S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!
Episode 2: The loosing battle
Central City was now almost completely engulfed in flames. The citizenry had been evacuated to the country long before the attack commenced, but that did not seem to matter. The barrage from the alien ships in orbit was carving holes all over the entire world. Where it hit cities, entire city blocks came crashing down. It dug giant craters into the ground, boring down so far magma began seeping up after it. The seas writhed and boiled where it struck the ocean, storms and tidal waves instantly surging; striking the coast with tremendous force.
Reaching the G.U.N fortress defence line, the Badniks went in first. As disposal metallic units they were expendable. Throwing themselves against the machine gun turrets many of them feel, riddled with holes but their efforts allowed those behind them to make it to the defences without serious damage. Explosions rang out as one by one, the militaries automated defences were stripped away. Once a sizable hole had been ripped in the lines, the aliens Giants committed themselves to a charge.
Zeus robots formed a defence line, raising their guns and firing an intense volley into the advancing wall of extraterrestrial muscle. Several of them fell back, green blood spraying out into the air. The others, undaunted by the display of firepower kept on going. Reaching the robots they grabbed them with their bare hands and ripped the machines apart. As the Zeus' were forced to fall back, the Beetle sentries flew in to take their place. A threat in numbers, these flying robots swarmed around the invaders and brought five down with an intense volley of bullets.
Flying to the aid of their allies, the badniks charged straight into the Beetles and brought half of their number down before they knew what hit them. Seeing no other option, G.U.N sent in the Mech's. Whatever pilots were left on the base scrambled for the hang bays, throwing themselves into the open cockpits and locking themselves into the seats.
Rising up out of the base's underground chambers on specialized elevators, a few of them starting firing even before their Walkers had left the confines of the base. It was a dismissal force to send against the invaders. Only five outdated Big foot Mech's and two Nova's. The only ray of hope came when a huge shutter door pulled aside and a gigantic artillery class Anubis Mech lumbered out, shaking the ground with it's slow by heavy foot steps.
They put up a good defence at first, managed to drive some of the aliens back beyond the perimeter fence. But then it seemed the ships in orbit got wind of the resistance and concentrated their fire down at the base itself. They missed the buildings but several Mech's were caught in the deadly blast. They didn't just explode; their forms were reduced to smouldering piles of ash on the base ground. With their depleted numbers, the aliens and badniks returned after regrouping and attacked. A Big Foot and the Hot Shot Mech were the first to gone down, one shot to pieces by the badniks and the other ripped apart by the aliens.
Now, only the Anubis was left. Firing its full arsenal, it drove the invaders back. The Mech was an artillery walker and designed for this sort of gun slinging scenario. Unfortunately it had a weakness. While engaged in firing mode, its legs were rooted to the spot; leaving it unable to dodge enemy fire.
The badniks withdrew to a safe distance and engaged with a long range cannon. Metal shards flew from the legs of the walker before they broke apart completely and still with missiles firing, the Mech collapsed. At the last second the pilot ejected, his seat propelling itself into the air and a parachute opening out to carry him to safety.
Now that the defenders were now lying at their feet, consumed to fire; the robotic units began advancing. They stopped however when another lift leading directly into the underground section of the base began rising. G.U.N it seemed had one last card to play.
And what a card it was.
Diablon was unlike any previous G.U.N mech. Where as all the others had been bi-pedal walkers, this one retained a humanoid shape, only without the legs. It appeared to be like a giant torso and arms, the head an armoured camera lens that sent images back into the concealed cockpit within. The arms were wide and colossal, clenched articulated fists ready to deliver punches capable of knocking a building over. The armour was completely blood red, the military 'G' symbol placed upon each forearm standing out boldly.
The prototype for their new line of solider Mech's, the Diablon was equipped with many custom build generators and special defence equipment. What gave its defensive advantage was its shield. The shoulder pads were actually ion projectors, casting an ionized shield around the entire Mech; protecting it from projectiles. Bullets and laser blasts simply bounced off it.
The badniks froze in place. This mechanized unit was not in their database and as such they were unsure of what to do about it. Their course of action however became more than apparent when the Diablon raised its large armoured head, two thick plates of the armoured peeling back both at once to reveal a cannon's barrel. A focused laser beam projectile tore out, ripped through two badniks like a hot knife through butter. They exploded with fragments of metal flying out into the air.
