The king was asleep, only for another hour or so – for he woke early in the day, but not everyone shared his ease. The air was permeated by a feeling of dark unease, guards found themselves tense, or grinding their teeth, without understanding why. An aide spent almost half an hour thinking of the contents of his will before wondering why.
It would have been no surprise then, to have known Antoine felt the same – except he had reasons. He padded through corridors only his access allowed, pursued by the same feeling of dread as the others, while his heart and mind walked their own nightmares in darkened halls.
His mind trod rooms filled with troubles with his career. He knew the king was gunning to replace him, to find a commander as competent but more ruthless, less caring of life. The king wanted a man who could get things done, not one who saved lives at the expense of victory. He knew the list of potential candidates – Geoffrey had forwarded him the list, without the king's consent, with a footnote recording his consolations on his predicament.
Max seemed to be giving him a choice. Kill or leave. Antoine, for all his misgivings, his sense of honour and loyalty, was not prepared to accept either option. He would not send his men to the slaughter for a wasted trip, and he would not step down in favour of someone who would. He shook his head in bemusement and unhappiness as he pondered this conundrum.
His heart stalked corridors filled with images of Bunnie, what she had said. His sorrow was for her, not for him. He was aware that she could not have children, an unfortunate side-effect of her bionic limbs and their power connections, and this fact had tormented her as long as they had been together. Then it had happened.
"Ah can't do this anymore…Ah'm sorry…" she had explained, tears welling as she did a sterling job of fighting them. "It's not right…Antoine, We have to break up. Ah'm sorry…"
She had run off, not giving him the time to explain, to console…he wanted to explain, but she would no longer see him. He had to wait it out. As he heard, his heartbeat sped up as he thought of her, his footfalls muffled by the carpet.
One problem at a time, he decided. He brushed aside his military problems – Bunnie was more important, more important by about half of Mobius, than his current profession. If anything happened, if he had her, he could make something work.
He heard a click as his comm came on.
"Commander?"
"Yes?" he answered, pausing in his line of thought.
"Could you come up to the observation rail? There's something I need your opinion. I think I'm seeing barrel-flash from the jungle."
"From this distance? I will be right there." He picked up the pace, spinning on the spot and near-jogging back the way he had come, ascending stairs and inclines in corridors. The doors to the wide balcony that ringed the expansive palace. Each one was made of carved ebony, though panels either side could slide away to reveal emergency blast doors, able to turn the palace into a castle, along with other security features. He threw the doors wide and marched out onto the balcony, extruding a powerful exterior his soldiers and guards respected him for. He was not head of security at the palace, but was often taken as the expert on all things combat, a fact for which the actual head of security resented him for.
Moving to beside the guard who stood there already, he followed his pointing arm out into the dense woodland. He watched, and saw why he had been summoned.
"Merde…" he shuddered. "Tze barrels elevated for maximum range, tze artillery space to avoid direct contact…we are under attack, mon ami. Sound tze alarm and wake tze king. I will begin preparations."
The man, in his red and gold armour, saluted and jogged off through the open door, and Antoine could hear the orders passing through the communicators as more and more units within the palace entered combat status.
Antoine switched frequencies to a secure channel, a way to those he knew he could trust.
"Nicole? Is this Nicole?" he called down it.
"Antoine? Yes, is something wrong?" the AI answered politely.
"I need to speak with tze princess and tze freedom fighters. It is urgent, please."
"As soon as possible."
Tails was thoroughly enjoying streaming through the data on the core, picking it apart.
"Looks like he's trying on something pretty advanced. Can't be sure if it would work, though. I've never seen him try somethings this…discrete. He's all about the full frontal assault, I haven't known him to actively go behind our backs. I'd peg Colin down as the discrete one."
"Colin?" Fiona questioned over his shoulder.
"Snively, that short guy in the interface suit."
Fiona was about to reply, to be cut off by the beeping comm-link.
"Tails and Fiona here." Tails got there first.
"Both of you? Good. It's Nicole. Antoine needs to speak to all of you; says it's important. I'm preparing a holo-state for him in the dining room.
Everyone else has already been alerted." The AI chirped.
