Hello everyone, hope life is treating you well.

I apologize for the traverse train wreck that was the last chapter. I feel I rushed it, and that it could have been done better. Not so sure about this one either… there's a particular seen that I feel I botched, but I cannot figure out how to improve it for the life of me.

Sigh.

Regardless of my current writing problems, I hope that you enjoy the few good parts that this chapter may entail, and those of you who have read this have my thanks. To those of you who have reviewed, I sincerely hope I have responded adequately.

Lawyers: You know the bloody drill by now, I should not have to keep repeating this.

That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter

&

Within Oneself

The hover cycle rushed across the open plains. The wind tore at the rider, teased at his belt and harness, tried to rip his weapons from his back. But it could find no purchase on the power armor that Sonic wore.

The wind, however, was the least of his worries.

A flash in his mind warned him, and he threw himself down in his seat as a white hot energy bolt lanced over his head. He glanced back over his shoulder. The six of them were still back there, had hung onto him since he'd left the burning remnants of the supply convoy behind more than two hours ago. They had doubtless been surprised to see him, as their stealth units could not be detected by Mobian sensors. However, there was little technology could do to prevent something like himself from sensing them.

He was just grateful they hadn't figured out how to attach those jammers and visual cloaking units to aircraft yet.

He mentally saluted the Clones that were behind him. They were good, very good… and he knew why. The distinctive ridges along the tops of their helmets, the movements between the formation, almost like the squad was telepathically linked to one another. He was up against Cuy'val Dar. Just his luck that the convoy would be guarded by a squadron of those guys.

Another burst of automatic vehicle fire came in over his shoulder, and the ARC trooper found himself having to frantically dodge to try and get out of the way. He snarled and his eyes narrowed behind the holographic screen of his helmet. There had to be some way to shake these guys or put them out of the fight. He had to get back to the base, and he had to get back there now.

He saw something off on the dark horizon, and in a flash his visor had zoomed in. A crooked smile made its way over the hedgehog's face as he thought of a plan. He twisted his steering bars, shifted his weight, and the bike rushed off towards its new destination.

The super commandos behind him stayed on his six o'clock like a pack of feral wolves. Their shots came within hairbreadths of hitting him, while one or two of them actually did manage to connect. Thankfully, his shields were up to the task of protecting his body.

"Come on, that's it, keep coming like that," he whispered as he stared down at the sensor readouts on the bike. He chuckled for a moment and almost shook his head. "Let's see if they taught you how to do this in training."

A minute or two passed, as they streaked along, it quickly became obvious what the cyborg's plans were. A thick forest could be seen in the distance, not as large or as thick as the massive, multi-hundred kilometer Great Forest, but still large enough that it would offer an excellent place to hide.

Sonic felt inward, closed his eyes, let himself stretch out. As the first of the trees streaked past, he began to dodge and weave about. Events flickered in his mind, warnings of what would occur seconds before they did.

The Cuy'Val Dar were right behind him.

They entered the woods, dodging and weaving about on their own hover bikes. Like ghosts, they flickered through the trees, the engines of their vehicles screaming like banshees. It would have been textbook suicide to run vehicles at the speeds they were in such an environment. But they were not ordinary soldiers.

Sonic saw it and ducked as one pulled up next to him, whipped out her jurkadir, and let fly. Between the trees and the bolts, he opted to allow the latter to hit him, and the crackling of his shields echoed through the forest as two of the bolts hit. Sonic fought the urge to grow, though silently he was amazed at how well the trooper could aim considering they were on speeding bikes in a concentrated forest, and she was forced to aim with a single hand.

He hated the thought that this was going to be either him or them.

Shots came from his right and from behind. They had gotten him into a cross fire, and between that and the trees, he knew he had to find a clearing, fast, or they would either pigeon hole him, or he'd turn into a fiery smear on the side of one of the local flora.

A shot from behind zoomed over head, missed him by a handspan. The energy bolt connected with the tree in front of him and exploded. Splinters flew away, deadly shrapnel to those who were not armored, but it merely pinged off the bikes and the soldiers involved.

