Episode I. City In The Clouds
In the air, high above the surface of planet Freedom, a single red dot travelled across the deep blue sky. Miles Prower, also known as "Tails" (a nickname he earned for being born with twice the number of tails typical for his species), sat at the helm of the Tornado. The fox has built this light propeller-driven plane several years ago, piecing the aircraft together from scrap metal and salvaged parts. Despite the less than noble origin, the Tornado worked like a clock, its engine humming silently as Miles ran a mid-flight check on all the sub-systems. Every light on the control panel shone green and the fox – satisfied with the results – set to adjust the plane's course. The long journey was coming to an end, their destination now appearing through the clouds dead ahead.
First just one, then two and finally an entire archipelago of islands could be seen floating over the green ranges of the hills beneath. Even from many kilometers away one could easily distinguish a myriad of tall buildings that littered those unnatural rock formations, bound together by a series of winding lines that on close inspection turned out to be roads, bridges and highways. Tantalizing in the rays of the late summer sun, the Cloud City was a magnificent sight to behold, breathtaking by the virtue of its pure surreality.
Miles paused for a few moments to take in the wondrous view and then turned to his friend, snoozing in the copilot's seat.
"Hey, Sonic!" he shouted, "Wake up, we're almost there!"
The blue hedgehog called Sonic stretched and rubbed his eyes. Then, without a trace of fear, he hopped out of the cockpit and onto the biplane's wings, apparently unaware of the tremendous distance between him and the solid ground down below. The fox saw Sonic yawn as his spiked companion squinted at the scenery before him.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
The hedgehog nodded in agreement and crossed his arms.
"It's hard to believe that this place was that bloated Eggman's hometown" he said, clearly enjoying the gusts of wind on his fur.
Knowing that Sonic preferred action to chit chat, Miles hastily changed the subject to the task at hand:
"According to the files the princess was able to retrieve from the Death Egg's database, Dr. Robotnik tried to track down the phenomenon for several months. Right before he found the Master Emerald, Eggman traced the signal to the most unlikely location – here!" the fox punched in a combination on the plane's monitor and a colorful chart appeared. "Whoever they are, the person Eggman was looking for bears a Chaos signature almost identical to your own, Sonic. Which can only mean that it's…"
"My mother" concluded the hedgehog, turning to his sidekick with a reassuring smile. "Thanks for the reminder, buddy. But I know all this already."
"Uh-huh…" Tails coughed as if to recollect himself. "Do you think we will find her?"
Sonic looked into the distance silently for several moments before replying.
"I hope so. She's the only one who can answer my questions."
"I guess…" the fox sighed and checked the readings on the control panel again. "At any rate you'll have to find a landing strip for the Tornado. I'm not sure how the city authorities will react to us invading their airspace uninvited."
Sonic scanned their surroundings and noticed a path suspended in mid-air just close enough for him to reach it.
"Keep our ride safe. I'll let you know once I come up with something."
Having said that, the blue hedgehog gained as much of a running start as he could and then jumped off the trusty plane's wings into the vast abyss below.
Tails followed his friend's fall to make sure Sonic made it. When he saw the hedgehog land safely, Miles turned the steering wheel, intent on leading the plane away from the city, when a soft beeping noise caught his attention.
"Huh? An incoming message..?"
The target Sonic has chosen turned out to be a high speed motorway and he managed to land right on the separating line. The hedgehog quickly assessed the distance to the closest land mass and then rushed towards it with amazing speed that earned him his nickname – the Blue Blur. Most drivers didn't even notice that something just flew past them, as Sonic ran between the two streams of vehicles. When he reached the island, the hedgehog leaped over the traffic to his left and landed on a sidewalk, surprising a random passer-by. The man was jogging along the shore and stopped to take a sip of water when a 3 feet tall Freedom planet native landed right next to him, prompting the guy to drop his drink.
"Real sorry about that!" apologized Sonic and - not actually expecting a reply - continued on his way. He noticed a building further down the street that looked like a small office or a low-income apartment block with a conveniently placed skate ramp next to it. The hedgehog increased his speed and swiftly ran up the said structure, trying not to step on any windows. Once on top, he finally stopped to look around and, as Sonic did so, he couldn't help, but feel a little disappointed by the fabled enclave of the outlanders.
Up close the district he was now in kind of paled in comparison to Capital City and just made the Blue Blur wish he was back in Station Square, enjoying their world-famous chilly dogs. However, Sonic noted a dozen or so skyscrapers towering over the rest of the infrastructure deeper into the island and even more of these on another floating formation that hanged slightly higher than the one he was currently on. Its rocky side was dotted with unnatural caves and tunnels where power plants and factories lay hidden.
From what Tails had told him about the place prior to their departure, the hedgehog remembered that Could City dumped what it couldn't recycle onto the land below, which long ago turned into a lifeless black swamp from constant pollution and lack of sunlight. The only inhabitants of that wasteland were robots, mining for what precious resources could still be found under the dead soil.