"On our way." He replied, and closed the link, spinning in the chair to face Fiona. "We're going to have to cut this surgery short for now, as I'm sure you heard. Let's go, come on." He lifted himself from the seat and was turning towards the door when something made him pause. Spinning back to the handheld, he pulled the power cable out with a splutter of sparks. "Don't want it trying to jump to the system through the cable." He gave as explanation. Once again he turned to the door, this time offering Fiona his arm. "It would be impolite of me if I were not to escort you from this maze, my dear." He told her in a mock display of chivalry, bowing low as he did so.
Despite the joke and falsity, the other's heart fluttered for a moment at the closeness. Still the reason eluded her, though it felt closer than before – only just out of reach, drifting at the corners of her vision.
Arm in arm they left the lab, but though Fiona could not sense it, Tails was still distant. He was being kind, of course, but he was polite and kind to all his friends. To him this was just being a little extravagant, a small jest. He was still no closer to her, though she was to him.
If Nicole had been able to smirk, blush or smile from within the computer core, she would have. Tails was not as observant as she was in these matters, and she could see little things; posture, expression, movement, in Fiona that gave away more than the younger fox noticed. There was something between her and him, most definitely, if not the reverse – Tails was extremely capable and adept at disguising his own feelings, but this lack of knowledge seemed genuine. He really didn't know that there was anything more than a friendship for Fiona.
As she watched this, on the verge of laughter within the core, she also watched the other members of the team congregate around the dining table. Within that room a hologram of her flickered into life with the others.
"Did Ant say what he needed to talk to us about?" Sonic asked the lynx bare moments after she appeared.
"No, he only said it was important. He did not divulge the details; I assume he will do that now, though, does it help that he sounded hurried?" the replied, calmly.
It was Sally's turn to speak. "Where was he? You keep tabs on all of us, where was he when he told you?"
"Within the palace, Sally. I did not hear fighting – do not fear for your family. No, don't deny it, please. They are safe. Antoine is a brave man, and he would have been at the forefront if anything was happening. They are safe." Nicole placated the princess, who had started at the mention of the palace, and now whom relaxed visibly at the reassurance.
"Sal, if you want, I can jog over there, make sure?" Sonic patted the squirrel girl on her shoulder, squeezing her briefly in a companionable hug.
"No- wait for Antoine. Go after, know what to expect."
Sonic felt the instinctive dismissal come to mind, but as it did so the rebuke Tails had given him, to think a little, followed it. "Sure." He heard himself say, "Just a thought."
The party lapsed into silence until Amy finally noticed and asked Nicole, who hadn't moved, "Where's Tails?"
"He and Fiona were in the lab, analysing the electronic that Retis had given Fiona yesterday. They will be here momentarily."
As if by prophecy, they did so a couple of minutes later, hands dropping from each other long before they came into view. Amy ran over to Tails and hugged him, and the fox glanced over his shoulder at Sonic and shrugged as best he could. Fiona waved and hugged Telera as the friends they were, a girls' tradition, so Tails was told. It seemed to be one of the few things Sonic was completely, utterly right about.
As smiles and hugs came to their conclusion, a second hologram flickered into place next to Nicole.
"Hey Ant, what's the biz?" Sonic chuckled to his general friend, and everyone else turned to him.
"Eeht is with tze utmost displeasure that I must ask your assistance, freedom fighters. I would not force tze burden upon you if I had another option." Antoine was bedecked in his full combat gear, and his pins that marked him as a Gold Flame, general of the Mobian military.
"A burden?" Lupin whistled. "We can bear it."
"I sincerely hope so. Less than an hour ago, tze first shells of an artillery barrage detonated within Mobotropolis. Tze shells were self-propelled, maintaining a steep flight trajectory before descending. Tze shells are not of Legion manufacture, tzey were produced by MilesCorp. No!" he pleaded as Tails' eyes flared in anger at the implication. "I do not blame you for this, mon ami. Eeht was not my intention. I know zat you produce munitions and weaponry for tze Acorn military, and zat is my concern. Tze troops are ours, or once were. I have begun mobilisation, but I have no idea how many of mes troupes have turned traitor. I need people I can trust beside me. I know some of tze loyalist regiments, but I want you beside me."
"Have any opposing soldiers entered the city yet?" once the blame was no longer his, Tails had relaxed.
"Not to my knowledge. But tze fighting is concentrated around tze gates. I regret to say zat I am not fully prepared for this war…Sally, may I speak to you privately?"
