Author's Note: Okay, NOW the bulk of the story's about to kick in. What you are about to read includes the first actual air combat scene I've ever actually written. There was one in Weapons of Mass Draconic Destruction, but that wasn't a complete scene-more like an exposition brick. This is the big one-I'm about to delve into true uncharted territory here. It's also big 'cause I've always wanted to write something featuring the Tornado; that old warbird's been in my heart ever since I first laid eyes on her.
Okay, I digress... This is expected to be the last time I include certain elements, at least in their present, precise form. Feedback obtained from a reviewer dictates that I should stick with one format and run with it, which is hard for me to do, but if it's necessary, I shall abide by their wishes. So, wasting no time, let's kick the tires and light the fires!
(Oh, and by the way... I'm starting a new pre-chapter infodump series-don't worry, it'll be short and sweet-called Fast Facts in this chapter. That's where I'll be doing some worldbuilding, which may or may not become important in future chapters or stories. Hope you don't mind!)
Chapter 2
Sky Chase Tails
Act 1
Fast Fact: The world you are about to step into is very much unlike the world you currently reside in. This world, Mobius, may seem like Earth if you were to stand on its surface, and it shares a similar moon, but it doesn't share the same landforms or political bodies. Humans and an as-of-yet unnamed class of anthropomorphic animals primarily populate the surface, having known each other since the dawn of civilization, and co-exist in much the same manner humanity does on Earth-in a wide range of nations and nation-states-and as such, the term 'Mobian' applies to everyone, not just the talking animals.
June 18th, 2063
8,000 feet (and climbing), Mobius international airspace
4:18 PM Mystic Ruins Time
There was nothing more massive than the Egg Carrier when it came to Doctor Ivo Robotnik's current order of battle. The centerpiece of his entire operation, the Egg Carrier weighed a massive 655,261 metric tons (about 722,323 short tons) and measured around 789 meters (2,588 feet) in length, powered by seven ion engines-at least for level flight-and armed with, among other things like missile launchers and lock-on homing energy cannons, the ability to transform into a more defensive state should the air fleets of the world unite in an attempt to take it down, which he felt was... unlikely.
Safe in this knowledge of relative invincibility, the good Doctor relaxed on the ship's bridge. Most of the battleship's functions, from weapons to navigation and energy management, were controlled by an on-board AI, and his newly-developed E-100 series of robots had control of the rest, but it helped for him to be able to see the big picture of what was happening around him. The sky was a dangerous place, and to have first knowledge of what was headed his way was critically important to survival.
But at this moment, there was nothing to threaten him.
The time for reflection was at hand. He'd retrieved-retrieved, more like flat-out stole-four of the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to accomplish his master plan: the complete and total destruction of the United Federation city of Station Square in order to make room for the capital of his brand-new empire, which he was thinking of calling Robotnikland. This majority rule over Sonic and friends, he felt, could either drive them to the negotiation table... Or, most likely, send them into a furious pursuit for the remaining three, keeping them out of his hands for as long as it took to either put a stop to his plans for good or ensure Chaos was a non-threat. Regardless of the eventual outcome, whatever it might be, his existing plan was running at full power and meeting its objectives faster than he had ever anticipated.
His next destination had already been laid in. The ship was now egressing United Federation airspace headed northwest to an island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. He'd been there before; one attempt to find the Chaos Emeralds practically revolved around the Flickies, the inhabitants of this island. This time, however, the Chaos Emerald he was searching for was already on the island-no need to use those dratted finicky birds again. With any luck, he'd be in and out in no time at all, and Chaos would be back on its feet much quicker.
His thoughts were broken only by the revelation that he'd neglected to turn off the radio. If Station Square was to be his, he needed to shut off or out anything that could possibly create a 'soft spot' for the millions of lives Chaos would be certain to destroy-its designated rock station, KISS 97.3, was one of them. It was running commercials right now, which were nice to have compared to the rebellious grunge he knew his rival would enjoy. Then there was its DJ...
"Welcome back to KISS 97.3, home to the wildest rock, the coolest tracks, and the hottest bands this side of the East Coast..."
The mad scientist growled. "This is why I don't particularly like the Federation. Too much freedom, not enough control." He was in a relatively good mood, however-taking four Chaos Emeralds over the span of two days does that-so he only turned the radio down to a level that was easier on his human ears. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Station Square. It won't be around for much longer!" His eyes turned back to the sky, and therefore back to the situation. "VORTEX," addressing the Carrier's AI, "how is our course progressing?"
"AS PLANNED," the rudimentary program replied. "ESTIMATED TIME TO FEDERATION AIRSPACE DEPARTURE: FIFTEEN MINUTES."
The thickly mustachioed scientist chuckled. "Ha! Those fools won't have time to send up interceptors even if they see past our fake IFF signal. Central City is starting to lose its touch already." He cleared his throat. "I assume there haven't been any updates regarding the Island of the Flickies?"
"CONFIRMED. CHAOS ENERGY READINGS STABLE. NO CHANGES AS OF..." The AI stopped itself. Something was wrong, and it knew it. "WAIT."