"This is as far as you go." Jericho, Commander of G.U.N stated; standing inside the cockpit of the Mech watching through a video screen as the badniks regrouped and threw themselves into formation for an attack. Just behind them the Aliens had burst through the defences themselves, an entire row of their Giants, each one armed with a bizarre looking gun; a curved grey item with an arched pit as the barrel. "You've crossed far too much ground already." Unlike other walkers were the pilot sat down, this new Mech required the pilot to stand. Revolutionary Black Arm technology into the machines system allowed the Mech to detect the movements of the controller. His hands placed on tow sensor pads, the Commander was controlling the prototype with nothing but his mind.
It was a difficult system to control but he would have to adapt and quickly. The enemy had the advantage of numbers and they were preparing to charge. With the automated defensive systems offline, he and Diablon were the only things standing between them and the G.U.N command centre.
"So come on, who wants to go first?" He declared, bringing the arms of the Mech back and arching; the thrusters at the back of the machine firing out an exhaust of energy before the Diablon rocketed forward into the waiting enemy lines.
-
"I can't believe it!" Chuck declared angrily. "I thought that just once, just the once we could count on Eggman to do the right thing." He slammed his fist down into the console in front of him. "He's just a greedy son of a…"
"Incoming!" Chris declared, throwing the controls of the Blue Typhoon down to avoid a thick barrage of laser fire from Confederate ships as they shot overhead. The space around them was thick with fighting; scrap metal remains of ships belonging to nearly every fleet were building up here and threw; the remaining forces continuing to barrage each other. G.U.N was loosing badly. Eggman had already done extensive damage to their fleet from within and now the Confederates had broken through their back lines and were making an attempt on the planet itself.
"We've go to stop those ships from firing!" Topaz shouted, jabbing a finger at the Confederate ships that were bombarding the planet with intense laser fire. "Get us over there!"
"Roger." Chris replied and instantly the Typhoon did a U-turn, avoiding some Egg Fleet Shark battle ships and soared back towards the Earth. Sensing their intention it seemed, the Confederate fleet lined itself up into formation to intercept. All turrets and cannons on the ship rose up into position and hit the alien vessels with an intense barrage, blowing huge holes in some and throwing others out of their positions. Punching a hole through their defence, the Typhoon soared on.
Not being to fight directly, the only way Chaotix found they were able to contribute was by piloting some of the Mech's Okida had left behind in the Blue Typhoon's hanger bay. They never thought the major would have left them anything to use after they returned his spider mech in such terrible condition the last time.
"YaHHOOOOOO!" Charmy called out as the Crocodile piloted the Yeager Mech through the gaps in the immense battle. Piloting the machine was not as complicated as Okida made it look. It was almost like an enlarged video game but Vector constantly had to force himself to remember there were no extra lives in this game.
Each mech being a two man machine, Chaotix had spilt up. Vector and Charmy had taken the Yeager out for a full of battle, while staying try to his nature; Espio had taken the Nova walker. This machine was almost as good as he was at hiding its presence on the battlefield and once in position could strike before anyone knew it was there.
With no flight capabilities in zero G, the Nova jumped from ship to ship; invisible to both radar and whatever form of navigation the Confederates were using. One of the ship of a Shark Battle ship, it tilted its bulk down and riddled the deck with an intense barrage of bullets; rendering the turrets useless before they could fire. To finish the vessel off, Espio fired several missiles into the bridge and the back end of the ship detonated in an impressive explosion. As the fire crept rapidly along the ship, the Nova jumped off onto a passing G.U.N ship as it shot past.
Rei sat in the co-pilots seat behind the chameleon with his legs crossed, arms folded and eyes closed. He had put himself in a state of readiness, making himself more perceptible to his yet unexplainable ability to predict future events with great accuracy.
"Left." He stated without opening his eyes and Espio complied, throwing the mech into a dive directly to the side to avoid a laser beam fired from the bow of a Confederate ship. "Down." The nova dived, ducking underneath the path of a falling ship as it plunged towards the planet it flames. "About face; fire." The entire top half of the walker rotated around 180 degrees before firing two missiles into the path of an oncoming Egg battleship.
