Power Play
By Serinthia S. Draftwood
This work is protected under statutory copyright, and the 'fair use' clause of the US Copyright law. Characters and locations used are the property of SEGA, DiC, Archie Comics, and others and are used without permission. 'Bookshire Draftwood' is the property of myself. I hereby grant permission for free, unaltered distribution of this work through any electronic Internet related medium. No sale of this work or exchange of this work for any kind of material or monetary compensation may be made without my express permission. Nor may it be included in any physical hardcopy compilation of works without permission.
Story:
It was late night in Knothole. All was quiet except for the usual sounds of the forest and shuffling feet of the very few night guards on patrol around the perimeter. Most everyone else was asleep quite comfortably in their beds. All except one.
Bookshire Draftwood was legendary, almost, for being a night owl, staying up until all hours of the morning and yet somehow managing enough sleep to be up by nine the next day to tend to the medical needs of the residents. This night he was, once again, seated comfortably in his well padded desk chair, his fingers working tirelessly on the keyboard in front of him. His slightly glazed eyes were staring intently at the computer screen as he would access one menu or another, this option or that one, in an effort to gather information enough to keep the Princess abreast of the goings on in the world.
It was a dangerous thing he did. Much of his information was gleaned by hacking into the central Robotropolis Main Computer Core. Luckily, all the encryption and firewall, and routing software he used had done a more than adequate job of ensuring his connections would remain anonymous.
He paused in what he was doing then, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes somewhat. It was dark, except for the light of the computer screen and the few candles he kept nearby, burning quietly. He'd been at least as least since supper time, and the clock now was reading 2:00 in the morning. He stretched a moment, working some of the kinks out of his back before sighing to himself. It was getting harder and harder to find useful information in that thing. Ever since he and the others became aware of 'The Doomsday Project', whatever that was, Robotnik seemed to be very carefully, and very tightly locking down all his operations files, and cracking into them was never easy, if even possible. Still, anything that could help would be useful.
He resumed his work, once again, trying a few lower security locations to see if he could piece anything together. It was then that he stumbled across something.
It was a maintenance report on the status of the city's four main power generators. Two of them were being taken offline for basic repairs. This information was too good to be true. Which is why he spent the next hour poring over all other related status reports regarding the generators from as far back as six months to ensure that Packbell hadn't just stuck it in there as a trap. It looked like the report was, indeed, correct. He printed out a hardcopy and went upstairs, wincing as his legs tried to wake up, having been seated for several hours. He went to the nearest window and called for one of Sir Charles' messengers. It would be best if this report was visually confirmed. Hopefully he'd have an answer by morning and then he could inform the others.
Once the messenger was dispatched, he went to shut down his machine for the night and headed for his bedroom and a well deserved rest.
Morning brought a very different picture of Knothole than the night before. The village was alive as any other forest village might be at this time of day. People were socializing, or going about their business. One would almost think there wasn't even a war going on. Although, still, the perimeter patrol still went on their way ensuring the village wasn't breached by spies or other unsavory creatures.
As Bookshire emerged from his bedroom he saw the messenger bird sitting quietly on his windowsill. He quickly retrieved the response and took a moment to read it before pulling his coat on, grabbing his cane, and heading out to as quickly as he could manage to where the others were surely gathered for breakfast.
While it was certainly possible for Knothole residents to take their meals within their own huts, many preferred the large open air café near the center of the village where they could meet with friends and talk about anything they wanted. It was here that many of the lead freedom fighters were gathered, enjoying their morning meal.
Sonic glanced over at Antoine who was just taking his seat with a stack of French toast in front of him. The blue hedgehog smirked.
"Surprise, surprise," he commented "Don't you ever eat anything else for breakfast?"
"It ieez being my choice what I eat for ze breakfast, Sonic," Antoine replied defensively "Besides, I could be asking you why it ieez that you are always eating the hash brownies and scrambled eggs."
"Will you boys relax," Sally interrupted "It's not even nine in the morning yet."
Sonic grinned at her.
"It's just in fun, Sal," he replied "So you got any word yet on our next mission?"
"Not yet," Sally said "Things have been kinda quiet out of Robotropolis lately. It would be nice to go in for some kind pre-emptive strike into the city, but we need a target first."
"Oh yeah, I love those," Sonic said enthusiastically "Bring the war to him for once instead of the other way around."