Naturally, this was of great concern to Robotnik. Had GUN sent fighters earlier than anticipated? "What is it, VORTEX? Give me a status report!" he commanded.
VORTEX remained silent for a few seconds while it processed the new information given to it. Finally, it spoke: "...PATROL WING 27 REPORTS ONE UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT IN SECTOR. BEARING 178, SPEED 331 KNOTS. CONTACT IS ON DIRECT COURSE TO SHIP."
There was only one possible threat Robotnik knew of that consisted of just one aircraft and flew at a similar speed, but he could never be too sure. It could have been a passenger jet that just happened to wander right into his fighters' radar range. Nevertheless, it never hurt to check... Right? "Hmmm... Have Patrol Wing 27 investigate that contact further. Put everything else on alert; if that's what I think it is..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence before his AI piped back in. "ALERT. TELEMETRY FEED FROM PATROL WING 27 HAS GONE SILENT. ATTEMPTING TO REESTABLISH SIGNAL."
After hearing that same wing issue a contact report, it didn't take the Doctor long to guess what had happened to it. Something-probably that aircraft it had detected in its final moments-had most likely disabled the unmanned drones in some way, either by shooting them down or cutting off their transmissions back to the ship. Either way, VORTEX would have to wait a long time to get that wing's signal again.
If he had any doubts about the identity of his pursuer before then, they had definitely been dispelled now. The Tornado was the one in hot pursuit, and it was cutting down anything that could stand in the way between it and the Carrier itself. They were under attack.
"Don't bother, VORTEX, 27's a lost cause," Robotnik ordered. "I know exactly what we're up against. Vector all airborne fighters to that aircraft's last known position and bring air defense systems online! Full alert!"
"UNDERSTOOD. REQUESTING IDENTITY OF INTRUDING AIRCRAFT."
There was no need to explain the identity of this new aggressor. "The Tornado," he replied simply. "It belongs to that annoying hedgehog Sonic and his friend Tails. I doubt it'll last very long, but ready the ship for battle regardless."
Being the ship's AI, VORTEX knew what he was talking about but did not acknowledge it verbally. It only sought the identity of the intruder, nothing more. "TARGET CONFIRMED. SCRAMBLING ADDITIONAL FIGHTERS TO ASSIST."
What was left of the two scouts fell towards the water as two big balls of smoke and fire. There were going to be more coming-Tails was sure of that-but it was evident that Robotnik had not prepared for the possibility of immediate pursuit. "Those fighters can't have gone too far from the mothership. The Egg Carrier's gotta be close by!"
"Finally, some action! These clouds're putting me to sleep here!" Sonic exclaimed.
Tails nodded. "I wouldn't get too comfortable back there, though. These things might be pushovers, but they've got strength in numbers. We've also got the Carrier itself to contend with; I don't think Robotnik would leave the mothership itself undefended."
"Well then, what're we waiting for?! Let's crack this egg and go home!"
The fox kit nodded again and gave his friend a thumbs-up before turning his attention back to the cockpit. Sure enough, the Egg Carrier was making full speed away from them right in his field of vision-that is to say, right in the middle of the Tornado's reflex gunsight. Something that big wouldn't be getting away from them anytime soon, not at the speed this warbird was going. It'd have to rely on its defenses to keep it at bay, something that, with his flying abilities, he didn't particularly need to worry about. This was gonna be fun.
His ears soon picked up the opening bars to an old favorite of his-Danger Zone-blaring out of the plane's radio, which was, perhaps not coincidentally, also tuned to KISS 97.3. It was almost as if Station Square wanted to cheer them on-even though they had zero idea where he was or what they were up to. Ah well, didn't make much difference to him anyway; the airspace around the Egg Carrier was practically a danger zone in and of itself, so perhaps it was all too fitting.
With that song in mind, he leaned back into his seat, letting his parachute serve as a comfortable backrest, and used his left hand-which normally rested on the throttle-to pull back the charging handles of the two front-mounted 7.62 millimeter machine guns sitting next to the sight itself. The two heatseekers hidden inside the bottom wing had already been launched, so everything else he'd just have to strafe. They wouldn't be able to bring it down, but at least he could take out the fighters and anything else the Doctor had waiting for them.
"Okay, guns are loaded!" Tails yelled over the windstream. "Get ready, Sonic; this is gonna be a bumpy ride!"
Sonic had just transitioned into a combat stance when four fast-moving silver glints entered his field of vision. "Just in time too; we've got fighters closing in on us!"
Now, the program these drones were made to follow relied on a couple of very lenient variables, all accounting for the speed, mobility and relative position of their target when compared to them. If the Tornado had been a GUN or Federation jet fighter, they'd instantly account for its high velocity and attempt to glom onto its tail, riddling it with bullets from their fuselage-mounted miniguns or sending a reverse-engineered heatseeker up its tailpipe, but since the Tornado was subsonic and did not rely on jet propulsion to get where it was going, their missiles were practically useless. That meant they had to resort to hit-and-run tactics and rely on their guns, using their superior speed to put them out of harm's way. However, the one thing they couldn't account for was the skill of the pilot himself.