"Guess it wasn't just that Eggman… Those aliens don't care about ecology in general" Sonic mumbled under his nose. The hedgehog's gaze wandered around and he saw them: the outlanders – humans that is – scurrying about the streets, riding in cars and stopping to check time on their personal communication devices of some sort. Taller than most planet Freedom sapient species (and with a lot less fur on their bodies for that matter), the outlanders weren't that uncommon, especially in places like Capital City where they coexisted peacefully with the natives. But here, in a settlement with predominantly human population, it was a completely different story.
A loud crackle disturbed Sonic's thoughts and Tails's voice ringed in his right ear:
"Come in, Sonic!" the hedgehog heard the sounds of the plane's engine in the background, but he could make out his friend's words without much trouble.
"I'm here, buddy. What is it?"
"I just received a message from the princess. It's a one-way transmission, sent directly to the Tornado's navigational computer" a series of clicks was audible as Miles punched something in on the keyboard. "I'm relaying the recording to you now."
Sonic nodded even though his friend obviously couldn't see him and then turned, mentally plotting his course through the nearby rooftops. A few moments later the transmitter chirred and began playing the file Tails redirected to him:
"Sonic, Tails. If our calculations are correct, this message should reach you before you make it to the enclave… On behalf of the Freedom Fighters, I'd like to once again thank you for the service you rendered to my people…" Princess Alicia Acorn's earnest manner of speech was easy to recognize since the Blue Blur and his sidekick had worked with the heir to Mobius throne for quite a while. The leader of the rebels fighting against Dr. Robotnik's tyranny, her organization proved to be a vital source of intelligence which ultimately led to Eggman's demise.
With Her Highness's help Sonic and Tails were able to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds and use the blue hedgehog's innate capability to control the power of Chaos to destroy the Death Egg – an orbital battle station Dr. Robotnik built, planning to subdue the entire planet. As a token of gratitude, the princess shared with them some of the files her hacking team extracted from Eggman's computers before the doomsday device exploded into a miniature supernova. These concerned the matter that was of utmost importance to Sonic – the secret of his own origin.
"You two have become a beacon of light for the oppressed people of planet Freedom in the darkest of times. We hope that one day you'll stand with us to end the rule of machines in the land of Mobius…" the recording went on and, as the spiked hero jumped from one roof to another, making his way across the Cloud City, he had to suppress a bitter grin. Despite the death of its sole leader, Robotnik's war machine didn't come to a halt. Far from it: the entirety of Eggman Empire had apparently been designed to proceed with execution of the madman's plans even when left unsupervised. Sonic on the other hand had played his role in taking the Doctor down and was now done with the whole thing.
The hedgehog sympathized with Alicia's cause, but he and Tails had seen that the rebellion was in truth run by the remnants of Mobian aristocracy that sponsored the Freedom Fighters' operations and wouldn't stop after they reclaimed their homeland. Those old timers imagined the outlanders to be the root of all evil in the world and would rather see another war with the aliens unfold than spend time rebuilding. Unwilling to be their trump card any longer, Sonic took his plane and left in search of the lost family he never knew.
"Know that you'll always be seen as friends of the Freedom Fighters and may contact us if ever you'll find yourself in need of our assistance." Here the audio paused and the hedgehog got the feeling that the speaker might've put aside a sheet of paper with her speech written on it. "Well, that was a mouthful… What I really wanted to tell you Sonic is that I understand your reasons for leaving. I do not agree with them, but I understand."
Now this was the genuine Princess Alicia Acorn that Sonic came to respect and even admire during a couple of months of their partnership. That was especially strange for him, considering that to this day the two never even met in person.
"They don't want me to share any more information we possess, but you need to know this" the royalty continued and the hedgehog caught a hint of concern in her tone. "The Eggman Empire has been very active recently - hundreds of Robotnik's bots gather in the Dust Hill zone. Our Wolf Clan agents suspected a speedy attack on Capital City at first, but it appears that many of those robots are workers and scientific analysis drones. Something big must be at stake for them to transport a ton of expensive equipment so far from their guarded perimeter and we fear that… Well, whatever it was they uncovered is bad news for everyone."
"No kidding" thought Sonic. With Eggman's growing interest in Chaos energy sources in the last days of his dark reign, a hi-tech search party dispatched so close to one of the known ruins of the ancient echidnas' cities sounded like trouble alright. The hedgehog wondered that perhaps he was a bit too hasty in his decision to come so far from home in case something did go down back there.
"On the bright side, with the Eggman Empire's attention centered in the South, your chances of getting to Cloud City undetected might be a bit higher now. So that's a plus." the princess concluded and then added warmly: "Don't worry. I'm going to look into the matter myself ASAP. In the meanwhile I wish you good luck… May your journey meet with success. Sally out."
