Bunny grabbed a rock and threw it at the Hover Unit that had been chasing her. It hit with such force that it caused the fuel cells to rupture and detonate. 'Thank you Router for making me these arm enhancers.' She looked around and saw the others were also engaged. Knuckles was pounding SWAT-bots as fast as his hands could move. Amy was tackling her own set as she tried to punch into the outpost itself. The other member, Rake was his name, had fallen in the first strike.
She cursed as another Hover Unit came into view. Another rock in hand, it fell a moment later to her mighty throw. The Intel they had on this place had been grossly uninformed. Knuckles plan was a simple one that should have resulted in zero deaths and injuries. Attack the outpost, draw out the group, and then retreat a little. Hold for a while, and then retreat again. This give and take should have worked, but that was figuring that the enemy had not been waiting on them. They had managed to get up the door of the outpost without seeing a guard. Thinking they might actually be able to take the outpost, they tried to enter it. Only to be greeted by a squad of SWAT-bots waiting on them. Poor Rake didn't have a chance to scream before ten bolts shot through him. It only got worse from there. More bots marched up from their rear and pinned them down, forcing them to hold the line they had. They had managed to open a wider gap and give her a little breathing room for dealing with the hover units, but it was taking too long. She was already starting to feel fatigued.
"Guys! The entrance it clear. I have cover!"
Amy's words were a blessing to hear. Knuckles leaped out of the fray he was in and made a mad dash toward the outpost. She joined him a moment later. Bolts raced past them as they started zigzagging to avoid them. A few moments later, they were inside and Amy closed the door.
"It's locked, but I don't think that will last very long. I keyed all the outside terminals off. But again, I don't think that will hold."
She was still panting from the run as Knuckles stepped up and looked around. He was breathing hard, but was not letting it keep him down. "We have to see if there are any weapons in here we can use. Something that might buy us enough time to escape. I just hope Tails is doing better then we are."
"That little guy can take care o'himself." She picked herself up and started walking deeper into the outpost. The hail storm of laser fire hitting the door was beginning to get on her nerves.
"We could try calling for help." Amy spoke up as she hopped along behind them.
"They wouldn't make it here on time. You heard the Princess, we have no back up. All we have is what we can find. Let's just get to the control room and see if there is anything we can use there.
He jerked his head around again as moved into an ally in the main city. What remained of the city here was either factories or old building with no purpose at all. At least that was what it looked like. Tails didn't believe that Robotnik didn't use every inch of space he had for his own personal reasons. But that fact wasn't what had him on edge. He felt like something was watching him.
The communication center he was going to tap into was one that sat on top of a power station just a few more blocks a head of him. It was the perfect place since the power station could energize the probe and hide the signal as just electrical static. But the catch was that it was surrounded high voltage wires that prevented anyone from reaching it from the outside. That was unless you could fly.
A clang from down the road caught his attention. 'What was that?' Waiting wasn't getting him any closer to going home. Spinning his tails, he lifted himself up and over the building he was standing behind. As he reached the top, he saw the station and his goal. Everything seemed to be going perfectly.
CAWWWWWWW
His head searched for the source of the call. Then his eyes came to rest on a large purple metal hawk that had been sitting on the building had had been right behind him a few second ago.
"How did I miss THAT?" He tilted his tail to further push himself forward. Shifting to the side had been intended to keep him in line with his goal, but it also saved him from being lunch. The hawk shot passed him with blurring speed. Biting back a curse, he dropped down as he pushed for more speed. But the hawk was faster. Two passes later, it managed to nip at his arm, drawing blood.
He took a sharp turn into another lane between the buildings. This caused him to lose the hawk to lose him for a second. But the CAWW told him it wasn't far behind. Taking every turn he could to keep it back a little, but didn't stop it.
"What kind of bird is this?" 'I would love a chance to look at the tech there. A metal device capable of moving at high rate of speed with almost zero noise output, what a piece of work.'
He shot down another lane and stayed the course toward the power station.