That pilot turned his head in the direction Sonic had been pointing. Sure enough, four twin-engined fighters, maintaining a perfect diamond formation, had begun to turn in the general direction of the Tornado, their jets screaming as they approached. "Alright, hold on tight!" he commanded.
Five seconds later, they were in position to commence a full frontal charge. They switched their formation to an abreast line, and hit their afterburners to decrease the time taken to reach their target, after which they would let loose with their miniguns. Tails, of course, saw that as a fatal mistake. When they charged, he cooly and calmly positioned his gunsight on the lead fighter and squeezed the trigger while banking to the right.
The lead fighter had just begun to update its wing's flight pattern to accomodate for its target's motion when four bullets flew into its left engine intake, causing it to explode into flame. The number two's rather simplistic AI immediately commenced evasive manuevers, which were, unfortunately, halted thanks to another three round burst puncturing what would have been the cockpit, destroying the onboard computer. Other rounds ended up hitting the right engine as well, causing that to catch on fire too. Numbers three and four were destroyed in a similar manner to number one, though number three had also started to break up as a result of its engine explosion.
"Ha! Too easy!" the kit shouted.
"Hey, don't get too cocky, pal. That might have just stirred up the hornet's nest in there!"
"I know-whoa!"
As if on cue, six more fighters, flying in two separate three-plane V formations, sped past the cockpit, right below the fuselage. His expansive knowledge of aerial maneuvers told him that if they were to launch another attack, they'd have to pull up and come from head on-just like the formation he'd just gotten rid of. Unlike that last formation, though, it would be almost impossible to take them all out at once, thanks to their widespread nature. Even if he could, it would drain ammunition he would have otherwise saved for the Carrier itself. What to do, what to do...
Then it hit him. Sonic had just learned a homing attack. If he could just keep the Tornado stable enough, it would be theoretically possible for him to launch himself off it, take out the leftover drones, and return to the plane safely. He didn't know how viable of a tactic it would be, nor did he know if the Blue Blur would even be capable of landing back on the fuselage, but if it saved him ammo... "Sonic! Think you can use your homing attack on those fighters at the rear?!" he shouted.
As anticipated, his friend was flabbergasted at the idea. "What are you, NUTS?!" he yelled back. "You didn't give me enough time to grab a 'chute before we took off! What if I miss?!"
"You'll be fine, trust me! I'll catch ya if that happens on the way back here."
"If you say so..." Sonic replied.
Tails smiled before returning his attention to the rapidly retreating wall of steel. The first formation had already begun to turn around rapidly, with the formation in back following suit. They would be in their faces any second now. "You absolutely sure about this?" Sonic asked one last time.
"Positive." Tails replied.
"You better be."
At that moment, the fighters began their final plunge. The incredibly loud, high-pitched whine of six powerful jet engines drowned out the satisfying purr of the Tornado's Drummond & Griffith air-cooled powerplant-and it was growing louder by the second. The young kitsune immediately pointed the nose of his plane upward and squeezed off twenty rounds in their general direction to shut them up for good. It took great amounts of skill just to dodge the burning hulks of steel, silicon and kerosene his guns had created, but he knew that it would take a great deal more to accomplish his next task. "Ready, Sonic?!" he asked his ever-present friend.
"As ready as I'll ever be..."
He waited until the fighters were almost on top of them to give the signal. At that point, the combined noise of their engines almost sounded like a swarm of mosquitoes. Unfortunately for them, however, the aircraft they were targeting just happened to be carrying one angry cobalt needlemouse.
"Now!"
For Sonic, the next few seconds passed in slow motion. As he leapt off the Tornado, the last vestige of what he knew to be safe ground fell away from him; not that it really mattered, of course, considering what he was doing. He thrust himself forward at the very top of his jump, just as he had practiced, guiding himself to the closest source of Chaos Energy-in this case the first of the three fighters. Once he barrelled through its cockpit, he leapt off the falling hulk and launched himself towards his next target, smashing through the fuselage. Through there, he used that drone's cockpit as a springboard to take out his third and final target by putting a hedgehog ball-sized hole through one of its engines. Struck down in this manner, all three drones joined their squadron-mates in a uncontrollable descent, ending in their retrieval of a first-class ticket straight down to Davy Jones' locker.
However, this left our little intelligent missile with almost nothing beneath his feet. The solution to this predicament was behind him, roaring ahead at about 400 miles per hour. A sensible, normal hedgehog would have long since accepted his fate and begun to plummet towards the Pacific, but not this one. He used one of the final fighter's engine nacelles to try and launch himself back onto the Tornado's tail fin... But would he make it? The Tornado seemed to be going faster than he was; that meant if he missed, there'd be no escaping a watery grave. Of course, that only meant he needed to concentrate a little harder on what he was supposed to be doing.
*KLUNK!*
And just like that, against all of his mental odds, his feet landed on solid red aluminum, exactly where he'd put most of his faith in the Gods above and taken that crazy leap. Tails glanced back at him with a completely frazzled look on his face-possibly because he'd thought Sonic's return sounded like an immense thunderclap-before returning to his duties. "Okay, I'll admit, that was pretty scary, Sonic." Tails pointed out.