As he left he explosion behind, he heard the whoompsh of the tree hitting the ground, and the ear ringing cracks and snaps that accompanied it. He growled again, before his eyes widened and a smile came over his face.

Ahead of him was a clearing, and as he blasted out into it, he slammed on the brakes of his craft. Retro rockets and air brakes worked together to take him from triple digit speeds down to almost nothing in seconds, and he had to hold on tight to avoid being flung off of his cycle. He kicked the bike around and drew a kaiburr sword, igniting it in a flash.

The first of the Cuy'val Dar soldiers came through and the canon mounted underneath the hover cycle fired off a five shot burst. It was a flurry of movents that protected Sonic, sending the bolts into the ground or sky. Meter wide craters erupted and another tree fell as he leapt off his still moving machine.

He focused, all of his will and concentration bent to the task at hand. The blade and himself were one, and the target grew ever closer. Ten meters… close enough.

Sonic threw himself to the right and hit the ground shoulder first. He balled up and lashed out just at the front of the bike started to pass over his head. Wires and circuitry were vaporized as the energy blade hit them. ARC trooper rolled out of the way, and he could hear the machine start to whine in protest as the driver lost control of it.

Then he heard the sound of jet exhaust and looked back over his shoulder. The hover cycle hit a tree and erupted into a roaring fireball. The Cuy'val Dar, though, was still alive. Up in the air, he aimed his left wrist at him and a grenade went flying.

The explosive detonated. Fire and shrapnel flew everywhere. Sonic's temperature gauge spiked and he felt the pieces of supersonic metal ping off of his shields. He couldn't spare a glance, though, as two more Neo Crusaders came flying in at that moment. With a growl, he snatched his fist to the side, and both of the soldiers flew off of their vehicles and hit the dirt.

The bikes continued onwards and streaked through the clearing until they hit a patch of trees further away. Fire and smoke blossomed up into the air, lightning up the glade. The Clone, though, stopped much sooner. He could see the furrows that they'd plowed through the dirt, and they lay limp and unmoving at the end of them. They were not dead, he could still feel life flowing through them, but they would not be an issue any longer.

The other three came in, their guns blazing. Sonic was prepared, though, and ducked and dodged about. His speed and reflexes were too great for them to hit with their fixed weapons, and he smirked as they streaked to the end of the glade and dismounted. The four that remained stood where they were, their weapons leveled at him. Still, no one pulled a trigger of moved a muscle. A slight breeze took that moment to whistle through the clearing, and the ARC trooper closed his eyes and focused within himself yet again. The calmness came to him far more easily now. He thought he saw Sally and Saria smile at him from within his mind. Then a chill swept over him.

What would his daughter think, when Sally finally told her? That her father had killed so many… that he continued to do so.

He stared back at the Clones, and his thoughts drifted to them. They weren't any different from him. Slaves, unable to even realize that they were being used by a machine. He felt the same revulsion welling up inside of himself again. The only consolation that the hedgehog had was that the helmets they wore prevented him from having to look into their eyes and faces as he killed them. If only…

…wait… perhaps there was another way.

His caster was up and his second blade out in a flash as a single thought changed the course of the battle. Blue pulses streaked from the twin barrels as he rushed in towards the Crusaders. They saw him coming and scattered, jetting up and around into the air with their rifles spitting purple death down at him. There was a bigger one as well, armed with a repeater. Top priority.

The caster realigned itself with a thought, and a barraged of bolts were headed for him. He maneuvered out of the way, though, and his larger gun returned the favor. Sonic dashed out of the way as he aimed and fired. In the split second that he'd moved, dozens of rounds connected with the dirt. Earth flew, glass formed, and steam rose. The Clone adjusted his angle and another spray came. Bolts connected, his shields flared, dropped to redline and began to fail in a matter of seconds.

Again he dashed away, frantic to try and give himself a chance to recharge his defenses. Again he cursed his lack of speed, wished he could still run as he used to be able to. Still, he couldn't let that get him down. Not now. Too much to worry about that was just a tad more pressing.

