Mobius Legends
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sega of America, Team Sonic, MGM nor anything else associated with any franchise mentioned within. The only thing that I own is the name Kerra. It is mine and if anyone steals it I will not hesitate to get creative on the torture. Also I do not own the original idea for the Mjolnir armor, which belongs to Microsoft and Bungie. That's how Kerra got the idea for her own version of it.
Chapter 4
A Chance For Peace
John slept soundly for the duration of the Serenity's voyage to the planet Mobius.
So soundly in fact, that he didn't even notice that they had landed on the planet, nor did he notice that he was transferred from the infirmary on the ship to the infirmary on the base.
After sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours, the SPARTAN-II awoke feeling quite refreshed. Stretching his stiff limbs, he looked around the room.
He immediately noticed that the walls were made of concrete, not steel like the walls of the room he had fallen asleep in.
As he looked for answers to the questions forming in his mind, he spied a figure curled up on the bed next to his.
He recognized the figure as the woman who had rescued both Cortana and himself. It appeared that the alien woman, her name was Colonel Prower if he recalled correctly, had been waiting for him to wake up but had fallen asleep herself while reading a paperback book and listening to something, as evidenced by the ear buds that had fallen to rest on the pillow.
Smiling slightly, John eased himself off the bed and walked over to the vixen to rouse her from her sleep.
He picked up the book she had dropped on the ground and noted the title, The Fall of Reach. John's stomach fell as the memories of the final battle for the world that had become his home when he became a SPARTAN. Then he noticed that the book appeared to be a fictional account. 'Just what the hell is going on here?' John thought as he set the book down on a table and gently shook the woman to wake her.
What happened next was something that he had never expected.
As he shook her shoulder, the woman's hand shot to his wrist with speed that even he couldn't track and the next thing he knew, he was airborne. He flew a few feet before his two hundred fifty pound frame impacted another bed causing it to collapse.
As he dazedly stood up, he saw the woman climb sluggishly out of bed and walk out of the room. Curious as to the reasoning for her actions, he followed her.
As the vixen and her giant shadow walked through the corridors, John noticed that all of the personnel quickly cleared a path for the vixen with looks of fear evident on their faces. This just added to the mystery.
The pair continued until they reached the base's cafeteria. As soon as she entered the vixen made a beeline for the coffee pot.
John chuckled. The vixen was clearly not a morning person.
After downing a mug of the steaming liquid, the vixen looked around, spotting John.
"Sorry about tossing you around like that. If ya couldn't tell, I don't do mornings." She said as she poured another mug.
"I might have noticed that. So where are we now ma'am?" John asked.
"Please, call me Kerra. As for where we are, we're back on Mobius in one of the lower levels of my base." Kerra said as she walked out of the room, motioning for the man to follow her.
"Wait, your base?"
"Yes, when we found Mobius, it was one of the stipulations of the treaty that allowed us to have a permanent base of operations on this planet. This base acts as a shipyard, a staging ground, and as an evacuation site should Earth ever comes under attack and they need to evacuate the planet." Kerra explained as the pair stepped into an elevator.
"So how far are we from Earth? I've never heard of a planet called Mobius." John queried the woman.
"There are a few reasons for that John. First, according to the data that I got from Cortana, the UNSC had never even come to this part of the galaxy. And judging by the designs of your FTL drives, the journey would have taken almost a year. Also there's the little problem that you are no longer in your own reality." Kerra explained as the elevator rose towards the surface.
"What do you mean not in my own reality?"
"Exactly that, apparently when the Dawn went through the portal during your escape from the Ark, it sent you to a completely different reality. Probably had something to do with the fact it was a giant hole in subspace and the reaction with the energy released by the Halo. However given the fact that it was probably a one in a trillion shot that you would up here instead of being atomized I would have to say that you're stuck here. Not that that is a bad thing. No Covenant, no Flood, no Insurrectionists. Your fight is finished. If you'll take it I'd like to give you a chance at semi-retirement." Kerra continued her explanation.
"What do you mean semi-retirement?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Basically, you're in the same boat I'm in. We're both SPARTAN-IIs and that means as long as we can still fight they can call us up to do whatever job it is that needs our unique 'skills'." Kerra said, the last word seeming said in distaste.
"So how is it, that another reality had a virtually identical SPARTAN Program?"
"Well, in this reality, they have always wanted super soldiers of some kind. Though until you came along, I was the only living member of the program. The humans that would have been my big brothers and sisters, if you will, never survived the augmentation process. Partially because it was the first procedure of its kind and partly through pressure from upper leadership, the original forty-seven subjects died either on the table, or shortly after the procedures were completed." Kerra explained.
"So how come it worked on you?" John asked as they stepped out of the elevator into a large and well decorated house.