"This is not what I imagined my life as a detective would be like." Vector admitted, narrowly avoiding being hit by a barrage of laser fire by the Confederate's fleet.
"No, but this is way more fun!" Charmy replied leaning over his shoulder. "Lookie lookie, bad guys to port!" Forgetting that Charmy couldn't tell left from right, Vector turned his head in the wrong direction. Missiles came from the opposite direction striking the mech will full forced and sending it spiralling backwards towards the planet, pushing it dangerously close to falling into the atmosphere. "Or was that starboard?"
"Make up your mind!" Vector snarled, tilted the controls around so the Yeager fired its thrusters at the last second and soured on. The missiles pads on its shoulders opened up and the last two missiles left inside the machine fired, striking the Egg Fleet ship which had taken a pot shot at them.
"Guys we've got trouble here." Charmy began to the others through the communications hub link. "We're out of ammo."
"Head on back to the Blue Typhoon and they'd reload you." Someone stated as a metallic red blur shot by.
The Albatross Mech, based on designs of one of Doctor Eggman's own machine was the fastest war machine on the battlefield. Flying just like a bird it was souring past the opposition with tremendous speed, missiles firing from under each wing as it went; striking Confederate and Egg Fleet ships alike sending them down in flames towards the planet.
A veteran pilot, Okida was used to the fast battle reports that flashed up moment after moment on the control screen. To him now it was all in slow motion. Despite his skill he found the enemy's numbers would easily be able to overwhelm them all and the Confederates had already gained a dangerous strategic advantage.
"G.U.N's lost over half their ships already." Topaz told him over the communications link to the cockpit.
"And we're barley making a dent in their numbers." Okida replied, his flying mech doing a full 350 degree spiral to tear through the side of a Confederate battleship.
"Hold on then, I'm sending out the big guns."
As soon as the Blue Typhoon reached dropping formation, the door leading to the ships main interior hanger bay began to slide open.
"Omega, Emerl; hit them with everything you've got." Topaz added, speaking into the com link on the side of the captain's chair.
"Roger." Omega replied, his large red eyes glowing bright blood red as his arms spread out. With a metallic clank his metal talons tensed and flexed. Emerl as usual said nothing. His only reply was to unfold his arms and clenched both fists. The hanger door opened and the pull of the vacuum sucked anything not anchored down outside. Being magnetically attached to the floor, both robots remained in place. Outside they observed the battle, all the ships around exchanging fire. Some of them were falling towards the atmosphere in flames; a good few of them baring G.U.N insignia's. "Target sighted." The E123 stated; the legs underneath bending to a crouching position. "All units, fall into attack formation." The two thrusters on the back of the android opened up like a flower bud spreading out and a blast of energy sent the robot flying out into the melee.
Emerl followed a moment later, the new thrusters installed onto the back of his legs propelling him forward. It took a moment for the robot to handle the basics. He was a unit designed and custom built for land based engagement. Still, once he had managed the thrusters it did not take him long to get stuck in.
His metallic fists launched from their wrists, tearing through Confederate ships as they passed by. Clenching around the ships interior, they tore it apart from the inside before returning to their owner.
Omega's method of fighting was far more classical for machines. He overpowered his enemies with his sheer amount of fire power. Leaving the Confederate Ships to Emerl, he concentrated upon the Egg Fleet. Souring past the sharp battle ships, he raised both arms and fired his machine guns. A series of holes tore their way across the hull, making two turrets useless. To finish the ship off two missiles were fired into the back of the thrusters. A chain reaction tore the vessel apart from the inside.
His radar informed him of an incoming; but the return echo did not sound like an approaching projectile. His head rotated around to see another robot come flying at him. As soon as it was within range, it pointed its right arm forward and fired several shots from a laser rifle.
Omega flew backwards and slid to a stop across the bow of a G.U.N ship leading the militaries charge into the invaders front lines. His new opponent landed directly in front of him. Now the E123 had the chance to see it more closely, he could see it was an E100 model just like himself.
The two robots faced each other, their sensors scanning their opponent at regular intervals.
"E102: Gamma." Omega stated the name of his new adversary, the registry number for the robotic unit appearing on his internal sensor.