Prickling in his mind and he dropped to the ground and rolled to the right as buster rockets flew over his head. They exploded at the far end of the clearing, and the only warning that sounded was the cracking of the trees as they fell haphazardly about. Again, the five combatants scattered. As the fight resumed, though, Sonic noticed something: the Cuy'val Dar were more cautious, not as aggressive. A quick, snapping glance over his shoulder showed him what he needed to see. He was nearly in line with the two downed soldiers. A smile formed on his face once again, grim and determined.

A thirty foot leap into the air put him where he needed to be. They were behind him, their comrades in front. The rifles flew upwards a split second before they were to fire, and the hedgehog could feel the turmoil that boiled within the four soldiers.

The standoff lasted for five seconds before the Neo Crusaders slapped their weapons onto their backs and went for their zhabokas. The telescopic vibro blades were out and melee distance closed within seconds. Energy blades and vibrating neosteel connected a moment later.

The battle was a blur as one of them swung at his head, another at his legs, and the remaining two attempted to skewer him from behind. Sonic found himself having to work frantically to swat the blades away and keep them from himself.

The Clones were fast, the Clones were strong. A blade connected on the back portion of the Aratech suit. Shields crackled and flared, and the gauge dropped. The energy field around the metal blades was proving to be surprisingly adept at slicing through his defenses.

He lashed backwards, thrust his leg out and attempted to send the commando flying. The trooper ducked, though, and the next thing Sonic knew he felt his leg being grabbed. He pushed off of the ground and flipped around though the air. Had his bones been normal, such a move would have given him a broken ankle. As it was, the Clone sailed towards his comrades.

The trooper tried to ball up and twist about, but he didn't have enough time to avoid the barrage of blue tinted beams that hit him. The fusillade overcame his defenses, and he hit the ground, stunned senseless.

Another blade streaked in, and only a split second twist enabled the cybernetic hedgehog to avoid the blow. He flipped one of his kaiburr swords around and slammed the butt end of it into the Cuy'val Dar's chestplate. The Clone gave an audible grunt and stumbled backwards just a bit. He tried to follow through, ducked down and attempted to sweep the soldier's legs out from underneath her. She managed to jump out of the way and narrowly avoid the hit.

Sonic flipped up, brought his other leg in for a vicious roundhouse. The targeted Clone never saw it coming, and was stretched out on the forest floor with the powerful blow caught him. The ARC trooper vaulted up into the air and spun over the two remaining ones, as stun rounds left his caster once again and ensured that the trooper stayed down.

The larger of the two remaining soldiers attempted to rush the hedgehog, and his dual blade weapon clashed against the energy blades in a furious contest of strength and speed. The blows came swift and strong, and they were soon joined by the Cuy'val Dar's companion.

Two hits struck him, glancing blows off of an arm and a leg, but it still brought a growl of frustration from the hedgehog. He'd spent too much time in training against Shadow when it came to melee. Facing a single opponent of equal or greater skill was one thing, but facing a greater number of almost as skilled adversaries was something else. He'd have to correct that when he got back.

The two zhabokas came in again, one at waist height, the other one at chest level. He would have leapt backwards but for his powers. The momentary heads up gave him all the warning he needed for him to try something insane.

He jumped and twisted sideways. The blades went over and under him, and Sonic imagined that he could see the surprised look on each of the trooper's faces as they realized what he had done.

They were good. They realized their error and attempted to correct it. They weren't fast enough to match him though. He lashed out and punched one of them dead in the face. Her head flew backwards and her body came up off the ground. For a moment, her body glove was exposed, and the ARC trooper seized the moment.

His caster fired three stun rounds into her and when she hit the ground she was limp as a rag doll. Overkill perhaps, considering the range and the fact that the portion of her suit had been unarmored, but these were the elite of the enemy soldiers.

Sonic dropped one blade and it deactivated as it hit the ground and without even turning, caught the other Clone's weapon around the staff-like hilt. He ripped the zhaboka towards him and brought his knee up to smash it into the man's gut.

The Clone let go, but to his surprise, Sonic did not fall backwards, as if he had known what he was about to do. In a flash, he'd ejected his thek'la dagger and whipped out his repeater. He knocked the kaiburr sword aside with it and fired a burst of shots at point blank range. His adversary managed to twist out of the way and in a flash had kicked the gun out of his hand. A pistol was in it faster than most could have realized.