"Well we're not hurting for explosive charges," Rotor commented between mouthfuls of pancakes "Like Sally says, we just a place to hit. Too bad the main command center security's as tight as it is."
As they were talking, Bookshire hobbled up to the table with a tray of his own balanced on one paw.
"Well, if you don't mind me joining you, I think I may have one," he said "Two actually."
"What's up, Book?" Sonic asked as he slid over for the older raccoon to sit down.
Bookshire set his breakfast aside and laid out the printouts he had made.
"Two of Robotnik's power generators are offline for the next 72 hours undergoing maintenance. They'll be pretty well guarded but if we can hit them, it'll be a huge chunk of Robotnik's power grid that'll suffer," Bookshire said.
"Oh wow, that'd way past if we could," Sonic said.
"Are you sure Packbell isn't just trying to entice us?" Sally asked "It wouldn't be the first time false information's been planted like this."
"You're very right, Princess," Bookshire replied "However, I've examined the paper trail, and sent word to Sir Charles to investigate himself. Between the two of us the information looks pretty solid."
"What do ya say, Sal?" Sonic asked with a grin.
Sally looked the printouts over for a moment and smiled.
"I think we have our targets," she said simply.
The remainder of the day found the Freedom Fighters gathered in the war room pouring over blueprints and maps of the power generators and surrounding areas and planning their moves. If everything went according to plan 50% of the Robotropolis power grid would be taken out. By nightfall, Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine had their packs loaded with charges and Dulcy was ready to carry them out to the city.
Night had come to Robotropolis, though it was often hard to tell since the skies overhead were so thick with smog and pollution that it did a very good job of blocking out the sun most of the time. Everywhere one looked, there was nothing but technology. Many of it not all of the old Mobian buildings had been demolished to make way for the construction of technological behemoths, each one with the purpose of increasing the power and influence of the city's maniacal ruler and his assistants. Still, all these buildings and this technology had to get their power from somewhere.
The city had four huge power generators. Two were based on oil, the other two were nuclear. The oil generators generally required more work to keep functional, but Robotnik had always refused to replace them, largely because they polluted the air and lands a lot more. Sure the nuclear reactors generated toxic waste, but that really only affected a small area. Meanwhile, the oil burning plants were spewing tons of hydrocarbons into the air on a daily basis. It was a sheer wonder anyone could breathe in the city anymore. But they still needed maintenance.
Both had been shut down tonight in fact, and workerbots were quickly going from one job to the next, checking and changing seals, gears, belts, and so forth while others went about basically giving both plants the mother of all oil changes, cleaning out pipes and tanks of excess sludge.
Once again, Packbell had been assigned to oversee it.
The sadistic android was in the northern plant tonight, watching the mindless bots go about their work, his full body cloak billowing around him slightly as he stood quite still, looking over his project notes. To say he was irritated at having to do this would be an understatement. Ever since he had voiced his opposition to the Doomsday Project at the last command meeting, Robotnik had begun pushing him away. He had, perhaps, made a tactical error in voicing his opposition to Robotnik so soon, but still. The old fool was likely to get himself killed if that project came to its apex. And if the Freedom Fighters didn't do it, Packbell was already making plans to do it himself.
He sighed and went about his business meticulously. As much of a pain as this repair was, it still had to be done, and any power loss to the city was unacceptable.
The strike team had arrived in Robotropolis a little bit after eight at night. The plan was for Sonic to act as the distraction as well as to plant charges, while Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine would go first to one plant, then the next, and plant their charges, before evacuating and detonating the whole lot of them.
Much to Sonic's annoyance, the four crept silently through the city at first, moving with quiet stealth, taking cover whenever patrols went by, and largely managing to pass unnoticed to the city security forces. They all knew, Bunnie most especially, what would happen if they were caught and not a one of them was looking forward to ever being in that kind of situation.
After about an hour of travel, they arrived just outside the northern power plant where there was a flurry of activity. SWAT-bot guards were station everywhere. They were counting on the fact that the security would only be stationed outside, since much of the plant was undergoing repair, after all.
"All right, guys," Sally began "Let's do it to it. Remember, if anything goes wrong, get yourselves back to the meeting place as soon as you can, got it?"
"We're ready, Sally girl," Bunnie replied.
"Great," Sally said "Do your stuff, Sonic. Remember…"
"Bury the charges so they don't find them, yeah I know Sal," Sonic said hurriedly "I'm outta here!"
