunch." No, I introduce them realistically and they gradually gain acceptance, or perhaps they don't gain acceptance at all. The vast majority of the "original characters" in this story are actually NOT my own "personal characters," but rather characters I invented as a writer specifically for this book (series of books). This is NOT a story about original characters; it is a story about Sonic, Sally, Knuckles, Robotnik, etc, that happens to feature additional characters; just like the vast majority of all fiction, it has a plethora of characters; that doesn't mean they are all major characters vying for the spotlight. I try to handle them realisically.
The Sonic universe of this book is based on SatAM, while the Knuckles universe is based on Archie (to clarify: the Sonic universe is based on SatAM, NOT Archie!). I have taken my own liberties and thus I do not expect this will reconcile perfectly with the canon, but the canon is its base.
This is a serious novel, not the product of a caffeine high. I consider it less a generic "fan fiction," lumping it in with the masses, and more a "fan service novel." This is an epic book, written seriously, and is dramatic and emotional at times, though at its core it is an action/adventure.
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you would like to read more of my personal reflections, feel free to continue on with the Formal Foreword below. If not, you can jump straight to the next chapter, where the story begins.

FORMAL FOREWORD

While this book is technically the third in a series, I have disowned the first book, and thus consider this the second. It is the sequel to Dawn of the War. I would recommend reading Dawn of the War before you read this book, as it will give you a greater understanding and appreciation for events mentioned in this book. However, it is not necessary, and this book is capable of standing alone. It does basically pick up where Dawn of the War left off, and the events that took place in the final chapter are necessary for this book, as well as many scattered events throughout the rest of the book, but any event from Dawn of the War that is absolutely vital to the understanding of this book is recapped as necessary. However, I would encourage that you read Dawn of the War first, if only to gain a greater sense of the characters and the trials they have suffered. This book indeed relies heavily on Dawn of the War, and while most of what is needed is briefly remembered in the text of this book as necessary, I think that a much greater understanding and appreciation of it can only be had through actually reading the original book. You will also feel greater empathy and understanding for many of the characters, especially the more minor ones, if you read Dawn of the War first. So, in summary, I truly recommend that you read Dawn of the War before this book, but it is not necessary, and I have written this book such that I hope it can be understood in full without any knowledge of the book that preceded it, though perhaps not appreciated as thoroughly.
With that out of the way, let me move on. I have always intended a series to emerge from the line of storytelling this book is a part of, and now I believe this will probably become the middle book in a trilogy. Dawn of the War told the story of two worlds -- that of the rebellions who stand against Julian's false reign; and that of Angel Island, the home of the Guardian; and how they were brought abrasively together at Julian's hand in a conflict they could not have fathomed. This book also deals in parallel with the stories of the Guardian and of the Freedom Fighters, but focuses more on war, and on the resolution of the Guardian's questions, and world question. Where the first book dealt more with the Guardian's outer conflict, that of his world being invaded and his quest to be reunited with his friends (whom he regards almost as his family, since his true family has been lost), this book deals more heavily with the Guardian's inner conflict, his emptiness and unanswered questions, his resolve to understand the big picture, and his conflict with the enigmatic voice that speaks to him. As for the other side of the story, as stated, this book focuses more on war than on battle and adventure. And this book also introduces a third parallel, which you'll have to read for yourself.
I am excited about the path this story has taken, and will take. The first volume -- the one I have now disavowed -- was written so long ago, when I was so young, and it was really just a conglomeration of devastating problems with all-too-quick solutions. Tails was roboticized. So what did they do? Get a deroboticizer, and deroboticize him. But isn't that far too easy? If access to a deroboticizer was simple enough that it could come so quickly after Tails' roboticization, then couldn't they have done this for Bunnie? For every single roboticized Mobian? It's far too simple, especially in the context of the book where it comes far too readily. Antoine gets shot in the head. So what happens? Their future selves transport them back through time to prevent him from being shot. It seems almost as if I was just