The others filed out of the room, saying goodbye to Antoine, along with promises of aid. Nicole remained, the only one who had to remain to retain the connection.
"What is it Ant?" Sally asked the coyote, as a change came over him.
"Eeht is Bunnie…she broke up with me, last week. I cannot speak with her…would you?"
"Ant…I'm sorry- yes, I'll talk to her." She had traipsed into Knothole a couple of days ago, and was living in a small hotel on the outskirts.
"Thank you. That's all I wanted to say." He wouldn't say any more, and Nicole broke the link, unbidden.
"We should move, find out what's going on." She explained to the princess, as she called the others back in.
"Sonic, you're going in. Get there, see what you can do to help Antoine. Retis, Lupin, Telera, you follow. Fiona, gear up and start scouting out the edges of their forces. Nicole will go with you. Tails, see what you can get on their weaponry. Amy, you help him."
They all agreed, though Fiona felt cheated that she wasn't going with Tails. Then Sonic noticed, "What are you doing Sal?"
"Antoine asked a favour of me. I'm taking care of that then I'll join you all at Mobotropolis."
To her relief no-one tried to question the idea. It was protection of her privacy. Sally left the room first, and Lupin, Fiona, Amy, Retis and Telera filed out to equip themselves suitable. Nicole remained a few moments longer, curtsied to Sonic and Tails, the only two still in the room, then phased out too.
"You're learning." Tails joked.
"I want Antoine to still be alive when I'm finished." He replied, and jogged from the room, effectively ending the conversation, but Tails had one last thing to say, something Sonic didn't hear.
"I hope it was for Sally, I hate this between you."
To the immense relief of every one of the king's aides, Alicia had been able to placate the king and confine him to his quarters, emerging later with a smile and a reassurance that the king would not be out for some time as he raged quietly.
"We need to find out exactly who is attacking us and why." Queen Alicia Acorn told the council. "If this is as general Antoine fears, it could cause any number of problems with the citizenry. Mr Prower?"
Tails sat up and the back of the seat came with him. "Would you like the full report?"
"Just a summary. Time is of the essence."
Tails smiled in response. While there was no love lost between he and the king, Alicia Acorn was another matter. Though she was less wont to attend, she was a political animal, and had a brain in her head that was quite the envy of many people. Her looks, which sally had inherited, were stunning even to Tails, a pragmatic man of function less than aesthetic. He found it more of a pleasure to talk to her and the councillors, opposed to the company of the king.
"Well, I can confirm from analysing shell fragments that they are MilesCorp weaponry, and since all of my shipments are into the military, the guilds, or security contractors, we can assume that either they have been stolen or that the men and women I have sent them to have been coerced into this. I expect the latter, Amy took the time to search for any thefts or abductions of this level of technology." The hedgehog girl smiled at her mention, enjoying the opulent surroundings. "She found, aside from the occasional loss of a rifle or pistol, and in one case a light buggy, nothing on this scale has occurred. As for enemy numbers, we can estimate that they number at somewhere near ten-thousand fighting soldiers, including tank and artillery crews. To my knowledge that is fully half of our soldiery, excluding the contractors and palace guards."
"What is your assessment of the situation?" the head of palace security, a badger by the name of White, asked, adjusting his bionic eye.
"Strategically, I cannot say. Antoine would know, but as we know he is fighting to hold them back. Politically I would say tenuous. It would be foolish to say that everyone sides for the king, and so I can expect that at least some of the people within the city are siding with the separatists. That number will probably rise if they begin to exhibit propaganda. These can be silenced through the MPD and controlled use of our own propaganda. My biggest concern is the contractors."
"How so?" White prompted.
"As you know, the security contractors, Jack-Knife, Stonewall, etcetera are basically regimented mercenaries. They will fight for whatever side has the most money. We will want to win them over. If not to fight for us then to at least deny the enemy their use."
"I think I know how we can do that." The voice came from the councillor of Citizenry.
"Can we not just did into the coffers and pay them that way?" Alicia asked him.
"It would be impractical, my queen. If we approach them directly, they will correctly guess the reason, and bide their time, to see if the other side makes a better offer. If another offer was made, we would have to offer ever more money until we surpassed our competitor. I think I have an alternative."
"Hmm?"