With the eagerness rivaling a child on Solstice morning Sonic sped out of the hiding place and raced right for the guards, drawing their attention almost immediately. He skidded to a stop in front of the two by the main entrance just long enough to say.
"Did you always look like that, or did you get dropped on your heads a lot?' he asked with a smirk before tearing off into the distance. Having sighted their priority one hedgehog, all the SWAT-bots opened fire and began their pursuit.
Once the guards were clear of the entrances, Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine sprinted for the opening. Bunnie seized one of the doors in her robotic grip and forced it aside far enough for them to enter quickly. Once inside, they still had to be careful. Worker bots weren't as dangerous as SWAT-bots, but they still knew how to sound the alarm.
The group moved down the main hall, heading for the reactor room. Fortunately, there was no sign of SWAT-bot security inside. They crept carefully down the hall, occasionally ducking into side storage rooms and quietly laying down charges near the walls and support beams. Once they got to the end of the hall, they peeked around the corner into the main reactor room. The huge, cavernous area must've been several hundred feet in length in every direction. The massive main generator sat right in the middle, much of it in a state of disrepair as a few bots went about working on it.
"Let us be doing this and getting out of here!" Antoine said nervously.
"Doing what, may I ask?"
The three froze and turned to see Packbell himself standing in the middle of the hall, blocking their exit out of the building.
"Damn you, freedom fighters," he said with annoyance "You just think you can show up anytime you please. One of these days I'm gonna nail down exactly how you find out about this stuff and kill whoever's responsible…but for now, I think I'll just content myself with you three."
Without another word, he drew his rifle from under his cloak and opened fire.
In a lightning move, Sally quickly shoved the other two through the door to the reactor ahead of her as laser fire exploded around them. The three ran for their lives across the floor of the reactor room as Packbell followed calmly at a slow pace. With an unspoken signal, the workerbots paused in what they were doing and began to withdraw. Sally, Bunnie and Antoine had made it to the far end by this time and took shelter behind some storage crates.
"What the heck we gonna do now, Sally girl?" Bunnie asked urgently.
"That's the only exit from this room is blocked," Sally replied, thinking as quickly as she could "Somehow, we need to get Packbell out of here or get him distracted somehow."
Bunnie thought for a moment and glance carefully around the edge of the crate to see how far Packbell was. The android was advancing quite calmly, his rifle in hand.
"I think I got an idea," she said "I can keep him busy."
Antoine gasped in shock.
"Are you being crazy in the head, Bunnie?" he exclaimed "He'll be killing you in one shot!"
"Not if he gets close enough," Bunnie replied "Then we can see if he's as good at martial arts as I am."
"Bunnie," Sally began.
"Sally girl, I've been training for the last ten years," Bunnie said "I can do this. Besides, it's not a fight to the death, you just need a distraction."
Sally looked at her longtime friend a moment and nodded softly.
"All right," Sally said simply.
Bunnie nodded quietly and crouched, thinking of the pace at which Packbell was walking, counting off ticks in the back of her mind before she leapt out with a fierce yell. Packbell was exactly where she thought he would be and she kicked hard with one of her legs, knocking the rifle from his hands and whipping it to the far end of the room. Packbell jumped back in surprise, his eyes widening in shock. No one had caught him off guard quite like that.
"You're mine, Packbell!" Bunnie yelled defiantly.
Packbell blinked a moment then recovered his composure.
"One on one, hand to paw, is that it?" he asked with a level of amusement "Fine. Bring it on."
Bunnie approached carefully, planning her attack. He could bust her right arm in half with one strike, so she had to concentrate on using her left arm and legs instead. Fortunately, rabbits were good with their legs. She and Packbell gazed intently at each other as she approached before she moved in suddenly for the attack, and the two of them clashed.
Sally and Antoine looked out from behind the crate. Packbell and Bunnie were locked in struggle, exchanging a flurry of kicks and punches. The sound of metal smacking into metal over and over again rang out throughout the cavernous room as the two battled back and forth, each one impressing the other with their knowledge of this most ancient form of combat. Still, Bunnie seemed to be holding her own; for every kick Packbell dealt to her, she blocked or dodged and returned two more.
"Come on, Antoine," Sally said urgently.
They sprinted from their hiding place towards the reactor.
"Hey!" Packbell shouted as they made a run for it, but the momentary distraction allowed Bunnie a free shot at his head. The heel of her foot smashed into the androids face, knocking him backwards onto the floor.
