Chapter 13: Surprise Attack

At about the same time, outside Frederick's compound…

"This ridge looks perfect." Sally said as she and Tails approached a ridge overlooking Frederick's compound.

Tails, as soon as they reached said ridge, went prone and took out a pair of binoculars, scanning the area. "Darn." Tails growled. "The back's guarded as well. Thankfully, not as much as the front."

"Can I take a look?" Sally asked as she held out her hand.

"Sure." Tails said as he handed the binoculars to Sally.

Sally looked through them, scowling at what she saw:

The rear of the compound was crawling with guards. Likely mercenaries that were paid regularly to keep Frederick well protected. Furthermore, they looked like they were looking around rather attentively. Clearly the mercenaries were well trained. Then again, they'd have to be, in order for no-one to get through their defences.

Sally turned to Tails and gave him the binoculars. "Cover me from here with your sniper." Sally said. "With luck, I should be able to cut the power to the automated defences. Then we can bring the others in and end this. While hopefully rescuing Roman and apprehending Frederick at the same time."

"Sounds good to me." Tails said as he took out his sniper and switched the barrel to a suppressed one, so to mask his shots and not draw attention.

Sally smiled and kissed Tails gently on the forehead and said: "Let's do it to it, Tails."

"Let's do it to it, Aunt Sally." Tails agreed, smiling. He proceeded to contact Sonic, who was in command of the Freedom Fighters who were waiting on Tails and Sally to take down the automated defences: "Speed Demon, this is Fox Five. Objective in sight. Future Queen is proceeding to take it down. Over."

"Got it, Fox Five." Came the voice of Speed Demon, aka Sonic. "We're waiting on you."

"I know." Tails said as he configured his sniper.

"Tell Future Queen to be careful. From what we can see, the place is crawling with Frederick's mercs." Sonic said.

"Will do, Speed Demon." Tails said as he closed the comm. Turning to Sally, Tails said: "Sonic says to be careful. Place is crawling with mercs."

"Tell me something I don't know." Sally said as she began to move towards the compound.

Tails frowned as he readied his rifle, keeping it trained on Sally. He found this useful, as it often helped him see targets close to Sally, thus being able to pick them off more easily.

Inside the Compound…

Blood burst from Roman's mouth as he took the next punch from Argo. The brutish rhinoceros may have been ugly, but he knew his way around his fists. Looking up, Roman said flatteringly: "Keep this up, I might bleed to death before Frederick executes me."

"Shut up, fucker." Argo spat as he punched Roman again, this time in the stomach.

Roman barely managed to tighten his abdominal muscles before the punch hit. Regardless, he felt it with a vengeance. The air exploded from Roman's lungs faster than Sonic could ever run, and the pain from the blow exponentially more so. Yet Roman gritted his teeth and looked Argo in the eyes. "The moment I'm free and my friends get here, your ass is first on my list."

"Yeah right." Argo said as he walked over to where he had an assortment of tools designed for beating people senseless: A pair of knuckle dusters, a wooden two-by-four, an aluminium baseball bat, a crowbar, and even a lead pipe. Out of these, he picked the knuckle dusters, placing them over his knuckles. Walking back over, he smashed Roman in the face again with considerable force.

Yet again, Roman tasted blood in his mouth, which he held in, and then spat in Argo's face.

Argo recoiled at the action, but then let out a cry of rage, seized the baseball bat, and nearly broke it over Roman's head with a considerable blow.

Roman nearly lost consciousness from the sheer force of the blow, but managed to keep conscious, looking back up at Argo with a brutal glare. "Is that all you've got?" Roman asked as fresh blood began to pour down his head from a newly opened cut on his head.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, motherfucker." Argo spat as he made to smash the baseball bat again over Roman's head. He would have done, had Roman not asked:

"Are you seriously trying to kill me before Frederick executes me?" He inquired. "Because I'm certain he wouldn't be happy if you had to explain to him that I died because of your beating of me."

"What the boss doesn't know won't hurt him." Argo said darkly as he reared back with the baseball bat. He would have smashed Roman over the head again had a calm, authorative voice said:

"Stop."

Argo turned around to see his employer standing there, staring at him patiently. "Boss." Argo said.

Roman tilted his head to one side and smirked a bloody smile. "Frederick. I was wondering if you would show your ass anytime soon. I'd do anything to be liberated from this rhino that smells like a skunk."

"Glad to hear you're happy to see me." Frederick growled. "But I assure you, it will not be for long."

"It time already?" Roman said.

"Indeed." Frederick said. Turning to Argo, Frederick said: "Untie and bring him to the main courtyard. His time has come."

With Sally…

Hiding behind a rock, Sally eyed a nearby guard, standing sentinel over the small pass before him that led to the back entrance of Frederick's compound. Contacting Tails, she said: "Fox Five, I've got a tango nearby. Take him out."

"Already on it." Tails affirmed. Almost instantly, Sally heard a quiet blast, followed by a loud splat, signalling that the guard nearby had met a sticky end. Going to move towards the entrance, she heard the two sounds again.

