Chapter 7 – A Common Goal

The Typhoon's forward thrusters lit up, pushing her backward and away from the advancing cruisers. Their speed increased steadily as Chris pushed the jets to their limit, but the Metarex continued to gain on them. Tails took aim at the lead battleship's eyes and fired again; the blinded vessel swerved to one side, while its fellows prepared to return fire.

"Turn us around; we're not moving fast enough like this!" Tails called to Chris. As the pilot began the maneuver, the weapon batteries of both remaining cruisers lit up bright yellow. Even through the viewscreen's protective coating, he had to raise one hand to shield his eyes from the flashes of laser fire as they slammed into the shields.

"No damage yet," Amy reported. "Shield strength is down into the yellow, but we're holding for now."

Yellow. The word hung in Tails' mind for an instant longer than normal. It was followed by another: red.

Both the Typhoon and the Metarex used laser weapons tuned to the middle of the visual spectrum, a greenish yellow. The pursuing fleet, on the other hand, evidently used a shade of red. The lower frequency of the light should have equated to a lower energy level, yet they were able to cut through Metarex armor far more efficiently. For that matter, weren't the Metarex ships easier to detect on thermal cameras than with the visual spectrum? Heat was carried mostly by invisible infrared light, an even lower frequency than red. Was it possible that a less powerful wavelength would actually be more effective?

Before Tails could finish his thought, the Typhoon was suddenly shaken by several successive blasts. The vessel heaved violently, throwing half the crew out of their seats. More yellow flashes followed immediately after; the shield grew visibly weaker in places, threatening to collapse at any moment.

"We've been fired upon!" Amy informed them needlessly. "The shield broke down around the edges, and we took part of a missile blast on the starboard engine. No loss of thrust, but it's taking longer to cool off than normal."

"I have an idea," Tails replied, mentally storing the information away, "but I'll need a minute or so to get it ready. Chris, instead of accelerating away, keep turning all the way around until we're facing them again."

"Are you kidding me?" Amy demanded, finally losing her composure. "One more salvo like that and we're space junk!"

"Don't worry, I- we can still fight them…" Tails faltered, struggling to recover his train of thought.

"We need help!" Cosmo cried out; Tails turned to see her speaking, not to them, but to the microphone at her station. "Please, if you can hear me, help us!"

"Understood." The unfamiliar voice crackled through the comm channel – staticky and slightly distorted, but clearly spoken by a living person.

At once, red light flashed from the nearest of the star-shaped vessels, followed closely by similar attacks from the surrounding group of squid-ships. The rightmost cruiser exploded outright, evidently having taken a hit to its ammunition storage; the other lost half its face in a spray of metal, exposing the dull gray skeleton underneath. Without a second thought, Tails armed the Typhoon's missile launchers and sent two rockets streaking into the hull breach their allies had created. Two explosions lit up the cruiser from within; its rotors ground to a halt, and it moved no more.

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed. "Alright, turn the ship around and move into formation with-"

"You will make no further movements until we say otherwise," the unfamiliar voice on the radio interrupted. Tails froze, only now registering his surprise at what this meant. He wasn't listening to a translation given by the computer; these people spoke his language.

"Um…" Tails hesitated, unsure how to respond. "Wh- who am I speaking to?"

There was a brief pause. "You will begin by answering the same question."

Tails gulped; he hadn't expected this kind of response. "Miles Prower, captain of the starship Blue Typhoon."

"Transmit your credentials."

"We… don't have any," Tails replied hesitantly. "We're not from this star system."

Another pause; Tails thought he heard snatches of conversation in the background, but couldn't discern the words. "What are your intentions?" the voice demanded after several seconds.

"We've come to help," Tails said simply.

"Why have you chosen to arrive here and now?"

"Because the Metarex came here," Cosmo answered before Tails could think of a response. "They took something from you, didn't they? Something you didn't even realize you needed, but now your world is dying without it." The young Seedrian's voice trembled ever so slightly, but she kept her composure. "We can help you get it back. Please, you have to believe us!"

A long silence followed. A few miles ahead, the Metarex formation cruised along at the same steady pace as before.

"You arrive, unannounced and uninvited, on the heels of these marauders from the stars," the voice began in a tone of barely-contained fury. "You speak their language. You understand their weapons and capabilities in battle. You know what they have done to us. Why should we, for one instant, believe that you are not allied with them?"

"You sure believed us when we called for help," Sonic commented. He stepped away from the wall and took hold of Tails' microphone. "Okay, so a bunch of aliens just fell out of the sky and attacked you for no reason. You're suspicious, I get it. But it's not just your planet; they did the same thing to us."

"And to a lot of other planets, as well," Amy added. "They come, they take what they want, and then they leave. It's all part of their strategy."

"If you have fought these beings before," the voice replied, the edge of anger reduced somewhat, "why would you attack them with ineffective weapons?"

"Well…" Tails hesitated, not sure what the red ships' captains would think of him. "We watched you fight before; your ships are more than a match for theirs. I wanted you to see that we were on your side, and… I knew you could help us if you wanted to."

Sonic's face broke out into a grin. "You sly dog!" he laughed, clapping Tails on the back. "I knew you wouldn't take a risk like that in a normal fight!"

"You could have gotten us killed, Tails," Amy admonished, though she couldn't completely hide her own smile.

More conversation on the other end of the line; this time Tails was sure he heard a foreign language. "Your willingness to trust is… enlightening."

Tails considered his response. Before he opened his mouth, however, Cosmo spoke up: "I have the Metarex comm channel! I'll turn the volume up so we can all hear it." She tapped a key, and metallic voices began to echo through the bridge speakers.

"Crimsons have ceased fire for the moment. Assess losses and report."

"Group Alpha: no losses. Group Beta: no losses. Group Gamma: moderate losses. Group Delta: moderate losses. Group Epsilon: destroyed. Group Zeta: heavy losses."

"Acknowledged. Unaffiliated vessel has been identified as frigate Blue Typhoon, known hostile responsible for the destruction of destroyer Scarship. Organize yourselves and prepare for counter-attack. Repairs are proceeding slowly, but will not be necessary if no hostiles remain to fight."

"Acknowledged, closing formation…"

Following the last statement, Tails could see the golden ships tightening their ranks, shielding the large green object from attack. He had no doubt that the stolen Planet Egg would be somewhere inside the vessel.

A green icon flashed on his console, indicating an incoming video signal. Tails accepted the call and displayed it on the viewscreen, and the crew was surprised to see a humanoid creature almost indistinguishable from those on their home planet. Any hair on his head was cut short, making it hard to identify his exact species, although he was obviously some kind of mammal. His fur was a dark midnight blue, contrasting sharply with bright amber-colored eyes and what looked like a red-and-gray uniform. There was no visible evidence of his rank, but he still carried an air of command. Even across the comm link, Tails could feel himself being sized up.

"It seems your history with these marauders has been quite eventful," the officer commented. The voice was the same one they had been hearing, but it didn't match the movement of his mouth; Tails guessed that someone else on board was translating for him. "As we have a common goal, perhaps we can help one another further."

Tails considered. "I have some ideas, but I'll need to know more about your ships and weapons before we can come up with a plan."

"We could start with your name," Amy added.

The officer nodded. "You have made contact with the Terroran Planetary Armada, fourth wing. I am speaking to you from aboard Sargasso." As he said this, one of the scarlet ships flashed its spotlight in the Typhoon's direction.

"And what do we call you?" Sonic asked.

The officer allowed himself a faint half-smile at the hedgehog's lack of formality. When he answered, it was in his own voice and language.

"Kairos."