"E123: Omega." Gamma replied, raising the laser rifle on his right arm. "Rouge unit; faction, Guardian Units for Nations. Proceeding with termination."
The fire power exchanged between the two androids made them a beacon even to the Earth below. Each managed to dodge the barrage, souring through space with a trail of exploding missiles after them. Being the superior in strength, Omega decided his best option was to engage using hand to hand combat. Souring forward with arms outstretched, he ploughed into Gamma sending them both crashing into the side of an Egg Fleet Shark Ship.
They exchanged blows that left dents in their armour as they plunged through the ships hull, tearing through floor after floor before finally smashing their way onto the bridge. The only things manning the consoles on the bridge with dozens of Egg Pawns; all of which made a dash for it, only to get pull out into space by the vacuum.
Several short range missiles fired from concealed compartments inside Gamma's body and unable to dodge Omega took the blast head on. Throwing out of the bridge into space by the explosion, the android righted himself with the thrusters of his back and once he was balanced; sent every projectile he could spare directly in Gamma's general direction. It was only the lightning fast response time of an electronic mind that allowed E102 to dive out of the way before the ship's entire top half began exploding in a storm of fire and melted fragments.
-
The Egg Breaker had been custom designed especially to fight Super Sonic. Eggman had taken a great deal of time perfecting the android to be the perfect weapon against the one thing that had hampered him throughout his entire career. Also the Doctor was not leaving the task of doing away with the hedgehog to any electronic brain. This robot, Eggman was remote controlling himself.
Having seen the hedgehogs fighting techniques already, he could predict just how Super Sonic would come at him. Using virtual reality software, Eggman placed his hands inside a pair of gloves laced with wires and whenever he moved his hands the Egg Breaker would correspond.
Finding the robot to be faster than him was a surprise, but finding that it possessed strength equal to his own was perhaps more shocking. No matter how much he tried to press through, Super Sonic kept finding the Egg Breaker blocking his attacks with the bracer on the left arm.
"You think you can take me?" The golden hedgehog asked as he soured back a distance. His body arched and spun, curving into a perfect sphere before rocketing forward with a sonic boom made mute by the vacuum of space.
"I do not think I can." Eggman replied, holding up his hands and arching his fingers. Responding, the Egg breaker's eyes glowed blood red and the machine came to a sudden stop. "I know I can." Super Sonic's bash shot forward like a bullet towards the Egg Breaker; which remained perfectly still and simply let the hedgehog rocket nearer.
When the two were a mere solid meter away from colliding, the giant pieces of armoured pads on the shoulders of the robotic solider disconnected and spread out revealing the machinery underneath, with a pair of lights glowing a bright gold.
In a single instant a thick covering of flaxen yellow encircled the Egg breaker and Super Sonic struck it with full force.
Opposing polar opposite forces connected with one another and a single spark flew off into the ether before the hedgehog was repelled backwards at tremendous speed.
Barely a moment of time passed before he connected sharply with the asteroid belt around the planet, crashing through the rocks that had once been a part of the moon; only coming to a stop when he collided with one too thick to punch through.
"We've been rivals for years." He heard Eggman say as he pulled himself out of the crater he had made on impact.
Flying towards him at greet speed was the Egg Breaker, the arm with the wrecking ball attached drawn back ready to strike. "By now we should be able to predict each others moves." Super Sonic cupped his hands before throwing them forward, unleashed the enhanced Sonic Wind attack.
The Egg Breaker held its free hand out in front of itself and curving around it, the golden glow moulded itself into a shield. The vortex of energy streamed over it like water. "It's just such a damn shame I'm the only one who picked up the talent!" The spiked wrecking ball came down hard, shattering the asteroid to pieces mere milliseconds before Super Sonic flew to safety.
"Predict this then!" The golden hedgehog declared, rebounding off a passing rock before rocketing forward towards the Egg Breaker with a fist drawn back.
"Already have." Eggman replied, holding his arms back and the robot responded by somersaulting backwards out of the way and as soon as the hedgehog was in firing range; launched four missiles down at him.
Throwing energy discharges up as anti-ballistics, Super Sonic hit about three but the third struck him with full force.