Blue stunner rounds screamed by his head and he only just managed to duck. He got the pistol around, fired two shots, and then found it sliced off at the barrel by a pair of vibro claws. Two hits across the face so fast that he never saw them coming. He stumbled backwards, felt the first of the stun rounds hit his armor. They were special, not like the brute force energy transfer of a normal shot, his armor couldn't protect him against them quite as well. He was still trained to resist that kind of thing, though. Five shots hit, a normal Mobian would have been down. He lunged forward, lashed out with his knife again. Ten shots, his eyes felt droopy, like they were made of steel. A hand caught his, a grip strong as iron. Fifteen, he swung again with his free hand.

Twenty, the last thing he remembered was another hand catching his own.

Sonic let out a sigh as his foe slumped into his arms.

"Regular little Rambo, aren't you?" said to himself as he sent a neural transmission to his ship.

The LAAT came roaring in a few minutes later and descended into the shattered clearing. As he loaded the downed Clones into the drop ship, Sonic found his mind of two parts. His heart was filled with hope that maybe, just maybe, he'd found a better way. On the other hand… if this didn't work…

He activated his long range comlink and hoped that Sally was alone right now.

Sally knocked upon the door. A few seconds later it opened, and a canine face emerged from the darkness within. Antoine brought a finger to his lips and slipped outside.

"Your timing is impeccable, princess, I was just leaving," he said as he closed the door behind him. "Bunnie's still asleep, as is Guy."

"Little late in the day for that, isn't it?" She arched an eyebrow.

"They've both been a little under the weather the past couple of days. Guy's got a cold and Bunnie seems to have caught a stomach bug." He shrugged. "What were you going to ask her?"

"You know me too well Antoine." A smile made its way to her face as she started to walk down the corridor. "I was hoping she'd help me find Uncle Chuck. I need to talk to him about something. You?"

"I was heading down to the library to study up on Mandalorians." His tone was sober, and the smile had left his face and eyes. "I need to know all I can about them… I know these Neo Crusaders are going to throw every curveball they can at me." He looked over to her. "You've had more experience with them than I have… can you tell me anything about them?"

"They're good… and very hard to kill." She said as they approached a turbo lift. They summoned it and the door opened. "I hope the mega-corps are up to mass producing more advanced weaponry."

"They are," the coyote replied as he pressed a button for one of the basement levels. "They've already begun turning out new prototypes that they'd been working on. Had the plans and everything but didn't produce them because they didn't think there would be a market." He turned and looked at her though, and there was a strange look in her eyes. "But I've been meaning to ask you something, princess. How did you escape?"

"What?" She felt a stab of anxiety go through her as they stepped off. "What are you talking about."

"St. John's been poking around, trying to question Bunnie about exactly how you managed to get away from hundreds of thousands of born and bred killing machines all by yourselves." He looked at her. "He's got a hunch, and so have I. How did she find you? How did she know how to beat them, evade them, and all that?" He placed a gentle hand on hers. "Sally, people were so relieved to have you and Saria back in one piece at first that they didn't care, but that skunk's too nosy for his own good… and he's terribly ambitious. I don't know what he'll do with that kind of information, but I wouldn't like it. Who helped you escape?"

"I…" she trailed off.

The lights flickered for a second, and a scream echoed throughout the corridor.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and then took off in the direction of the yell. It had been relatively close, emanated out from one of the old sublevel labs that had been out of use for years.

The scream came again, out of a door no more than a dozen yards ahead on their right.

Antoine's cybernetic arm made short work of the door and they were inside a moment later. To their surprise, the lights were on, and none other than Sir Charles had his back to them. There was a large instrument panel in front of him, but they couldn't see what it was he was operating.

"Goddess, that stung, Charles." A tired, pain filled voice came from out of the darkness.

"Well, I warned you it was going to hurt and I offered you some painkiller, but you wouldn't have any of that, now then would you?" The hedgehog sounded gruff. "The scans are reading as normal, but I need to make a few tweaks to make certain that it stays permanent and you don't revert to your base state."

