Chapter 8
Later that day, the call was put out to summon everyone for the debriefing. All of the world leaders, the G.U.N. Commander, and Team Heroes all gathered once again in the War Room to discuss the results of the battle. Tails noticed with quiet surprise as Sonic and Knuckles nodded cordially at each other and sat down together. Silver was clearly still in rough shape as Blaze helped to his seat. Once everyone else had taken their seats, the meeting began.
"As I informed all of you, Team Heroes, accompanied by Blaze and Silver launched an attack on EggmanLand using the 7 Emeralds." began the G.U.N. Commander. The world leaders all leaned in as he paused. "Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and the Chaos Emeralds were lost." Outrage rose up at once from the leaders as they stood and began shouting over each other.
"How can this be?! Nothing in Eggman's arsenal can stand up to three Supers!" exclaimed the President, leader of Empire City.
"There is now. He's revived and robotized Shadow the Hedgehog. From what I'm told, he's more powerful than 10 Shadow clones." explained the Commander.
Adabat's leader threw up his hands, "Well that's it then! We're finished! We should just surrender now and avoid more loss of life!"
"Spineless coward!" spat the leader of Holoska, "That may be easy for you to say! What about the rest of us who are unwilling to roll over on our backs?"
The Mazuri leader now raised her voice in protest, "My people are dying! If we surrender, who will stop Eggman from sending in death squads of Shadow clones and ravaging our lands?!"
"I agree! I cannot tell proud and devout Shamarians to stand idly by while that tyrant demolishes our precious Sun and Moon temples!" said Shamar's leader.
Spagoina's leader also spoke up, "And what about this place?! There are millions of refugees here! What are they supposed to do? Where are they supposed to go?"
"No one is going to surrender!" yelled the G.U.N. Commander over the arguing, "The day I admit defeat to Dr. Eggman will be the day I draw my last breath!"
Tails now stood and spoke, "The Commander is right! We can't give up, not with so much at stake. It'll be difficult but we can still win this war! We'll find a way!"
Apotos' leader pointed out, "Team Heroes was supposed to be that way. But more and more lately you've been failing to gain any ground. In fact we've been losing more every day."
"Perhaps it's due to leadership? While its clear Tails is trying his best, he's far too young and inexperienced to lead Team Heroes." said the leader of Chun-Nan. There were murmurs of agreement as he continued, "Perhaps it would be best if the heroes stepped out of this war before they cause more irreparable damage."
Before Tails could answer, Sonic stood up, raising his voice to be heard, "Now wait just a minute!" Everyone instantly fell silent in shock, sensing a difference in blue hedgehog's demeanor. He stood tall, eyes ablaze with determination and will as he said, "It's not Tails' fault that this team hasn't been doing as well as we should; its mine." Sonic looked towards Tails, "I didn't do what I needed to do and he had to pick up the slack. I take full responsibility for everything that's happened and you can bet that things are gonna change."
The President sighed as he rubbed his temples, "Sonic, it's no secret that I have a great deal of respect for you and your fellow heroes and I strongly support all of you but at this point, removing you from this war may be our best option…"
"Please, Mr. President, Commander, leaders of the world; give us one last chance. I know that we haven't exactly been working as a team. I know that I haven't been there for my team. But I'm here now and I'm not going to make the same mistake. Plus we have Blaze and Silver here to help us. Even though things look hopeless, I still believe we can turn this around, I believe we can find a way, just like Tails said. We can still win."
The room was silent for several moments as everyone let Sonic's words sink in. At last The President replied, "That was very compelling but I think I speak for all of my fellow leaders when I say that we should still seriously consider whether or not it would be advantageous for you to remain a part of the war effort." The other leaders nodded in agreement.
"If we have nothing more to discuss, I think we should deliberate on that and put it to a vote. In the meantime, you heroes can set preparations in motion to fortify the refuges. Now that he has the Emeralds, its likely Dr. Eggman will launch an attack." suggested the G.U.N. Commander. Everyone agreed once more. "Very well. Team Heroes, if you could give us the room?" The heroes, including Blaze and Silver, got an up and left the leaders to talk.
Once outside of the war room everyone gathered around Tails, expecting him to tell them what to do. Lost in his own thoughts, the orange-furred fox didn't even notice at first until Sonic nudged him and said, "So Tails, how do you wanna split this up?"
"Hm? What did you say?" asked Tails as he looked around.
"I said, how do you want to split everyone up? I was thinking some of us could go around to all the refuges and make sure they're stocked up and rest can go around the borders, look around in here and just generally look for weak spots."
Tails nodded quickly, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea."
Amy's hand shot up as she said excitedly, "Oh, oh, I recently found a clue about where Cream and her mom might be!"
"I need to organize all of my observations that I made in EggmanLand during the battle. There may be something that can help us in later conflicts." commented Espio. He added quietly, "I also might head out later to conduct surveillance at the nearest base. I do not wish for us to be caught off guard like that again…"
Rouge glanced at Tails for the briefest of moments before agreeing, "I'm going out to gather Intel too. Chaos knows we need as much of it as we can get."
"I will conduct repairs on the planes. They received critical levels of damage but I have a high percentage of certainty I will restore them to near optimum function." stated Omega as he turned and proceeded towards the aircraft hangar.
Blaze stepped forward, "Silver and I will travel the outskirts and military barricades to ensure they will offer enough protection." With Silver close behind, they left to perform their task.
"Alright then. That leaves me, Amy, Knuckles, and Tails to check out the refuges. Hopefully that clue of yours pans out, Amy. We never did find out what happened to them." admitted Sonic sadly. He shook it off quickly though, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Actually Sonic," began Tails as he began to back away in the direction of the hangar, "I should help Omega with the planes. The Tornado especially took a beating. Good luck though."
"Wait, Tails, before you go, I want to talk to you." Sonic and Tails stepped aside to talk privately.
Knuckles looked over at Rogue who was still standing there, as if she was waiting, and asked, "I thought you were going to gather Intel?"
"I am. I'm headed to Mazuri but there's a lot of action still going on there right now so I wanted Tails to take a look at the cloaking on my personal plane; it's been glitchy. Do you think you'll be able to find that little rabbit? There's millions of refugees here scattered about the city. There's families that are STILL looking for each other and it's been months already." answered Rouge casually before directing her question to Amy.
"I know… I'm so worried about Cream. I've been praying to Gaia that she's still with Vanilla. But I have a good feeling about this lead. But, can you believe that speech Sonic gave to the leaders?! I can't remember the last time I've seen him so fired up! In a good way of course." replied Amy with a look of awe. "Emeralds or not, with Sonic back in the game, we'll find a way to win."
A small, knowing smile came to Knuckles face as he shrugged, "Guess that fight with that monstrosity knocked some sense into him."
Sonic and Tails were returned to the group as the azure hero finished saying" -say again: Sorry for clocking out like that. Bros?"
"Bros." agreed Tails as the friends fist-bumped. "Let me know if you find Cream. See ya."
"Will do. Come on you guys, let's roll!" Sonic, Knuckles, Amy left together as Tails and Rouge headed out on a mission of their own…
Author's Note:
So Team Heroes has one last shot to pull their act together. Will they make the most of it? Who knows! Heads up you guys, my posting is going to be slower than usual with finals coming up. But, I'll still try my best to post when I can. Until next time everyone, please read, review, and as always, enjoy!