CAWWWWW
The hawk had a lock on him and was gaining ground. 'It's now or never. I have a mission to complete. If I can just drop this probe on the node, Router said it would attach itself. I just have to reach it.' He looked behind him and saw the hawk just a few feet behind him. Fear engulfed him as he realized that he was too far away.
Just then, a blue streak raced down the road and shot up at him. He closed his eyes, bracing for the impact. But it didn't happen. Then he heard the call of the hawk that sounded like it was falling away from him. Gathering all his courage, he peaked down and saw the hawk on the ground with a blue hedgehog standing in front of it. He wanted to watch the fight, but he needed to plant the probe first. Racing over the station, he dropped it on the node. It snapped around it and was motionless a few seconds later. It seemed to be working and he hoped Router was receiving something.
He raced back to the battle to find that the hawk had taken to the air and was now flapping its wings as hard as it could. The created a wind tunnel that the blue hedgehog was running in. What shocked him was that the hedgehog was gaining ground. As fast as the air was going, he was moving forward. The hawk was starting to show signs of strain from the prolonged production of the wind. Then he got a closer look at the blue runner, he was smirking. 'How is that possible? He has to be running at least a hundred and five miles an hour. How can that not tire him?'
All of a sudden, the hedgehog's feet became a blur as he pushed himself forward. This launched him into the air and into the hawk. The kick sent the bird bot to the ground again. But this time, the hedgehog didn't wait for it to get up. He curled up in a ball and raced forward. The action cut the hawk in half when he reached it.
Landing in front of him, he introduces him. "That was incredible. My name is Miles Power, but everyone calls me Tails."
"I'm Sonic the hedgehog. It was nothing. I'm just glad you're safe. But the danger is not over. Your friends are also in danger. Where are they?"
"Ah, guys. I don't think the doors can take much more. Not to mention that the radar shows two bombers coming in fast. I give them three, maybe four minutes out." Amy was hunched over a monitor hitting keys as fast as she could.
Bunnie returned then with a handful of canisters. Dropping them on the floor in front of Knuckles. "I found enough gas bombs to clear out a pork and beans festival, but nuten good."
"Well, then we have two options. Get flattened by the bombers and pray this structure is solid enough to withstand the barrage. Or try and fight our way out."
"Hey, something small is heading toward us. Moving very fast. It just over shot the bombers. ETA...it's here." Amy race to the window and looked out at the field. The bots had stopped firing on the door and had turned their attention on the new comer. All she saw was a blue blur race in and out of the group. When it left, only a pile of broken parts remained.
"What is that?" Knuckles said as he joined her by the window.
"I dunno. But I like it." Bunnie smiled as she followed the blur.
Then the blur appeared in front of them, it revealed the blue hedgehog. "You all need to get out of here. The way should be clear enough. I'll deal with the bombers and catch up to you." He turned to leave.
"Wait, we don't even know your name." Amy held her hands together and smiled sweetly.
"Later. Now MOVE." He vanished down the side of the building and raced out in the direction of the incoming bombers.
"Should we help him?" Bunnie asked.
"He can take care of himself." The three were shocked to see a floating fox in front of them. Then relief washed over them as they realized who it was. "Elevator, going down." He reached out to take Amy's and Bunny's arms. Gently, he lowered them to the ground. Knuckles came over the side and dug his knuckles into the wall to slow his fall. They all landed on the ground a short time later.
"So was your mission a success?" Knuckles asked.
"It was after Sonic took on a giant hawk that was chasing me." Tail said and they started running toward the forest.
"So, his name is Sonic. That is so dreamy." Amy said as she ran.
"Oh, brother. Am I gunna hav to listen to this all the way home?" Bunny said.
'Two bombers a hundred feet in the air. No curves in the ground steep enough to launch me into the air. How am I going to deal with them?' Sonic stood on the pile of SWAT-bots he had made into a scrap pile a minute earlier. Trying to figure out a method for dealing with the air borne craft.