"Ya think?" the now-windswept Blue Blur replied. "Word to the wise, Tails: never ask your best friend to jump off a moving plane without a parachute; it just ain't healthy!"
"Duly noted."
Nothing else dared to stand in their way for the rest of their approach. As they began to ascend at full throttle, Tails made preparations to perform evasive action should the net of anti-aircraft fire up top be so thick as to be nigh-impenetrable. He certainly didn't know what to expect, but he remembered that all of Robotnik's defenses were entirely automated, so almost all of it would be directed upon him given enough time. He also recalled that most would be lightly armored and immobile, making them perfect targets for his guns.
Once they were over the top, ten guns worth of what the young fox presumed to be 20 mm ammunition began blazing up at him. Understandably, they weren't shooting to kill, but to deter him from continuing along the top of the ship, where their anti-air coverage was weakest. Unfortunately for them, Tails also shot to deter; deter those guns from firing at him again, that is. It only took him five seconds to render them all non-functional in the slightest.
What the Tornado's pilot thought to be a radar installation also served as a figurative fork in the road. Considering how airborne battleships tended to have symmetry when it came to their armaments, it didn't matter which direction they took; it would still put them within range of more anti-air guns. He'd have to avoid it this time, seeing as he had already expended his indirect weapons, but for a pilot like Tails, it would be nothing more than a trivial matter.
"I'm cutting right! Hang on and keep your head down!"
No sooner had the kit finished his sentence did he tilt the flight stick in his right hand slightly hard right. He could feel the plane lurching sideways as the ailerons did what they were supposed to and began to roll the fuselage to the right. Once the tower made what appeared to be a 45 degree angle in the gunsight, he allowed the stick to return to its neutral position; the propellor's momentum was just enough to cause it to naturally drift right.
Once the tower was out of the way, he leveled back out and forced the throttle through the gate. Right next to him, more anti-air guns were firing away in his general direction in concert with several presumably radar-guided missile launchers similar to the kind he saw mounted underneath the Carrier itself, mainly to no avail; the missiles were launched far too close to effectively track him, and the guns just couldn't hit him no matter how hard they tried.
It was almost worth laughing at. Despite plentiful close calls and thunderous gunfire, they were still airborne, still in-flight, and most of all, still on course. What damage they had sustained would be minor at worst; nothing an armor replacement and repainting couldn't fix.
And Sonic? His rings would protect him if he got hit with anything. They always did.
Safe in that knowledge, he decided to steal a glance to his left after chasing down and destroying another set of fighters, catching a glimpse of the Carrier's abnormally shaped nose. For the first time, he found himself wondering what purpose it served. Its profile seemed reminiscent of a massive radome, but...
But that didn't make any sense. If Robotnik truly was making use of the latest technology, then his radar installations would be much smaller and positioned closer to his bridge. Admittedly, he had no idea where the bridge was, but still, it was a huge headscratcher.
Maybe Sonic...? "Hey, whaddya think's up with that nosecone? It just doesn't match up with the rest of the ship."
"Dunno. Eggman might be hiding something under there, though..." Sonic pondered this for only a few seconds before returning with the answer "Secret weapon, maybe?"
"Nah, he's already got Chaos. What other weapons of mass destruction could he want?" the fox pointed out.
"Gee, I dunno, a nuke?" Sonic chuckled nervously.
Tails scoffed in reply. "Why in the world would you wanna steal a nuke from the Federation?" he asked as he banked around to the left. "I don't think he'd even dream of ruining dozens of acres of solid farmland just to build a single city."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," the hedgehog replied with a sigh. "I dunno what Buttnik's hiding, but it can't be good for either of us. We better keep our eyes on it!"
Sonic did pose a good point, come to think of it. There was a very distinct possibility that whatever that thing concealed was some form of anti-ship weapon that could vaporize a simple fighter at a moment's notice. Everything they'd seen so far was mainly devoted anti-aircraft duties. Robotnik would need some form of anti-ship weaponry if his mind was set on global domination, since the possibility of a counterattack by the air fleets of the world was very much a certainty once he took Station Square out of play. He would suffer a crushing defeat otherwise.
But then, if that was the case, then what would be the point in using it against one tiny Great War-era fighter and its passenger?
"Nah. That'd be overkill. Our weapons aren't doing a whole lot to it, and I don't think it'd be worth wasting that kind of ammunition to blow up one plane."
"Aw, alright," the hedgehog sighed. "Just don't cry to me if and when we get shot down!"
"Not planning on it, Sonic."
Though everything was hunky-dory on the Tornado's side of affairs, Dr. Robotnik could hear nothing but alarms and red alerts inside the Carrier's situation room. By all accounts, including the 3D radar he was observing, the combined force of his anti-air and fighter squadron hadn't managed a single dent in the crimson menace's bodywork. He, while not severely damaged himself, had lost about one-sixth of his air force and a tenth of his air defense network. A quick stopover at his base in the Mystic Ruins jungle after recovering Emerald Number Five would soon change that, but the only thing on his mind was how to deal with the problem at hand.