"There was another guard just in front of the boulder you're hiding behind." Tails explained. "His brains are mush now."

"Good to know." Sally replied semi-sarcastically as she left her hiding spot, quickly jumping over the gate and hiding just in time for a guard to go past. "This one's mine." Sally said quietly to Tails via comms before sneaking up on the guard, silently activating one of her ring blades and impaling the guard quietly with it. Once her target was dead, she noiselessly dragged the guard behind cover before looking out from her hiding spot. Moving to the corner on her left, Sally saw that there were far less guards, and more cover to sneak around behind. Approaching the nearest guard, she hid behind a pile of crates, contacting Tails to say: "Take out the guard further most from me. That'll distract the others long enough for me to strike."

This order was met with deadly precision, as quickly afterwards, the guard furthermost from Sally toppled to the floor, a neat little hole in the middle of his head, and the majority of his skull and cranial matter.

As Sally had anticipated, the guards in front of her turned to see what was going on. Taking advantage, Sally closed on them both like a phantom, killing them both with ease. After she had made these two kills, she hid them behind cover, as well as the guard Tails had sniped from his vantage point. Then, moving towards the wall of the main building, Sally secreted herself around a corner of the complex, looking around the corner. The cluster of guards she had spotted earlier had broken up somewhat. And one guard was close to her, having moved away from the group in order to smoke a deathstick. Sally looked towards Tails' perch, gesturing as if to say: "I got this, before quickly but silently moving in on the guard, and with a deft movement, broke his neck and hid him behind some nearby cover, while hiding there herself. Contacting Tails, Sally asked: "The cluster's cleared up a little bit. Mind taking a few of them out?"

With Tails…

"Thought you'd never ask." Tails replied as he eyed one guard that had separated from the main gathering of guards for a quick pee. Using his rifle scope to zero in on the Mobian's head, Tails pulled the trigger. Instantly, he heard the smooth report of the rifle as its suppressed barrel silently released the lethal bolt, and felt the familiar kick against his shoulder. The bolt soon found its mark, reducing the guard's head to little more than mush. Turning away from that kill, Tails eyed another guard. Closer to the others than Tails would have preferred, but still far enough away to be taken out without the others noticing. His corpse soon fell to the floor, with little to nothing left of the head. Switching targets, Tails now had his sniper trained on the group's main leader. Contacting Sally, Tails reported: "I've got a bead on the patrol's main leader. I take him out, it'll throw the guards into enough confusion for you to come in take them all out."

"Sounds risky, but if you do this right, it could just about work." Sally said.

Tails stuck out his tongue in concentration as he zoomed his scope in on the leader's head. The shot needed to be as quick as he could, but also timed absolutely perfectly. If he took the shot at the wrong time, he could screw up the mission entirely. He had to do it at exactly the right time to throw the others into a state of confusion sufficient enough to allow for Sally to take them all out. So patiently, he waited. Waited for the perfect opportunity to take out the lead guard, and throw the others into a state of confusion. A few years of being the Freedom Fighter's resident marksman and sniper had taught him the value of patience. He was patient enough, but to be a sniper, he had to be patient. Soon, after a few minutes of waiting, he saw a window. All of the guards had their attention diverted from the leader. Tails smiled, and pulled the trigger.

The lead guard's head completely exploded as he was thrown back a few metres.

As expected, all the guards started looking around, with one looking like he was about to call for backup.

"Future Queen, take them down!" Tails nearly shouted into his comm.

Back to Sally…

Sally sprinted out of cover and closed with the first guard instantly, activating both of her ring blades and beheading the guard instantly.

The other guards all turned their weapons on her, but she ducked as two on opposite sides fired, letting their shots kill each other. Turning to one next to her, she cut him down with a swipe before she found her arms grabbed from behind. Promptly, Sally's leg found its way between the legs of the person who grabbed her. A loud violated groan found its way to her ears, just as she turned around and kicked the Mobian that had grabbed her in the head. Seeing another raise his blaster, she cartwheeled out of the way and then landed a spinning roundhouse kick to that guard's head, knocking them out. Finally, she turned to the guard that until she had arrived, been about to call for backup. Walking towards him, she promptly decked him, just as Tails approached.

"Nice job, Sally." Tails remarked.

"Thanks Tails." Sally said. "Now to take down those automated defences so that Sonic and the others can get in."

"Actually, Sally, I have a better idea." Tails said. "How about we use Nicole to hack into the system and take over the entire automated defence system? We can then use it to clear out large groups of hostiles."

Sally smiled at Tails before saying gently: "I knew I brought along for a reason." She cooed as she kissed him on the nose.

"I thought we stopped doing the Funny Kiss years ago." Tails said.

Sally giggled before walking up to the power box they had seen. Taking out Nicole, Sally plugged her into the box and asked: "Nicole, could you possibly use this to get into their systems and take over their automated defences?"