He could see them getting closer and opening their blast doors. Eye sight was also something new he was getting used to. His eyes had never been so good and able to pick put so many little details at once. It seemed to be more then just good vision, but another sense that helped him move at the great speeds he could now manage. Just another thing to help him fight the fat man.
'Was that really Amy?' Letting his thoughts wonder a bit while he waited for his foes to get there gave him a moment to take stock of what all had happened in the last half hour. It had been a while since he had really talked to anyone other then his uncle. Even though his elder did want him to reach out to others, Sonic had refused up till now. After all, he was still getting used to his abilities. He looked up and saw that the bombers were just about on top of him. Lightning flashed behind them and gave him an idea.
He jumped off the pile and started running around it as fast as he could manage. Soon, the spinning air reached up into the sky. A tornado had been formed and was moving. The bombers veered to avoid his efforts, but they were too close. They slammed into each other, causing the bombs within them to explode. He stopped and let the wind die down. As it did, something massive hit the outpost behind him. 'Not what I planned, but it works.' A faint hovering noise caught his ear. Looking in the direction it was coming from; he saw a round orb with a camera in it. 'So that is how he knew. Wonder just how many he has.' He gave it a wink before speeding off after the others.
"Oooooooooh. He is good. Very good." Doctor Robotnik leaned back in his chair. The surveillance orb had just witnesses the blue hedgehog run off into the forest. It was a few seconds more before the orb noted that it had lost the target.
Rubbing his hands together, he turned his attention to other screens that had data scrolling down them. This was nothing new for him; he wanted to know every little detail about his operations. Some things pleased him. The conversion of a city to his mechanical specifications was two days ahead of schedule. That was wonderful news. It meant he could start moving some operations away from here or creating a secondary facility.
"You called me, sir?" A short, scrawny man walked up to the giant chair in the center of the room. His head was large and only had a few hairs left on his head, none together. His manner was of someone who didn't really like what he was doing.
"Ah, Snively. I have reached an impasse." He rubbed his head as he turned the chair around to face the small man, who bowed when they came face to face.
"How so, sir?"
"This hedgehog, Sonic. He is causing me great pains. The Bot-nik I sent out after the fox didn't last three minutes against him. They just don't have enough brains to defeat a person as unpredictable as him."
"I see, sir. Have you devised a method where you could send some of your enhanced species after him?"
"If I had, do you think I would have called you?" His anger was starting to flare.
"No sir. It is sad they are not robots themselves. At least we could fix them when they failed."
His eyes shot open as the wheels in his mind turned. His massive hand reached down and grabbed the Snively by the shirt, lifting him up in the air till he was an inch from his face. Sweat was starting to pour out of the other man. "What did you say?"
"I said...if they were robots..." Robotnik dropped him to the ground, where he landed with a thump. The doctor was on his feet an instant later and walked over to a computer terminal that looked older then the rest. His hand flew over the keys as he search for something. Snively pick himself up and dusted himself off before speaking again. "If everything alright, sir."
Not looking away from the screen, he responded. "Years ago, while I was still a general in the kings armed forces, there was a project mentioned. It had a noble goal, to help people stop aging. But it had a side effect that caused it to not be released to the general public. When I took over, I made sure that all the old files remained intact. Ahhhhhhhhhh, the Robobization Project. Created by Sir Charles Hedgehog. I should have guess that he would have created something so grand. He was always five to ten years ahead of all the other scientist in the kingdom. " He attempted to open the file. It refused. His eyes narrowed as he tried another method. It too failed. "It would seem that the old man was better prepared then I had thought."
"Shall I get your hacking kit, sir?"
"No no. If he was cunning enough to make this lock, then there are several traps to prevent hacking. I don't need to risk this data." He snickered as he rubbed his hands together. "I have a more direct approach for dealing with this. Prepared my hover craft. We're going hunting."
Don't forget to drop me a line and let me know if you like it or not. Who knows, might have more to put up if you do.