The Tornado had just turned around and was now ascending up the portside bow, attempting to strafe everything in its path. The fox's determination almost made him wonder where he got all his ammo from. He certainly wasn't a killer, and from his knowledge, a carton of 7.62 rounds wasn't exactly cheap in today's economy. But then neither was a century-old biplane meant for use as a fighter aircraft.
The damage he was causing, though, was almost infuriating. "ALERT. PATROL WINGS 13, 20 AND 17 HAVE STOPPED RESPONDING. ALERT. SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE LAUNCHER 3 ON PORT BOW HAS STOPPED RESPONDING. ALERT..." VORTEX rattled off in perfect monotone.
"Disable the alarms for now, VORTEX! Let me think!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
His eyes fell transfixed upon the tiny red dot that represented his target. Everything around it was either disabled or shooting at it to no avail. It was the first time in days that the odds were arrayed against him. If he didn't do something drastic, and soon, it would all be over, considering his battle record on home turf.
His options were varied. He could bring the combat-ready E-100 units he had on hand onto the main deck to prepare for his enemy's inevitable boarding and try to fend them off in man-to-robot combat...
...Which would prove to be a stupid idea, the Doctor decided. Despite their above average (if not exceptional) performance thus far, they were still essentially robots with big guns. The only one who could truly stand a chance against him, however remote, was Gamma, and he would likely only hold out two minutes longer than the combined potential of his comrades. By E-Series standards, at least at the time, this was truly outstanding. No other Badnik could even match that. However, they'd been designed with the belief that Sonic wouldn't have learned his homing attack. While he fully anticipated that they would adapt to it, the hedgehog would be moving far outside their comfortable boundaries if they ever encountered him. This would quite possibly lead to their destruction.
Another possibility involved activating the Carrier's transformation sequence, which would bring additional guns to bear on the tiny aircraft and thicken the amount of anti-aircraft fire it would have to travel through in order to reach the runway. But that would take time to accomplish, and he purposely designed the air defense system so that it would be disabled in the middle of a transformation... potentially giving the Tornado enough time to land on the runway and avoid pretty much everything that would have been sent his way.
That left only one option... It was a doozy, but it was the only reasonable way. No matter what happened, sooner or later Sonic would have to fly within the firing arc of the Carrier's main cannon if it wanted to land while avoiding the majority of anti-aircraft fire. When it did, that cannon would be waiting, fully charged and ready to fire...
...Vaporizing anything and anyone unfortunate enough to stand in its way. It was foolproof, Sonic-proof, and most of all, dead accurate. Sure, it was overkill, but it was all he had.
"VORTEX," Robotnik stated, "ready the main cannon to fire."
"BE ADVISED," the AI intoned, "FIRING THE MAIN CANNON IN OUR CURRENT STATE WILL DRAIN APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD OF OUR CHAOS ENERGY RESERVES. FURTHERMORE, THE SUDDEN SHIFT IN CHAOS ENERGY FLOW FROM ENGINES TO WEAPONS MAY CAUSE A MOMENTARY POWER SURGE AND REDUCE THE SHIP'S SPEED. OUR ARRIVAL AT THE ISLAND OF THE FLICKIES MAY BE DELAYED BY AN HOUR OR MORE."
Ivo growled. "I don't even care if it blows our cover, VORTEX! I want that fly out of my sky, NOW!"
Pure silence followed. Then VORTEX spoke: "UNDERSTOOD. TRANSFERRING CHAOS ENERGY FROM REACTOR AND ENGINES TO MAIN CANNON. ESTIMATED CHARGE TIME: THIRTY SECONDS."
And so, for the seventh time that day, Dr. Ivo Robotnik burst forth in insane, maniacal laughter. "Checkmate, Sonic! You've been a thorn in my side for too long!" Immediately, he turned his gaze outside the ship. Soon, all his troubles would be over, and a new era would dawn upon the world. "Fire on my command!"
Just like that, it was over. The young fox kit had threaded the needle through the single toughest gauntlet he ever had to fly through, and he hadn't even been hit once. There was absolutely no doubt where they were heading next.
Tails took some of his spare time to wipe the immense amount of sweat off his brow. There had been many close calls, but there they were, safely on the other end of the Egg Carrier. "Way to go, Tails!" his friend shouted. "That was awesome!"
The fox laughed. "Come on, Sonic, it wasn't that hard," he pointed out. "His air defenses weren't all that tough. Accurate, sure, but not entirely perfect." He placed his spare hand back on the throttle. "And besides... We're not outta the woods just yet. We've gotta land first."
"Oh, right, like that'll be a challenge!" the hedgehog smirked, crossing his arms.
That's Sonic for ya! Tails thought. The Blue Blur's overriding confidence was almost always reassuring to hear, even when death could show up at any corner. "Just hold on and fasten your seatbelt!" He kept his smile wide as he opened the throttle and turned the Tornado wide left, ascending to meet the runway head on.