"It's worth a try, Sally." Nicole said as she complied, using the power box she was connected to as a conduit to get into the system.

A few tense minutes followed, but soon, Nicole's face appeared, on her screen, smiling:

"I'm in, Sally. The firewalls Frederick's installed put up a fight, but I'm in control now."

"Awesome." Sally said. Contacting Sonic, She said: "Speed Demon, this is Future Queen. Hologram has taken over the automated defences. You may begin your approach."

"Timing couldn't be better, Future Queen." Sonic replied.

"Why's that, Speed Demon?" Sally inquired.

"Looks like the main event's about to begin. We're effectively out of time."

With Roman…

Roman looked up to find Frederick already waiting for him, a tearful Ashley bound and gagged at his side. Roman gave her a gentle nod, saying: It's okay.

"Keep moving, runt." Argo growled as he shoved Roman forwards.

Roman fell flat on his face, but under his own power, he got to his feet, shooting Argo a glare that would send most men walking the other way. Suddenly, Roman felt the presence of a few people through the Force, adopting a confident smile on his face. The Freedom Fighters, the vulpine Jedi thought. Finally directly in front of Frederick, he was stopped, and forced to his knees. Looking around, Roman remarked: "So, I'm guessing by my presence here, you're planning on killing me in front of all your men?"

"Yes. Because you shall serve as an example to any who would cross me and openly attack me." Kneeling down to Roman's level, Frederick said: "Normally, I would say that it's nothing personal and that it's the price of business, but, this is not one of those days."

Roman made to respond, and would have done, had a bowie knife not found its way up to the hilt into his stomach. Roman grimaced visibly from it, alerting Ashley:

"NO!" Ashley shrieked as the realisation hit her.

Frederick drew Roman into an almost fatherly embrace before twisting the knife, causing Roman to cry out in pain, finally drawing it out from Roman's gut, doing so slowly.

As Frederick did this, Roman gritted his teeth, so that Ashley wouldn't have to hear his pain.

Finally, Frederick drew the knife out, and pushed Roman onto his side.

Roman fell to the floor, the bottom of his shirt already soaked with blood.

Ashley made to avert her eyes from the scene, but Frederick forced her to look.

"Now do you realise what happens when you defy me?" Frederick snarled as he turned to watch as Roman slowly bled.

Ashley stared at her father with a glare so withering that were it a weapon, Frederick would have received a fatal wound.

Roman managed to slip his hands free from the rope tied loosely around his wrists, pressing both to his gut as he tried to staunch the fountaining blood. Turning onto his other side, he spotted Sally and Tails, both watching with tearful eyes. His face hardening, Roman gave them both a curt nod. Now, the nod said.

With Sally and Tails…

Upon seeing this gesture, Sally took Roman's lightsaber from her belt and handed it to Tails. "Get this to Roman. I have little doubt he needs it."

"Okay, Aunt Sally." Tails said as he took the lightsaber from Sally's hands and attached it to his own belt. Promptly, the eleven year old vulpine headed towards Roman, making sure not to attract attention.

Getting out Nicole, Sally said: "Nicole, activate the automated defence system. Time to throw these boys into a state of confusion."

"Will do Sally." Nicole said, just as Frederick began to advance on Roman.

"And now," Frederick declared, "to remove your heart." At this, he made to cut Roman's chest open.

Ashley shut her eyes tightly, determined not to watch as her father cut out her boyfriend's heart.

Just as Frederick began to cut into Roman's chest, the sound of whirring came to his ears. "What the devil?" Frederick said as suddenly, the sound of heavy repeaters flaring to life came across his ears. Looking up from what he was doing, he saw his men falling to… The automated defences! Frederick made to get up, but was forced down by Alec.

"Wait until it's over, sir." Alec advised. Soon after, the barrage was finished, and both heard a resonant voice:

"Frederick the Fox!" Sally called out as she revealed herself. "You stand accused of countless crimes, including the murder of Sir Richard the Fox and his household. Today, you answer for your crimes. Freedom Fighters, attack!"

Frederick looked up to see the other Freedom Fighters leap from hiding and attack the remaining guards.

Alec, realising the gravity of the situation, said: "Sir! We need to leave!"

"No!" Frederick snapped. "Not without Ashley or Roman!" Turning to where Ashley was being restrained, Frederick stormed over and grabbed her, dragging her towards him and Alec. "Now, where's Roman?" Frederick snarled, before seeing Tails helping Roman to his feet, giving him something.

Roman thanked Tails before turning to face Frederick, moving towards him while slightly hunched over, a result of his wound.

Frederick laughed. "How do you think you can possibly face me and Alec while wounded? You're unarmed."

Roman smirked and raised the object out so that Frederick could see it better. "Like I said in our first conversation Frederick: There's a lot you don't know about me." At this, he ignited his lightsaber, holding it at the ready.

Two words: Oh. Yeah.

Apart from that, please leave your reviews, and May the Force be with you. Always.

T-Rock14