"You might have warned me it was going to hurt that much."

"Your body just got rearranged on the sub atomic level! What did you think it was going to feel like?" He shouted to the darkness.

"What is going on here?" Sally asked, a flutter of something she couldn't quite identify moved around her stomach and up her spine.

Sir Charles whirled around, his long moustache flying. His eyes widened, and then seemed to burn with shame. He lowered his head to the ground and turned back to what he had been dealing with.

"I'm sorry, Sally, I really am… but he insisted…"

"Who insisted upon what?" Antoine asked, a bit of his French accent back in his voice.

"I insisted upon this." The other voice said. There was a certain tone to it… something neither had heard in almost a decade.

There was a hiss from the darkness, the sound of something as it rose up and a pressure seal was broken. Then a clanking noise, the sound of metal upon metal. A flash, a gleam. Gold photoceptors that burned with a light.

Sally trembled and stepped backwards. "Sir Charles, you didn't…"

"I'm afraid I did." He bowed his head and shook it.

"At my insistence."

Sally and Antoine both gasped as the being stepped into the light. It was… or had been… Derrick. Metal shone were flesh should have been, and servos where once had been joints. His eyes stared forward… eerie, unblinking. There was a smile on his mechanized face though.

"I fee like I'm twenty again," he said, awe in his tone as he flexed his hand.

"Derrick…" Sally couldn't find words.

He looked over to her, and the smile lessened, but did not disappear. "I know what you're thinking, but do not worry, I will not become a slave. Sir Charles has seen to that."

"I managed to break down a Power Ring and feed it in with the energy beams. He's completely machine… but with that and a little bit of programming, he'll remain himself." The old hedgehog's voice was grave, though, despite the success.

"But your very humanity!" Antoine exclaimed.

Derrick glared at him. "What good was it to me? My flesh was weak, failing. Now," he stared down into his metallic palm, "now it is made anew… strong… strong enough to rise… one last time. Strong enough to fight the enemies of my people, and my friends." He turned to face Sally and then kneeled at her feet. "Princess, this Death Watchman's life, services, and skills are at your disposal."

She rocked back, her eyes wide and her hands trembling.

"Might I suggest, if I may be so bold, princess, that I be sent to oversee a division of troop training?" Derrick raised his head to meet her eyes. "I can be of most use there. I do not sleep, I do not eat, and I will not tire. And I think I am the most qualified individual to prepare your soldiers for the coming storm."

Sally's eyes shifted about for a second, and she chewed her bottom lip. For some moments she stayed like that, before a change came over her. Her eyes began to burn with cold fire, she stood a little straighter and she brought Nicole into her hands.

"Nicole, bring up file number two-four-eight." She pulled out the little stylus that she had for the AI as it flashed to life. Her hand blurred across the screen for a minute or so before she finally put down the stylus. She looked down at Derrick, and with a gesture bid him to rise.

"I've created a Combat Service Vista for you… Master Sergeant Ordo. Return to your home, and make what preparations you need. When you return, there will be an official commission for you… to the Station Square garrison." She looked him dead in what had once been his golden eyes. "Look after Tails…"

"I won't hold him back, so don't ask me to, but I will prepare him as best I can, princess, I swear to that." His face was somber, but a smile still tugged at the edges of it. "Should take me a day or two to get ready. I need to make adjustments to my armor and prep my weapons."

He walked forward and placed his arms around her shoulders. Sally could feel the strength behind the metal, as his grip was tight, but not painfully so. "Whatever you do, please, don't think of this as some great sacrifice on my part… I wanted this. Jaster, Brianna, all the others, they're in danger and they don't even know it. I will not stand by and watch my people be enslaved by a power mad tyrant."

With that, he nodded to each of them, and walked passed what was left of the doorway.

Sir Charles turned back to the console. "I'd better shut this abomination down… Goddess… I hope I never have to do that again." He shuddered, and his quills stood up on end.

"I think I'll just run along to the library now," Antoine said. His face was pale underneath his fur, and he seemed somewhat shaken by what he had just born witness to.