That was when they saw it. The nosecone of the Carrier split right down the middle, exposing what appeared to be a massive Chaos Energy laser cannon. Their mouths lay agape as it took in all the energy it could handle, knowing full well what the Doctor was planning.
"Tails...?" Sonic had already put two and two together. Just as Chaos Energy had given them the power to fight back, it could easily be weaponized and turned against them. It didn't matter how many rings he had. One shot with that cannon would completely vaporize Tails, the plane, and himself if they weren't careful enough to get out of the way.
"MAIN CANNON AT 80% CAPACITY."
"Those fools were kind enough to level out for me!" Robotnik cackled. "Big mistake!"
Tails peeked around the side of his front windscreen. "Oh, crud," he whispered. That insidious glow at the monstrosity's mouth was growing ever brighter... and ever deadlier. If there was any better time to take action, it'd have to be now.
hr
"90% CAPACITY REACHED. FIVE SECONDS TO CANNON DISCHARGE."
"Prepare to fire!"
Sonic began waving his arms frantically, trying to get his friend's attention. "Tails! Don't just sit there! DO SOMETHING!" he screamed. He hadn't been this close to death in his entire life. His heart was literally pounding in his throat.
The fox's tactical mind came back around just in time to hear that desperate plea. "Hold on! I'm gonna try and bank left!" he shouted. Here's hoping this works! his mental synapses transmitted to each other.
"Ready?" the mad doctor asked. The cannon was just about to reach its maximum charge-enough to turn the entire military base on Prison Island to dust.
"AFFIRMATIVE. MAIN CANNON 100% CHARGED."
He nodded, and, with great exuberance, pointed straight forward at the Tornado. "FIRE!"
Just after he rolled the aircraft to the left, the massive cannon let loose, with a roar like distant thunder. Tails could only get off a surprised glance at the Carrier before a massive jolt shook the aircraft.
Wondering what it was after letting out an instinctual beastial grunt, he started looking all around the cockpit, searching for a problem. It only took him a second to notice that the sapphire beam had completely vaporized his right wing-paint, iron struts, control surfaces and all-almost as if it had been made out of paper mache. There was no way he could manage a safe landing in this state.
Then again, come to think of it, there was also no way he could even fly without a wing. Since there's only one set of flat surfaces for the airstream to pass over now, he thought, it's going to greatly increase the amount of pressure on the only wing left. Which means...
As if to finish his own thought process, he felt the Tornado begin to lurch to the left. Coupled with the naturalmomentum of the propeller, this would quickly bring about the gravity-assisted process commonly known as falling. Towards the ground. In aviator terms, this meant they were going down.
And he wasn't afraid to say it out loud. "We're hit!" was all he could get out before the aircraft had gone through a single revolution.
By that time, Sonic's feet had already started to slip off the tail section of the now-stricken Tornado. The soles of his shoes weren't meant to grip aluminum. Before long, he'd fallen flat onto his belly and was scrabbling for something to hang onto. He eventually got his bony hands to grip the elevator, as sketchy as it was proving to be with all this spinning. "See?! I told you we should've kept an eye on that thing, didn't I?!" He had resorted to shouting just so he could be heard over the now-howling wind.
"I know!" Tails grunted as he began to fight the roll with his flight stick. Which was proving rather difficult, what with the high rate of roll and other such factors. "Kinda hard to concentrate on one thing when you've got lots more flying at you!"
Robotnik couldn't believe his own eyes and ears.
That one shot hadn't just caused the ship to shudder from the sheer amount of recoil, but it took up so much power that it dimmed the lights for a short time as the reactor tried to keep Chaos Energy levels up with its sudden discharge. Even the tactical map shut off for a bit.
But when everything went back to normal-albeit at a temporarily reduced speed, just as VORTEX had warned-the tacmap display no longer portrayed the heartpounding scenario that had been transpiring for what seemed like an eternity-in reality barely over three minutes. Instead, the red dot that had been plaguing his plans for so long had begun a rapid descent back to earth, losing altitude at an extreme rate of speed. Had his gamble actually paid off for once?
The instant VORTEX regained its connection to the Carrier's radar systems, it made sure what its master was already thinking was very much true. "TARGET DESCENDING AT 127 FEET PER SECOND AND IN UNRECOVERABLE ROLL. PRESUMED COMBAT INEFFECTIVE DUE TO WING DAMAGE."
The Doctor's jaw fell agape in disbelief, hanging in space for a short while. By the time his mind could comprehend this new piece of information, he picked up his slack jaw and cleared his throat. "...Excellent! I can't believe that actually worked!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his enthusiasm. Evil laughter once again erupted out of his throat.
"BE ADVISED. PROJECTED LIKELIHOOD OF TARGET AIRCREW SURVIVAL 60%," the AI pointed out. "PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES SUGGESTED."
All it got was a scoff in reply. "Even if he does survive, the destruction of that plane of his will be a grievous setback. We've got all the time in the world now!" He continued to laugh,cackling like a male version of the Wicked Witch of the West as he reveled in his first ever major victory against the forces of good. Finally, the tables had been turned in his favor.