There was a beep, indicating the end of transmission. Sonic stood in silence, scratching his nose – a gesture his body associated with profound thinking. Finally the hedgehog snapped out of it and tapped the communication gadget to open a comlink with the Tornado and its pilot.
"Sonic?"
"Home onto my coordinates, Tails. I think I found a perfect perch for our bird."
With that Sonic terminated the link and looked over the panorama of a massive green field situated at the very edge of the floating island. It has probably been intended as a recreational area or a future construction site, but right now this vast and almost completely flat meadow was totally deserted. From the top of the commercial tower he was on, the Blue Blur spotted a cluster of trees on the horizon that would be perfect to hide a small biplane in and - taking a deep breath - he prepared for descent.
The landing was a rough one: the Tornado bounced on every hummock and skidded terribly when the grass got into its landing gear... But Tails has been through worse. The fox led the vehicle across the field as carefully as possible, trying not to strain its mechanisms too much and after some persuasion the trusty biplane came to a halt. Miles switched the engine off and together with Sonic they pushed the Tornado into the shade of the small grove the hedgehog spotted earlier. After covering their transport with a camouflage net and some torn branches to conceal it from wandering eyes, the two sighed with relief and walked slowly towards the megapolis glimmering in the distance in an already fading sunlight.
"So, what's the plan?" Sonic asked, snapping his fingers.
"Well, Robotnik's records mention that the source of Chaos energy was mostly active during the night" answered Tails, happy to stretch his legs after a long flight. "The best course of action would be to wait till sunset and then I can use my wrist communicator to monitor…"
The fox couldn't finish the sentence because his best friend who was in the lead suddenly stopped and Miles bumped right into him.
"What is it, Sonic? What's wrong?"
The hedgehog didn't reply, but kept on staring unblinkingly at something in the distance. Tails followed Sonic's gaze and saw a huge video screen mounted on the wall of a business center just outside the park they were in. On it an image was shown: one of a bald man with an enormous red moustache, wearing a uniform with a very high collar. The person smiled, showing off two rows of perfectly white teeth and the words "ROBOTNIK ENGINEERINGS" appeared, followed by a slogan: "Building a better future… For you, your family and everybody".
"Makes you wonder, huh?" said Miles after a long pause. "Just how much people here know about what's going on in the outside world."
Sonic shrugged and turned to his sidekick with a smile.
"Whatever… Let's get something to eat. I'm starving."
Dr. Ivo Robotnik had been known for many things, but humility was never one of them. The annihilator of the Babylon Gardens, usurper to the throne of Mobius and the forefather of robotization (the science behind the synthesis of living organic matter with artificial components and even the crudest forms of machinery); above all else Eggman valued his own comfort and required a lot of personal space. Thus the scientist's personal laboratory in his Cloud City headquarters looked more like a hangar, packed to the brim with every kind of hi-tech equipment imaginable.
Right now however its exact dimensions and decorum were impossible to tell since the only source of illumination in an otherwise pitch black room was a monitor of a tiny computer set on top of a working desk. In front of that screen, seated in a high-back chair too big for her short frame, a girl with long golden hair hammered away on the keyboard. Before her - one lengthy line after another - formed a code so advanced that it rivaled a living being's DNA structure in complexity. The majority of it was copypasted from an existing template however and the young woman almost felt ashamed to defile such a masterpiece with her own, relatively primitive algorithms.
Consumed by her work, the girl seemed almost out of touch with reality, but when the silence of the lab was unexpectedly broken, she didn't act in the least bit surprised.
"He's here."
The young lady looked up from the monitor, but made no attempt to locate the unseen entity that distracted her, closing her eyes instead – sore from long hours of staring into a viewscreen – and rubbing her forehead as if to chase a headache away.
"He is? Are you sure?" she inquired, addressing no one in particular and trying not to lose concentration. Despite her best efforts, the girl could already feel her tired mind drift away.
"Yes" was the simple reply. Then, after a momentary hesitation, the speaker added: "I can sense him in the streets beyond the walls of this facility."
"Very well…" the girl yawned, wishing only to be done with this strange conversation and to go back to work, lest she would fall asleep right here at this desk. "I'll notify RoboUncle, let him deal with the intruder however he…"
"You know that EggRobo doesn't stand a chance" the voice interrupted her mid-sentence. "*I* have to challenge him, Hope."
Instantly awake, Hope frowned and groped around the table for aspirin tablets. Either she dozed off there for a moment or the AI just called her by first name… Something it seldom did, despite the constant telepathic link that connected them.
"We WILL challenge him, Metal" Hope assured her partner, struggling to get the pills out of the package in almost complete darkness. "When the moment is right and once I'm done with your upgrades… Just give me a little more time."
She waited for several seconds, but there was no reply, which – since her interlocutor was a robot with super-fast processing powers – pretty much meant that the conversation was over. Too exhausted to feel disappointed, Hope sighed and tapped the intercom button.
"Hey, uncle!" the girl said in the most amiable voice she could muster. "I've just heard something you might want to check out…"