Recovering from the inertia the golden hedgehog tried to rebound off a passing asteroid but the Egg Breaker soured in and clamped its huge cold metal fist around his body, pinning his arms to his side. "I can see each and every move you make before it even enters your head." The robot reared its arm back and tossed the hedgehog like a baseball through the asteroid belt. Sent smashing into the atmosphere at full tilt, Super Sonic felt the heat burn around him as he fell. Anger forcing him on, he slowed himself down and came to a stop.
The Egg Breaker was still waiting for him just beyond the asteroids, standing on the bow of a Shark battleship. Slowly it raised a hand, before performing a 'bring it on' gesture with its hand. Fuming, Super Sonic soured upwards, punching through the belt in a display of power as any rock in his way exploded.
Seeing the incoming hostile, the ship about faced and soared away from the planet; charging back into the frenzied battle zone.
"Get back here you coward!" Flying after it, Super Sonic soured on. There was no way he was going to let Eggman defeat him now! The ship was fast but with the seven Chaos Emeralds augmenting his skills, he was faster. A silent sonic boom sent him flying forward as a greater speed, shockwaves glowing gold spreading out behind him.
On the bow of the ship the Egg Breaker glanced back over its shoulder to see the golden point behind the vessel growing brighter.
"That's it Hedgehog." Eggman began with a sneer. "Follow the leader." The robot gestured to its right with a finger before doing the same with its left, signalling the fleet in stand-by mode.
Super Sonic glanced around as Egg Fleet ships began gathering around him, matching his speed. Turrets, cannons and even laser guided missile launchers all rotated around to point directly at him. The hedgehog smiled grimly in response. If the weapons discharged inside an atmosphere they would have made a terrible roar, but in space the noise of their firing was mute.
"Chaos Control!" Super Sonic proclaimed and vanished in a blip of green light. The projectiles carried on through the haze, some of them striking the ships on the other side and forcing them to withdraw.
"Impressive trick Sonic." Eggman admitted but still the grin refused to leave his face, spreading up under the length of his moustache. "Pity it's just about as predictable as your others." Without hesitation the Egg Breaker about faced and swung its wrecking ball arm down. Super Sonic emerged out of the warp right in the path expecting to find the robot unawares.
Yelping, he had just enough time to grab the spikes on the ball and hold the weapon at bay before it could hit him. "Strange really. I always had you pinned at the impulsive and unpredictable type." The doctor relented as the hedgehog was forced down to one knee under the strength the Egg Breaker was pushing down. "This is the only instance where I enjoy being wrong."
"I'm… I'm not finished yet Eggman." The hedgehog managed in a grunted reply.
"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me." The Egg Breaker continued pressing down, trying to crush Super Sonic under its spiked wrecking ball. Even with the seven Chaos Emeralds fuelling him, the hedgehog felt himself slipping. His grip on the spikes was loosening.
This was a battle of will.
"If you can predict me…." He began, the colour of his fur beginning to fade from yellow back to blue. If he ran out of energy now he was a dead man. Eggman forced his robot on, his hands slowly closing into a fist inside the gloves connected to the control device. "Then let's see you forecast this!" His fur turned bright overbearing gold in an instant, his body burning with new found energy. His eyes snapped open, a red glow trailing after them.
"What!" Eggman snarled as he found the hedgehog pushing back against the Egg Breaker, the robots arm slowly forced up. The hedgehogs fingers tightened and the huge weapon like arm began to crack.
With one final shove, Super Sonic tossed the Egg Breaker off. The android staggered backwards several paces and the shockwaves sent through it broke its arm off. The entire thing dropped to pieces right before it. Eggman did not understand. This was not in his data and he had had every opportunity to see Super Sonic fight before. "All ships, open fire!" The Doctor ordered and the vessels around rotated around to face directly at Super Sonic. The entire hedgehog's body was surrounded by an orb of golden energy, sparking with bolts of blue lightning across its swirling surface.
"Chaos…" He began almost silently as the weapons systems of the ships locked onto him, missile hatches opening up across the ships. "Blast!" Throwing his fist down, Super Sonic sent powerful shockwaves spreading outwards.