"I don't even know. Maybe I just had such a strong will to live. Maybe Mobian physiology just reacts differently to the procedures. Though, Alexis did say that I had one thing that none of the other candidates had." Kerra said as she turned to John. "Can you guess what it was?"
John felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. This woman was just like him. The only one of her kind for the exact reason he was the only one of his. "Luck." He replied.
"Exactly. Though I would have to say that most of the time, I make my own luck." Kerra said as she stopped in front of a room. "I took the liberty of getting you some civilian clothes that I hope will fit you. Go ahead and get changed and I'll show you around the rest of the base and then I'll take ya out to the city." She finished with a smile.
John chuckled as he stepped into the room and shut the door. For a Spartan, she sure was a strange young woman.
Kerra poked her head into the room and added, "Also there's a full bathroom through that door. Not to be rude, but you do need a shower." She said indicating the door to the bathroom before quickly withdrawing her head from the room and shutting the door quickly.
John felt a chuckle forming in his chest. He did indeed need a shower after being in his armor for so long. The poor woman was probably on the verge of emptying her stomach because of her heightened sense of smell.
Kerra took deep breath to clear out her sinuses. She definitely didn't mean to be rude, but all that time fighting in his armor left John with a rather pungent aroma. Sighing, she looked at her watch and noticed that it was close to lunch, so she headed to the kitchen.
Twenty minutes later, John exited the shower. He hadn't planned on taking such a long shower, but the warm water relieved a lot of the tension that his tired and battle worn muscles held. As he exited the bathroom he wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed a second to dry of with. As he dried off, he looked around for the clothes that Kerra had mentioned. The blue jeans and boots fit fine, but the t-shirt, the largest the exchange carried, was still a snug fit.
After he was fully dressed, John left the bedroom and began to look around the house. As he walked the halls of the floor he was on, He saw many pictures of a much younger Kerra. Some were of her and her friends, a varied mix of anthropomorphic hedgehogs, walruses, chipmunks, coyotes, rabbits, and various other species. Others were of her in her workshop, standing next to a variety of aircraft from a blue biplane to a white, black and yellow fighter jet. In these, John could see a look of pride in the vixen's face, as though she had built these planes by herself. Then newer pictures started as he proceeded down the hall. Kerra was much older and wearing fatigues, rather than her usual jeans and t-shirt. They showed her in various stages of military training, from an obstacle course, to a firing range, to the cockpit of a trainer jet. These photos made John feel a connection with the younger woman. She went through just as rigorous a training as he and his SPARTANs did. Then more photos showed a young blonde haired, blue eyed human girl in a variety of sporting uniforms with medals around her neck and trophies in her arms. Another photo showed her in a blue graduation cap and gown with a much older blonde woman that caused John to start.
The woman looked almost exactly like Doctor Halsey.
After overcoming his shock, he continued along the hall. Another photo showered the human girl in a blue military dress uniform marching in a formation while looking to the right. Another showed the same girl hugging the woman who looked like Catherine, leading John to assume the woman was the girl's mother. Another showed her in a combat uniform complete with body armor, helmet and rifle standing next to an armored tractor trailer.
Further along the hallway, Kerra was shown again. This time she was either shown in her lab or out in the field with a group of humans. John's keen eye noticed that the group all had the same patch on their shoulder. 'This is her team.' John thought as he looked at the images showing the team on Earth, in front of a strange ring that was blue in the center, on other worlds, and finally on in front of a house. Then more pictures of Kerra and her friends, more recent. They showed them at the beach, an amusement park, and at various parties.
John reached the stairs and headed into the main living areas of the house when the smell of something cooking reached his nose.
Following the scent, he made his way to the kitchen. There he saw Kerra, with her hair up in a messy bun, in front of a stove that was loaded with a pot on each burner. As he entered he could hear her humming lightly of the sound of boiling water and the burners.
"Decide to take a tour on your way down?" She asked without turning from the stove.
"The photos caught my eye. I took my time. By the way, who is that human girl in some of the photos?" John asked as he sat down at the table.
"That's me when I was in high school." Kerra said as she stirred something in a large stock pot.
"How is that possible?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sure that you saw the pictures of me while I was training to become a SPARTAN." Kerra said.
"I did." John replied simply.
"Well, after I recovered from the augmentations, they took me out to the Nevada desert to perform some field tests to see how much my abilities had increased after the augmentations. Well, during my recovery I developed several new abilities. Ones that made them see me as something dangerous and hard to control." Kerra replied with a frown.
"What kind of abilities did you develop?" John asked.
"To explain that, I have to explain part of the history of Mobius for you; you see, this world is a focal point for a type of energy known as Chaos Energy." Kerra said as John nodded. He had heard scientists talking about this mythical form of energy and how it would solve the UNSC's problems with limited power resources.