Sally and Uncle Chuck were left alone. The princess tried to swallow, to wet her suddenly dry mouth. It finally hit her, what she'd just born witness to. She felt a shudder work itself over her. Had the whole world gone mad? A power hungry super soldier sought to dominate the planet, all that stood in his way right now was the courage of a single individual who was both the man she loved and a former killing machine. A group of people that had risked their lives for their cause had been ostracized for no other reason than the blood that flowed in their veins had finally had enough, and turned upon them…

…And now someone had just voluntarily relinquished any semblance of normalcy and roboticized himself.

"What is Mobius coming to?" She muttered, as she remembered what her reason for being here. "You nearly through shutting everything down, Uncle Chuck?" She shuddered again as she remembered what she was in proximity to… the time when she herself had nearly been turned into a mindless slave.

"Yeah, why, Sally... You ready to throw me in the slammer?" His tone was bitter, full of a self loathing that she hadn't heard since he'd told them about the ARC project.

"I guess… if he wanted it…"

"Wanted it? Sally, there was a look in his eyes that was frightening," the old scientist looked over at her. "There was a desperation, there. There's something going on inside of his head that he hasn't shared with us yet… something… almost fanatical."

"He wants to die in battle…" She lowered her eyes towards the ground. The thought of Derrick, Tails' godfather, the man who'd saved her life, gone… she didn't want to think about it.

She shook her head, got her mind back on track, there were more important things to worry about. Sonic had seemed nervous when he'd called her.

"When you're done," she paused. How to explain the unexplainable? "I need you to come with me, there's something I need your help with.

"This early in the day?" His brow furrowed as he gave her a look. "Must be awfully important."

"You have no idea," She said as she brought a hand up to her face. "At any rate, meet me and Saria on landing pad D in fifteen minutes."

"The Royal family's private launch pad? Am I to understand that we're going off without escort?" His jaw hung low as he finished the statement, so low that Sally wondered how he had managed to avoid dislocating his jaw.

"Yes, now hurry up, we're needed."

"Must be awfully important," he repeated under his breath, before he turned back to shutting down the roboticizer.

He paused for a second and stared down at them. His fur felt filthy, unclean, after what he'd just done. He'd roboticized someone. True, Derrick had all but threatened him with bodily harm to get him to go through with it. Nonetheless, even starring at that abomination had brought back most unpleasant memories. He shook his head, and a broken sob came from his throat.

He had been responsible for Julian's rise to power, and now he'd just done something that the tyrant had so enjoyed doing.

First the ARC project, now this, all in the name of victory. Where did he draw the line? Where did he stop himself?

Only the knowledge that it would have been most indignant of him to do so stopped Derrick Ordo from skipping home like a schoolboy. Joy such that he had not know since he'd first become a father filled his heart, and despite his new bodyweight, he felt light as a feather.

It had worked! Against all odds, he had a new body, one that was strong, fast, and sturdy. He flexed his hands again, hands that were now strong enough to grip his rifle and his zhaboka without trembling, arms that were not riddled with traitorous cells trying to destroy him, and a chest cavity that would never be short of breath.

Of course, there was a slight cost. People, early morning joggers, children on their way to school, stopped and stared. Some pointed, turned to others and whispered in soft undertones. The youngest of the children recoiled in pure terror, tears of horror and fear beginning to form in their eyes. Still, the Mandalorian took no notice of that. It was only natural, he supposed. He brought back bad memories and horrifying accounts and stories, more than likely. They would come to understand.

And even if they didn't, the artic fox had more to worry about than public approval. He was a Mandalorian after all, and even while normal, had never been accepted by the neighbors, except for Amadeus, Rosemary, and Tails.

As he drew closer to that residential sector, the people thinned out. No one around here was up yet. A thought, small and innocent, ran through what had once been his brain. His grin widened, and he looked around to see if there was anyone else watching.

No one.

He broke out into a sprint. The wind howled in his audio receptors, rushed over his metallic skin. He had to restrain the whoop of joy that threatened to burst out of his chest. Running for the sake of running; how many years had it been? Ten, twenty, thirty? Didn't matter now, he could do it again.