Internal disgust ran throughout VORTEX's circuitry as its master bellowed his victory cry at the top of his lungs. Its processors could only dare predict his degree of insanity; protesting would only break his mood, so it kept its emotions to itself.
The only reason he stopped was because his constant grasps of breath led straight into a much-hated coughing fit. Once that had ceased, he turned towards his AI XO and nodded. "VORTEX, return to previous course. I must go and brief the E-Series on their upcoming task." Said task being the retrieval of the suspected Chaos Emerald.
"AFFIRMATIVE. RECALCULATED ETA TO TARGET: THREE HOURS."
"Good. Let me know if anything changes." Turning away, he then abandoned his vigil watch of the tacmap and exited the room through the mechanical door just a few feet to the right of where he had once been standing.
As soon as he entered one of the Carrier's many, many corridors, a guilty conscience he just couldn't explain began throbbing in his mind. Though just a moment ago he had blown that little annoyance clean out of the sky, something inside him had started attempting to explain that he'd forgotten who exactly the real pilot of the Tornado was, and that what he'd just done might have ended up hurting him physically-or worse. Whatever it was, it kept getting blown off by the rest of his mental processes, although it continued to linger like a bad smell.
Let it talk! his cerebral cortex shouted down at his aware, thinking mind. It won't change a thing you've already done. Just accept it and move on. They won't trouble us anymore.
"Y-Yes," he finally stammered. "They deserved it. By the Gods, they deserved it!" he began to repeat, trying to justify to himself the validity and purpose of his actions as he traversed the hallways of his ship. Slowly but surely, he slipped back into his usual demeanor. "No one mocks their future Emperor and gets away with it!
"NO ONE!"
They say that a person's life flashes right before their eyes before they die.
Noone has ever come back from the dead to confirm this, as the dead are, after all, dead, but one could say that this would have been true for the Tornado. With the cold, hard ground racing towards its falling, wingless crimson red hulk, the only possible result in this state would be the arrival of the widely-hated yet earnestly-welcomed sweet embrace of death for its occupants.
Tails, however, was fighting both high negative G's and his own seatbelts to avoid just that; not just for his sake, but for his friend's as well. He'd given up on stabilizing the rate of roll, and was now actively trying to get out of his seat and into the open air. He already had a contingency plan, despite the fact that his friend had neglected to bring a parachute of his own; once those blasted seatbelts came off, he would throw himself off the left-hand side of the cockpit, grab Sonic, and hit the ol' silk. From there, provided the canopy opened, it would be all down to luck where the two of them would end up. He didn't care about the fact that his 'chute wouldn't be large enough to comfortably slow their descent. All that mattered was cheating death out of the souls of two (well, one really) well-renowned heroes.
That, of course, depended on whether or not he could get himself out in time. At the rate he was going, it didn't seem at all likely. But in his heart, he knew he had to be close. One strap (of four-two shoulders, two chest, though the chest straps could be treated as one) was already off. At least one more had to come naturally or he wouldn't be getting out of this in one piece.
In the meantime, however, Sonic had found that his grip on the elevator wasn't as solid as he'd thought, unfortunately for him. His hand had begun to slip, losing more and more ground by the second.
And there was nothing he could do to get it back.
"Tails! Hurry! I'm slipping!" His cry for help, while clearly urgent, sounded like little more than a loud grunt to his friend's ears. He knew time was running short. They had to do something, and fast.
The kit's reply was short and to the point; there was no way he was wasting time and altitude by saying more than he absolutely had to. "Just hold on Sonic! I've almost got it...!"
"TAILS!" His hand had just barely reached the limits of its reasonable grip. He was running out of aluminum, and would soon have to let go. But if he could hold on as tight as he could for just a little bit longer, he just might have a chance at-
Oop. Never mind. He just lost it.
The Blue Blur's desperate plea was the last thing the fox heard him say before a loud, rapidly fading scream drew his attention backward just in time to see his old friend fall right off the face of the earth. "SONIC!" He stretched his right hand outward in an attempt to rescue him, but, unfortunately, it came to no avail. He was nowhere to be seen or heard.
A new wave of determination came over him. There was no way he was going to end up like that. Not that easily.
Returning his attention to the cockpit, he now knew exactly what he needed to do. He grabbed at his last shoulder strap and pulled on it with all his available might. At the same time, he planned to unlock it by slammng his right hand down on the central buckle on his chest strap, hopefully releasing the seatbelts and allowing him to exit the plane safely. The only question was, would it work?
...Why would he ask himself that? He'd been told dozens of times never to doubt himself or his abilities. Getting himself out of a falling airplane was trivial compared to keeping up with Sonic or, heck, even fighting Buttnik. So, with one final grunt and one very precise fist, he put his plan into action-and succeeded, thank Aurora. Finally, he was free.
Of course, this was definitely no time to celebrate. He had maybe about ten to fifteen seconds to get out of the cockpit before the stress of falling downward tore the whole thing apart-and as far as he knew, the mixture of burning petroleum and kerosene was not at all good for a healthy fur coat. That meant a quick escape was almost paramount to his own survival.
