Chapter Eleven

Tails pulled a chair from the large mahogany meeting table and sat upon the soft red cushion. He then glanced at the various individuals seated nearby, noticing both old and new faces. This meeting came together a lot sooner than I'd thought it would...and I can't believe I forgot my pizza.

Of the familiar attendees, there was the leader of the Fort Dallas Division of the United Cyborg Hegemony, Oryn. He seemed somewhat nervous but otherwise well-composed. Part of the problem originated from the colossal amount of sugar that was still coursing its way through his system, which also caused his pupils to be dilated considerably. Seated a few spaces down from him was the leader of the New Lubbock Freedom Fighters, Elias Acorn, who was sitting there with a stolid countenance that was a quotidian feature for him when he reigned as the king of the former Acorn Kingdom. The rest of the group was either recognizable but still fairly unfamiliar, or simply unknown to the golden-orange fox. Odd, shouldn't Sally be here?

His silent question was answered when the brown-furred co-leader of the Freedom Fighters of Fort Dallas walked in from a different room and strolled to the front of the large table. Tails detected a large amount of distraught from her body language, which was undoubtedly a result of Sonic's condition as well as the conditions of the other Freedom Fighters.

Sally stood behind the seat and placed her hands on the back, then looked across the room at everyone present. "It's good to see all of you here. As you know, I have called this meeting to address the new and growing threat of Shauland's shapeshifting killdrones, but we are still awaiting the arrival of some newcomers who should be here very soon."

As if she had spoken a cue, the leader of the Drasco Mercenary Collective, Eddy Drasco, and a small cortege of five members from his group's upper echelon slowly walked into the room. He was a stout feline with a stripy dark gray and steel blue fur pattern, clad in an outfit consisting of a heavy denim jacket and jeans with a large combat belt, a brown ten-gallon hat comprised of oilskin leather, and black steel-toed combat boots.

Eddy gave a lopsided, toothy grin as he scanned the room with his striking green eyes, and spoke with a deep, gravelly voice that had a slight Southern accent. "I hope I'm not too late for the party."

Sally smiled back and clasped her hands in front of her. "Eddy Drasco. Just who we were expecting. Please, have a seat."

"A'yes'm." He and two of his crew promptly took their seats. The remaining three continued standing due to lack of seating.

Following that, Sally pulled out her chair and sat down. "Alright. First off, I believe it would be appropriate for the leaders to introduce themselves to Mr. Drasco and his associates in order to provide a less-anonymous atmosphere for them. Of course, I am Sally Acorn, co-leader of the Fort Dallas Freedom Fighters. My husband Sonic is currently recovering in medical and is thus unable to be here." The last few words were broken slightly, and she struggled to hold back the approaching tears. Her hand proceeded to extend toward Tails. "I also shouldn't overlook Tails—eh, Miles Prower, who regularly performs leadership duties for us."

Tails' facial expression showed a hint of surprise upon being called out considering he wasn't one of the leaders, but it flattered him nonetheless and caused a faint grin to appear. Sally then looked at the person sitting to her right and nodded once, commencing a chain of introductions.

"Oryn Zulch, United Cyborg Hegemony."

"Lexin Elgan, Mercia Defense Coalition."

"Todd Millers, Guardian Units of Nations."

"Bryce Genet, Global Firearms Alliance."

"Elias Acorn, New Lubbock Freedom Fighters."

"Jonah Noack, Insight Tactics and Techsystems."

"Cedric Fitzhugh, Cypress Securities International."

"Steven Nasworthy, Fourmile Communications and Logistics Group."

Eddy nodded once to each as they spoke as a gesture of respect. Once they had finished, he slackened his shoulders a bit before speaking. "As was already made known, I am Eddy Drasco. The two lovely ladies sitting next to me are my twin daughters, Stacy and Jessica, who serve on my advisory and strategic committee. Behind me is May Milburn, who is also on my advisory committee and will talk your arm off if she can corner you, and the two beefy feline statues you see to her left have chosen to remain unnamed."