Sally and Antoine were running about the reactor, stuffing as many charges into it as they could. Hitting the second reactor would be impossible at best, by this point. Surely Packbell had called for re-enforcements before now, so she and Antoine loaded as much as they could into their targets.
Bunnie, meanwhile, hadn't given Packbell a chance to even get up, leaping up and smashing her foot down against his chest before he could roll out of the way.
"I do declare, Packbell, you're looking a bit dented," she said. Admittedly, she wasn't much better off, but Packbell growled as he got to his feet.
"You're gonna pay for that," he said, before returning to his onslaught of kicks and punches even as he forced on the defensive by Bunnie's powerful kicks, her natural leg strength having survived the robotization process and ensuring that every kick counted.
Once Antoine and Sally where done they sprinted for the main doors.
"Come on, Bunnie!" Sally shouted.
"Gimme a minute, Sally girl!" Bunnie said between strikes. At last she saw her opening and leapt up, dealing two sharp kicks to the side of Packbell's head, sending the android spinning of violently and smashing into the wall where he crumpled. Bunnie took only a moment to get her breath before running after Sally and Antoine.
Once outside, Sally looked around urgently for Sonic who sped up and skidded to a stop.
"We gotta motor, somebody sent for more bots!" he exclaimed.
"Too late," Sally gasped as teams of SWAT-bots appeared at both ends of the street and out of the nearby alleyways too
"It was Packbell," Bunnie said breathlessly "never woulda figured he'd be in charge of something this menial."
"Princess!" called Packbell, who was limping noticeably out of the building "I'll make you a deal. Surrender now and I'll make your death painless."
"And I'll make you a deal!" she called "We won't surrender and you can just stand there and rust!"
Quickly she shoved her paw into Sonic's pack and pulled out the one thing he always carried with him. A golden power ring.
"We'll figure out what went wrong later," she said quickly "For now; I think we've overstayed our welcome."
Sonic grinned slyly.
"Ya got that right," he replied and seized the ring in both paws. The ring reacted almost immediately. Golden energy surged through his body as the other three grabbed onto him. His feet revved up and Sonic charged forward.
"Fire!" Packbell screamed, but even as the SWAT-bots did so, Sonic smashed right through them, plowing through the rows of SWAT-bots like they weren't even there, sending them flying in every direction even as they tried to hit him. Even the hovercrafts that were in pursuit couldn't keep up as the power of the ring flowed through his body, speeding away from the reactor a sonic boom trailing behind him.
As she held on tightly, Sally managed to reach her wrist detonator and push the button. The explosion that was heard was even louder than Sonic's boom, echoing through the city and taking out several of the surrounding buildings, eradicating all who were within the blast radius.
Sonic continued running, still, not letting up until they had lost their pursuers. He finally skidded to a halt at the junk piles were Dulcy had been anxiously waiting. In moments they were in the air and headed for the safety of Knothole.
"Packbell doing maintenance work?" Bookshire asked "He must've ticked off Robotnik for some reason. Normally he's out rounding us up, or executing us on the spot."
"Well, it was a bit of a surprise, certainly," Sally said "Still; at least we knocked out one of the generators. It'll go a long way in the end. The less power he has, the longer it'll take him to do things."
"You're quite correct, Princess," Bookshire replied as they were heading for Rotor's workshop "With luck we'll have a little more time to focus on what The Doomsday project is all about."
When they got there, Bookshire opened the door and headed inside. Bunnie was lying in bed with her robotic legs and arms removed as Rotor sat nearby working on pounding them out.
"So, how's the patient today?" Bookshire asked.
"Well I think I've gone to pieces but otherwise I'm fine," Bunnie replied.
"Don't worry," Rotor said as he was hammering at the otter shell of one of her legs "I'm almost done. Then you'll be good as new."
"I can't thank y'all enough Rotor," Bunnie said.
"Neither can I thank you, Bunnie," Sally said, sitting on the bed next to her best friend "That was amazing what you did."
"Yeah well, he needed a good butt kicking," Bunnie said as both she and Sally giggled softly.
"Don't worry," Rotor said "If that other generator is still down tomorrow you might still be able to hit it."
"We'll see," Sally said "Anything to take Robotnik down a notch is worth it in my book."
"Agreed," Bookshire said "And someday, very soon now, I feel, we'll take him down once and for all."
THE END