"As such, there are things that would make any scientist drool over the potential. These things are the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds. They are the physical embodiments of this energy. As such they can either bring forth salvation or destruction at the whim of the user. My friends and I fought for years to keep the emeralds out of the hands of the people that would use them for evil. Growing up, I was exposed to the energy that these gems radiated numerous times. Either when we found them or liberated them from the hands of our enemies. They were a dream come true for me after I discovered them. They gave me an unlimited source of energy for some of my inventions, such as the Tornado-series aircraft. They not only provided a source of power for the engines, but also enhance the performance of the motors. However, there is another way to access the energy." Kerra said as she walked to a pantry and pulled out several bags of buns.
"How is that?" John asked as he watched the SPARTAN move around the kitchen with a grace that belied her destructive capabilities.
"By tapping directly into the energy that the emeralds contain, certain people, myself among them, can take on a nearly invincible form that we simply call a 'Super Form.' In this form, the laws of gravity and physics no longer apply. Of course, we never really payed those rules much mind. You should see Sonic fight, it's almost like he has a way of turning off those laws. But then, when he lives up to his name, you come to expect the impossible with him." Kerra explained.
"Sound like an interesting guy. I'd like to meet him." John said with a small, almost unnoticeable smile.
Kerra laughed. "You'll be meeting him and a few more of my friends here shortly. But I digress, while I was recovering from the augmentations and dealing with my hormones being out of whack from puberty, I started meditating. After a while I developed a link with the flow of Chaos Energy throughout the galaxy. Needless to say, I'm a force to be reckoned with. Though one ability, above all the others, is what caused the brass to fear me."
"What ability is that?"
"It's called the Chaos Nova. The first time I used it, I was running low on power and dumped pretty much everything I had into a small blast. That small blast vaporized a small mountain." Kerra said as she began to pull hot dogs out of one of the pots and began to slather chili on them from the stock pot.
"I can understand their fear, if you had turned against them; they would have no way to stop you." John replied.
"I can too, but their methods were very under handed. So I spent several years as a human, enlisted in the Air Force, did a couple of tours running supply convoys through an active combat zone, almost got killed, returned to my true form, and then joined up with Stargate Command which wound up leading me to where I am now." Kerra said as she finished stacking the chili dogs onto three plates, each stack was nearly a foot tall. Pulling out her phone, she dialed a number.
"Hey Blue, lunch is ready."
"Yeah, I made chili dogs." Kerra rolled her eyes.
"Kay, see ya in a sec." She finished hanging up the phone before turning to John. "You might want to plug your ears." She said as she sat the plates down on the table.
"Why, what's about to…" was all John was able to get out before…
BOOOOOOOOM!
SKREEEEEEEEEEEE!
THUNK!
"Thanks Sis, I was starvin'." The blue hedgehog from the photos in the hall said as he began to quickly devour the pile of chili dogs in front of him.
John, the source of the thunk, picked himself up off the floor and righted his chair before for staring in disbelief at how fast the hedgehog was devouring the meal in front of him.
Kerra laughed at the look on John's face. "John, meet my brother, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic, this John, the guy we picked up off that derelict."
Sonic waved in greeting as his mouth was currently occupied with his favorite food.
"What just happened?" John asked as he sat down and tentatively grabbed a chili dog of his plate.
"Like I said he lives up to his name. His top speed is in the neighborhood of MACH 1.5. Until I was augmented he was the fastest thing alive." Kerra said as she also began to eat.
"Why's that?" John asked as he took a small bit of the article of food. He immediately took a liking to the food. For starters there was actually flavor to it. Secondly, it didn't leave a chalky feel in his mouth after he swallowed like the ration packs and nutrient pastes that he had to eat in the field for so many years.
"Before I was augmented, I was a close second in speed to Sonic. Afterwards, my ground speed leapt up to over MACH 2 and my air speed in excess of MACH 4." Kerra explained in between bites.
"Wait, you can fly?" John asked.
"Yup. Ya didn't think my tails were just for balance did ya?" Kerra asked with a chuckle. "After all the training, I can fill several niches with my abilities. I can do aerial recon, search and rescue, close air support, and heavy lift as well as medevac missions." Kerra explained as she continued to eat.
"Quite the force multiplier, aren't you?" John asked.
Kerra laughed at the joke. "Looks like you're starting to loosen up a little. Cortana was worried that you'd take forever to unwind from all the combat. But you've got jokes now. I'd say that there's hope for you." She said as the two Spartans chuckled.
Sonic looked between the two with a look of confusion on his face, which made the pair start to laugh even harder.
A/N: Wow this chapter dragged out. I was hoping to get the pair out into the city in this chapter but the ideas just kept flowing. I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter. As always, please read and review.