coming up with ridiculous, monumental problems and conflicts for the story, and then just saying "alright, that seems like a bad thing, so let's use it," without any regard to how the problem might be realistically solved. It's not as if time travel is so absurd and unrealistic an idea that it shouldn't be allowed to be used, but that I was just jumping at whatever crazy solution came up. And in the context of that text, the solutions came as readily as the problems, and it seemed there was no real loss in the story. Everything was resolved, and the heroes had little time to brood on what had happened, because the solutions came so suddenly. No, my writing has evolved, matured since then. The problems are more real now, and there is not always a solution. In fact, in Dawn of the War, there are many problems which are never undone. You can't expect everything to right itself because that's not what happens. In fact, I'd say the majority of the problems in Dawn of the War fail to have perfect solutions by the end. True, some will doubtlessly be resolved during the course of this book, but some clearly do not, or will not. By the end of one chapter in Dawn of the War (WARNING, IF YOU WISH TO READ DAWN OF THE WAR BEFORE THIS BOOK, SKIP THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH, AS IT WILL SPOIL PLOT ELEMENTS FROM SAID BOOK) it is revealed that Robotnik has planted a tracking device on a plane which has been landed in the hidden Freedom Fighter village of Knothole, which is basically their home and has served as such only because Julian doesn't know its location; the chapter ends, and doubtlessly the reader is left wondering how the Freedom Fighters are going to get out of this mess. But what can they do? They do everything they can, realistically; they move the plane out of Knothole, and plant sentries around the borders. But if we believe Julian is smart, he would already have recorded the location of the tracking device, so even if they move it he still has record of the previous location. And he does. And Knothole burns. Because there isn't a perfect solution to everything, and if we believe that every conflict has a perfect resolution, then we already know what is going to happen. Obviously some conflicts will be resolved, unless we're writing in the vein of Requiem for a Dream. But not all. And some devastating things, like the destruction of Knothole, can realistically take place. And the characters realistically handle the consequences. The destruction of Knothole causes Princess Sally, normally strong and assertive, to bear a growing sense of futility, which visibly changes her throughout the rest of the story. Does the destruction of Knothole spell doom for the Freedom Fighters? No; realistically if it were to happen, they would have to handle it. And they do; they find a new location and, at the very end of Dawn of the War, start building a new Knothole. You will see this kind of thing happen a lot. I don't go out of my way to create bad outcomes, but I do try to create conflicts and resolve them realistically. This is something that seems lacking from many stories, and was certainly lacking in the text I have now disavowed.
Dawn of the War marked a maturation in my writing, and was the first production of which I am truly proud. I hope this book will continue that tradition, and be even greater than the story that precedes it. I have always found myself most at home writing adventure stories, and thus at heart that is what Dawn of the War and this book are, but I have always found myself most pleased with my handling of more emotional and metaphorical and unconventional subjects, which is what pervades this book and the one before it. And so you will probably notice that my style of prose writing is somewhat poetic, but I definitely do not abuse it to the point of obfuscation. While I may use a somewhat unconventionally-poetic style at many points, the actual format of the book is conventional; the story is narrated like any story, with dialog and action. So do not confuse my style of writing with the format of the text, as, unlike books using an unconventional style, my books are not written to be intentionally artsy or confusing or metaphorical; they are written to tell a story. The way I tell that story is conventional, but the style of the words themselves are probably more poetic than many books. And it is meant to be full of emotion, delving deep into more psychological and emotional issues that arise out of the physical conflict. And while the adventure nature of the story is what makes it plausible for me to write and formulate a plot, it is the emotional and poetic element that makes me more proud.

This is a fan-service novel; many of the characters hereunto enclosed may be the trademarks of their creators, including but not limited to: Sega Corporation, DiC Entertainment, and Archie Publishing. The Author claims no relationship with, nor any endorsement from, these entities.

Original text, original characters, plot, and the Story itself and its text © the Author. All work hereunto contained, except characters included in the above statement, is the property of the Author.