"The drug lords, black-market dealers, the underworld. In my role I have collaborated a sort of network ranging through all aspects of society. If I use this network to approach these aforementioned influences, we can use them. We offer them money enough to hire the contractors to 'defend their assets'. Knowing that the underworld is a great supplier for weapons and armour and certain technology, they will move to defend this important assets, to ensure they do not fall into enemy hands. Directly we will have no influence over them, but at least this way we can make sure the field stays even. Tell me, Mr Prower, Miss Alicia, do you think this is possible?
Tails deferred to the queen as his rule of respect, beckoning her to have the first say.
Her reply was short. "I do not like using such volatile methods, but if your assessment is correct, I will support it in lieu of another option."
Tails felt something a little more elaborate was necessary. "It is certainly possible. I'm not sure about the likeliness of it going ahead, however. The underworld has money, what would they need more of it for? I will need confirmation that it will work."
"Everyone wants money, especially the value of Acorn coin. If you doubt my abilities, Mr Prower, please remember I have this position for a reason."
"I'm not doubting you, minister, I am doubting the pliability of your cat's paws. Nonetheless, I will bow to your choice as with the queen, in lieu of a better option."
The queen nodded to all those present, accepting the choice gracefully. "Now, onto the matter of who is leading them…"
"Peculiar…I haven't see this manufacture before…" Rotor peered into the series of lenses magnifying the circuit board. "It doesn't help that you brought it to me damaged."
"We didn't exactly have a choice." Tyrus huffed to the walrus, "they set off EMP grenades as they died. I couldn't well go too close to it with that going on."
"Then use your damn loaf!" Rotor snapped at the Jack-Knife officer. "They were clearly getting this stuff out of somewhere, somewhere you were guarding. There will be more or my name's Colin Robotnik! I can't do anything with this. Find me something intact and I may be able to help."
"I could do without the patronising tone."
"And I could do without newly-promoted contractors walking in on my work and dumping a lump of charcoal in front of me then telling me to tell me what it was before they firebombed it. Get me something I can go on or please, don't come back."
The man scooped up the piece of burnt electronic and stomped out of the office, glaring at every officer or worker he passed by. Rotor barely spared him a second glance, looking back down to his work with a grunt. With one hand he moderated the half a dozen dials on the portable radar and with is other hand typed in lines of coding into the computer screen to his right.
Unlike Tails, Rotor's desk was clearer, more professional that the younger scientist. He had space for the computer, his other less-common equipment and the centre was clear for miscellaneous work. Shifting the lens system aside he brought his more important project to the fore.
Dumping the new control system onto the workspace, he picked up the welding torch and soldering iron, plugging it into the computer and waiting as Nicole appeared on the screen to help him sift through the current software.
"It's still not giving us much of an increase. If we want to meet standard demand, I think we'll have to configure the retargeting matrix." The little Nicole avatar explained, strolling across his desk. "Oh, and there's a war on, in case you haven't heard yet."
"Well we can- what? When did this start?" he exclaimed loudly to the little avatar as she jumped from the surface and expanded to life-size.
"Yesterday morning the shelling of Mobotropolis commenced. The other freedom fighters are there already, helping coordinate the defence. Or in Sonic's case, being the defence. Tails told me to leave you be for the time being, to keep MilesCorp afloat, but when the contractor walked in I figured to intervene."
"I'm missing your logic." He frowned at her.
"The talk of fighting, EMP grenades for Christ sakes, special ops teams. I got the gist. I know the orders aren't exactly coming from the brass, but I want you to stay here. You are technically one of the freedom fighters, and they need someone besides me in Knothole in case the separatists decided to turn their hand to the outlying cities. Sally and Bunnie are here for the time being, but I suspect they will be moving soon."
"What security measures are in place?" Rotor was already thinking of his strategy.
"I mobilised as many of my legion units as I could, and placed them at key points around the city as well as major entrances, with Onslaught squads patrolling the outer limits as an early warning system."
"That will do for now. I want to set up a secure link with our forces in Mobotropolis, and get word to the other settlements to get whatever forces they can ready for defence."
"On it now." The avatar phased out.
Rotor rose from the desk, leaving the office and marching away towards the exit.
"We're moving to code Magenta!" he bellowed to anyone within the sound of his voice, "an enemy seeks to overthrow the kingdom, and so Knothole will be a prime target. Prepare for its defence!"