Stacy sported a mostly steel blue color with stripes of lighter blue running horizontally across her face and down the back and sides of her slender body. Jessica was more of a sky blue and had black stripes. Both were in their early twenties and clad in denim raiment similar in style to their father's. They smiled but remained silent, though Stacy acted as if she was about to say something.

May, a full-figured light brown ring-tailed cat—actually related to raccoons rather than felines—also in her early twenties and sporting denim apparel, smiled brightly and spoke in a sweet and energetic voice with a much heavier Southern accent. "Sure glad ta meet y'all!"

The idea of having such a friendly new potential ally brought a warm smile to Sally's face and washed away some of her angst. "Good, now that introductions are out of the way, let us move on to our primary subject. I have called you all here to discuss the growing threat of Shauland's shapeshifting killdrones, known officially as Xenith25 ARVaGeF—All Range Variable Geometry Fighter. The proper name is amongst a multitude of other things we have recently discovered about them thanks to the information Miles pounded out of two Shaulandic officials."

Jonah adjusted his glasses while straightening his posture. The gray-and-white wolf seemed very pleased with the news. "This must mean you have found weaknesses?"

"Yes we have." She grabbed a small remote control and pressed a button, dimming the lights and activating a hologram projector in the center of the table. A detailed image of a Xenith25 promptly appeared. "There is a variety of ways to destroy or otherwise immobilize them, some simpler than others. We have compiled a list and will be sharing the file with you electronically. However, the best and previously unknown way to disable one is by subjecting it to a specific frequency of sound at a very high volume. This will severely damage certain internal components as well as disrupt some of its sensors, which will render the machine clumsy and unable to defend itself. If done while they are in aircraft mode, they will careen out of control and be destroyed upon impact with the ground or some other conveniently hard surface. A powerful specialized projection module for producing such sounds is under development. We will not only make large stationary versions to place around bases or on ships, we will also be making handheld and aircraft-mounted versions."

The three-dimensional Xenith projection began to animate, simulating a scenario where it was hit by a sound weapon, rendering it defenseless and open to a rocket attack.

Various nods and whispers followed as people saw that there was indeed a means of efficient defense against the ruthless Xeniths.

Bryce clasped his hands in front of him on the table and grinned. "What is the timeframe of development?"

"We expect a small prototype to be ready within an hour, and a much larger one to be ready within a day. Once they are proven against some Xeniths we salvaged from the last attack, we will begin manufacturing many more. Assistance in doing the latter would be greatly appreciated."

Jonah smiled. "Insight Tactics and Techsystems would be more than willing to lend its considerable resources to assist in manufacturing and distribution." His comment was responded to with pledges of support from the other leaders, and he wore a confident smirk as they spoke. Sally's expression brightened further.

Over the following thirty minutes or so, a few more questions were asked and answered before the meeting was adjourned. Some of the attendees returned to their sections of the large base complex while others stayed behind to talk with one another. Tails chose to stay because he was particularly interested in what Eddy had to say about the civilian incident.

The fox extended his hand upon reaching his person of interest. "Hello Mr. Drasco, Miles Prower."

Eddy grinned widely, then quickly—and very firmly—grasped Tails' hand and shook it, giving him an unexpected ride. "Howdy! I do believe you were amongst those who helped the Avenger out of that pickle a little while ago."

"Yes sir, I was." Good grief, this guy can shake a hand.

The robust feline released his powerful grip. "Well, I must extend a mighty big thanks to you and your men, as well as condolences for the unfortunate twist in events. Never thought they'd stoop that low."

Tails nodded and tried to ignore the unpleasant tingling in his hand, flexing it a few times. "Yes, and I made the captain and one of the higher-ups regret that decision. It's only the beginning for them, as well."