And so, with a deep, almost inaudible sigh, he stood up (as well as he could, anyway), grabbed the edge of his seat and hunched over. One after the other, he stuck his legs out into the airstream until he was practically level with the sky. Then, after quickly making sure his parachute was firmly on his back, he took one last look at the cockpit, admiring all its gauges and levers for the final time, closed his eyes...
And let go.
The first thing Tails felt upon leaving his trusted Tornado behind, apart from the wind rushing past his ears, was a feeling of weightlessness. With nothing to stand or sit on, terminal velocity felt more like being in space than going as fast as the planet would let him. Thoughts of Sonic falling from the Death Egg just about two years before flashed through his mind just as he made the connection, provoking a feeling of regret that he'd never asked him what it was like.
Immediately after he let go, he made use of the six-dimensional freedom this offered by tucking in his legs and letting gravity flip him into a stable position. It really did feel like he was in space-except for the easily distinguishable fact that there was no wind in space. The heavy amounts of adrenaline running through his system were more than enough to allow a slight smile onto his face, despite the circumstances that put him out there. For a brief moment, he forgot all about his predicament and simply focused on surrendering himself to the sky...
A surrender that just happened to get interrupted by the sound of a rather large explosion.
Snapping his eyes open, he pointed his head 'upwards', towards the ground. There, just a short (?) distance away, was a massive fireball of kerosene and petroleum, with the leftover debris continuing to fall towards the still-unknown ground-though from this perspective, he could tell it definitely wasn't the ocean, thank the Gods.
But what he was actually falling towards was still a mystery. That much he needed to keep a sharp lookout for.
It took him a fairly long time (in freefall-related terms) to tear his gaze away from what was left of his beloved Tornado, but when he finally managed to do so, he immediately began looking all around as he took on a spread-eagle posture. From the large amounts of ancient ziggurat temples around him and the abundant foliage below, it didn't take him long to figure out that-somehow-he'd found himself over the Mystic Ruins.
Oh great, he thought. As if this day couldn't get any worse... The reason for his great concern should be obvious. Even he knew that parachute plus blown-out-of-sky fox kit pilot plus jungle canopy made for one heck of a predicament.
But if that was the fate Robotnik had in store for him, then so be it. There was no going back now. All that mattered was, at the very least, getting his feet to touch solid ground. From there on, or so he hoped, he would be safe.
Of course, the only way that was going to happen was if he pulled his ripcord, and soon; otherwise, there was nothing stopping him from turning into fox kit pizza.
And if he wanted to get through that, he had to make sure it would have enough time to deploy. So, relying on nothing more than his own depth perception, he began to scan the ground over again.
O-okay. That temple over to the left doesn't seem that close by... Neither does the one behind me, his vision center reported. And the trees... They couldn't be that large, could they? It's hard to tell when the canopy's that thick. Then there's that stratus cloud just above me; can't get a decent reference off of that...
But it looks I'm at least a couple thousand feet off the deck! I've gotta be! Now relatively convinced he had the right idea, Tails put his right hand into a tight grip on his ripcord, and squeezed his eyes shut. No time like the present! was the last thing through his mind as he pulled down upon it with all his might.
Even as he felt his drogue chute being ejected out of the container on his back, it never once occurred to him that he didn't need a ground reference to judge how much time he had before hitting the ground. There was an altimeter on the cuff of the glove on his left hand that he could look at to see how far up he was over any given terrain. If he were to look at it right now, he'd find that he misplaced one zero in his initial calculation.
That is to say, he wasn't really two thousand feet away from certain death. He was actually barely over two hundred. Two-hundred thirteen feet, to be precise.
By the time he figured out that he'd forgotten something, however, it was already too late. Red and white nylon had started billowing out of the container, gradually slowing his fall as it filled with air and shaped itself into the eighty-eight square foot hemisphere he needed it to be, jerking the young kit upright.
But before he could open his eyes or, heck, before gravity even got him safely centered under his canopy, forty-four pounds worth of fur and survival gear crashed into the cold, hard ground with a harsh thud. The resulting impact was enough to knock him out cold as his head slammed against the topsoil, causing his body to fall limp and his eyes to remain shut. The now-useless canopy, having done part of its life-saving job, settled peacefully onto the ground, the crisp fabric rustling in the now non-existent wind as it came to rest.
He didn't get up. Not for a good while, at least.
Oh, Gods... a voice rang out in his head, great concern for his well-being in its tone. Please let him be alright...
Author's Note: That's my way of sending him clean into dreamland. Those of you who have played Tails' story in SA1 will know precisely what I'm talking about. However, since this is an adaptation, and not a complete copy-paste of the actual events (which has probably been done to death over the years), I've got my own plans for that. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
By 'soon enough', I really mean 'two chapters from now.' We're not coming back to Tails just yet-as some ancient philosopher put it, we need to let sleeping dogs lie. Instead, I do believe I need to let you all in on what brought the events in the past two chapters about in the first place. You might know what I'm talking about here, but then again, this is an adaptation. Not everything will be the same, this much I can promise.
I do hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did bringing it to you. Please leave a quick review, give me feedback if you wish, check out my other stuff, and I'll see you all next time!