The ship he was standing on broke apart in that signal instant. As the blast spread out, any other vessels caught in its way were sent flying backwards, smashing into anything in their way. Those closets were destroyed, their fragments blowing outwards in a spectacular fire storm.
Caught at ground zero, the Egg Breaker lasted only a brief moment as its armour began peeling off it; before finally it was completely consumed by the blast and vanished in the light.
The gloves dropped from Eggman's hands and the Doctor stood there looking stunned. That was Shadow's attack! Just how had Sonic learnt it? It had been devastated enough on its own but with the Chaos Emeralds backing it, it had been enough to completely destroy the Egg Breaker; a machine he custom built with Super Sonic in mind.
"Impossible." He breathed staring at the words 'Contact Lost' across the screen.
Super Sonic's energy was beginning to wane, forcing him to land on the scared hull of a destroyed Eggman Empire shark battleship drifting away from the battle zone. The seven Chaos Emeralds could only be used in unison for so long with a single conduit to harness their power and using an attack he was nearly completely unfamiliar with had taken a lot out of him.
Already his golden fur was beginning to loose its glow, parts of turning from gold to royal blue and back again. The Eggman Empire fleet lay in ruins around him, sparking with the energy discharge unleashed to destroy it.
Blinking several times to restore his red eyes after they started to change back to emerald green, Super Sonic looked up to see Metal Sonic land beside him. His red cape had been reduced to a short blackened piece of red clothe attached to his shoulders. His armour had various spots on it were it had taken direct hits from various skirmishes.
"You do realize that if you run out of energy here, the airless vacuum of space with kill you instantly?" The robotic hedgehog asked.
"I'm hardly likely to forget that." Super Sonic replied, struggling for breath. In truth, he was not actually breathing as there was to air for respiration. The breath was just an involuntary reaction. In truth he was giving time to his body to absorb more power from the seven Chaos Emeralds.
Suddenly, the space around them seemed to vibrate and push outwards, like the surface of water rippling. There was a sudden short pulsating flash and the space in front of them was now occupied.
This new arrival was perhaps the most hideous item Sonic had ever seen.
Like a twisted vegetative mass it pulsated, veins running over its lime green surface pulsated with the beating of more than one heart. Like a plant it had routes spiralling out the bottom, intertwined with each other, swaying gently in none existent wind. Form arms there were simply too branch like limbs curved out either side, stray threads like twigs spraying out long the upper outline. But it was the head more than anything that drew Super Sonic's attention to itself.
Misshapen and mutated out of proportions, it looked like twisted creeper plant wrapped around a bulky branch. A single wide neon green eye stared out from above the only other feature in the face, a wide mouth with several layers of serrated teeth like a shark.
"Greetings." The words sighed from between its lips without them moving. The eye blinked, the lids coming in from the side rather than above; closing and opening with a wet slap. "What a pleasure it is to behold you again."
"Do I know you?" Super Sonic asked. This being was unique enough to be remembered for years on end. If he had met him before it would have been a memorable encounter.
"No I don't suppose you would recall me…" The strange creature admitted, the long plant like limbs and appendages over its twisting body moving outwards in a straight arch. "At least not in this form." A sudden wave passed through the space between them, a magnetic pull Super Sonic could feel tugging away at the energy shield around him. "Perhaps I should adopt a face more familiar?" Pieces of metal from destroyed ships, G.U.N, Imperial and Confederate alike began flying forward pulled out from the wreckage around.
Drawn by the magnetic force, they began circling around the strange creature and suddenly one by one they began flying together; fitting with each other like a complex jigsaw puzzle. Once enough pieces had been joined, they started moulding themselves into armour around the creature, a large segmented plate curving itself around to become a torso chest plate like another curved itself around the head for a helmet. Super Sonic watched as piece by piece, a very familiar face began reappearing. A piece of curved translucent material slid effortlessly into the centre of the new helmet and two plate pieces of spiked silver metal lanced out flat either side like horns, a sharp curved piece running up from the back to hang forward over a curved metallic face.
Finally Super Sonic knew who this was.
"Dark Oak!" He proclaimed as the new head lifted itself up and the hedgehog beheld the fixed metal face of Metal Sonic's strongest general, a traitor of Metal X and servant to the dark god Krish Kra Pal.