As Eddy expressed his approval, Stacy and Jessica broke away from another conversation and walked back into their father's immediate vicinity. What Tails had perceived as shyness earlier would soon be shot down, and Jessica was the first to extend her hand in greetings. "Ah, Miles! Glad to finally meet you!"

Tails grasped the dainty hand and smiled. "Good to meet you as well, and you all can call me Tails if you wish. That's how most people address me here."

Stacy subsequently extended her hand and offered her greetings, which Tails promptly and happily reciprocated. He was then taken by surprise when May hastily inserted herself into the group and snatched Tails' hand with her big amber eyes locked onto his. "Mr. Prower! Ah've heard s'much about you ever since ya helped our guys! All of'em expressed their gratitude an' talked for some time about your pro flyin' skills! Been lookin' forward ta meetin' ya!"

Almost overwhelmed by her friendly boisterousness, Tails smiled and slowly nodded once to the pudgy ringtail. "Eh, thank you! Glad to see someone with your enthusiasm!"

Eddy laughed. "Careful Tails, that enthusiasm fuels some long-winded discussions!"

"Aw, Ah don't talk THAT much!"

The following conversation lasted over an hour and a half and led to them sitting down again. Had she not started talking about engineering and mechanics around twenty minutes into the discussion, thereby inciting Eddy and Jessica to talk about their mechanical expertise, Tails would have been bored to tears.

Right as the conversation seemed like it was coming to a close, Tails' communicator began buzzing. He grabbed it from his belt and read a text message that had just been sent by Kaolin. "TAILSIEEEE!!! I got my new leg! Come see!" The fox grinned slightly. That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Sweet!

Tails grinned further and clipped the device back on his belt, then looked up at the others. "Well, this has certainly been a wonderful conversation, but I must go see my wife. May our allegiance thrive, and I hope to speak with you all again soon!"

The four responded in unison. "Likewise."

A few seconds later, Tails found himself walking down the hall toward the infirmary again. He smiled while thinking upon the conversation and how kind those people were, especially May. He was thrilled that there was a commonality between him, Eddy and Jessica—the love of mechanics. Jessica in particular caught his attention with her technobabble, and he felt a considerable bond forming between them, though it was only a brother-sister bond. There was no way on Mobius he would let another woman break his rock-solid relationship with Kaolin. Note to self: Avoid the cafeteria until Fiona has vacated it.

He made his way to Kaolin's room and carefully opened the door, then slowly walked inside. Kaolin's expression brightened by many orders of magnitude upon seeing him, and she hopped off of her white medical bed—much to her doctor's chagrin—and gave her surprised husband a bear-hug. "I'm so happy to see you! Look at my leg!" She then stepped back and stuck her right leg out, giving him a better view of the sleek robotic attachment.

"That's really cool! And...should you really be standing after that kind of surgery?"

Kaolin plopped back down on her bed with a lightly dampened countenance and shifted her gaze to the floor. "No, I really shouldn't. That actually kinda hurt...a lot..."—She looked back up with a smile—"but for you, it's totally worth it."

Tails grinned. "Heh, you don't have to hurt yourself."

Standing in a corner was the doctor, an older male feline of medium stature and build, who shook his head prior to speaking. "I did say to stay off it for awhile. It's going to take time for those nerves to settle down."

Kaolin whipped a sharp but playful glance back at the doctor. "You know I can't acquiesce that request." She stood again, though more slowly that time and careful to keep pressure on her good leg, then approached her husband once more and smiled, showing her repaired fang. "My tooth is fixed, too. Now let's go test it out on something to eat. I'm starving!"

Oh great, cafeter-...hmm. Her presence would make more of a point to Fiona if she's still there. He nodded. "I'm hungry too. Let's go!"

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Author's notes: Thank you again for reading, and please review! Chapter Twelve should be up in a few days.

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Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega
Kaolin, story, other original characters, countries and organizations, etc © NuclearCookout