He saw the complex where he lived grow closer, and his smile would have grown wider if it could have. Amadeus was out getting the morning newspaper, a cup of coffee in his hand. Derrick wasn't sure if it was the movement, or something else, but the other fox suddenly turned his direction.

His mechanized brain would forever remember the look of shock on his friend's face.

The Mandalorian came to a stop a few feet in front of Amadeus, and waited for the shock to settle in. He knew he shouldn't have done this, it was unprofessional, but for some reason he felt unusually giddy.

"Good morning, ner vod," he brought two fingers up to his forehead and tapped them against it. "Looks like it's going to be a lovely day."

Amadeus' jaw opened and shut several times, his eyes widened; his hands trembled, nearly spilling the mug. "Derrick?" he finally wheezed out.

"In the flesh… so to speak." The smile remained plastered upon his face. "How do I look?"

"What have you…" Amadeus began, and then the realization dawned upon him. "You're going back, aren't you? Back to the front lines?"

"I'll be shipping out in a couple of days for Station Square. Her majesty has decided I'd be best put to use training the troops to fight the Neo Crusaders."

"I see… I should have known you'd do something crazy like this." the fox gave a weary smile , looked down towards the ground, tapped his foot for a few seconds, and then motioned for Derrick to follow him. "I know it's kind of irrelevant, now anyways… but would you care to join me and Rosemary for breakfast?"

"Love to, old friend."

"So what exactly is going on, here? Where are we going?" Sir Charles asked as he looked over to Sally.

The princess was busy piloting a small personal transport. She flipped a couple of switches, and then stared back over to him. "We're heading to a place that you've tried to forget: Stonehenge."

"How do you?" He stuttered, blinked several times, and shook his head all in the same action. "How do you know about that place?"

"What did Norrack want?"

What color had been left in Sir Charles face drained. Slowly, almost too slowly, he turned back and stared at Saria. His hands and body trembled, and his mouth opened and shut several times.

"What did you say?" he finally wheezed out.

"Norrack's still alive, Uncle Chuck." Sally didn't take her eyes off of the instrument panel in front of her. "He's been hiding out there for the past nine years… fighting against the Neo Crusaders. He's the one who helped Saria and I escape from Shadow… Almost got himself killed doing it, too."

"Sally," the old man swallowed, "do you understand… do you know who he is…"

"Yes," she looked over to him, a confused look upon her face. "Do you?"

"I've known for years… I used some of Julian's blood to unlock the security encoding on the ARC project… there was a video recording." He stopped, and the princess saw tears forming in his eyes. "I never dared to hope…"

"What's going on?" Saria asked, a frown on her small face. "When did everyone here find out something about my friend and decide not to tell me?"

"Honey," her mother started, before a beeping noise on the console interrupted her. She reached forward and slapped the switch, and a voice came over the cabin's comm. systems.

"Was wondering when you'd get here." The distorted, semi-electronic voice said. "Do you have Chuck with you?"

"Yeah, Saria too." She paused to bank the craft around. "You mind opening the aerial lift for us?"

"Give me a second," slow footsteps could be heard over the speakers. "Okay, its opening. Guide your ship down and get down here to the medical wing, ASAP. These guys are starting to twitch and I don't want to risk them waking up before they've been looked at." The comm. went dead.

Below them, the ground parted and the ship started a landing cycle. Within moments it was down on the pad and sinking into the earth. The platform began to pick up speed and before long it was rapidly descending.

Sally unbuckled herself and took off her piloting helmet before starting the shut down sequence. Uncle Chuck and Saria were already undoing their seat harnesses as the elder princess popped the hatch open. The trio was out and about a few minutes later. Pops echoed through the air as they stretched from the hours long flight.

The platform came to a rest about thirty seconds later, and a massive door opened to reveal the dozens upon dozens of gunships and fighters that were in this particular hangar.

"It's still here… all of it," Sir Charles breathed. "I though that it would have been dismantled after the end of the war… or the order for it at least given."

"No one had time, thankfully," Sally said as she started jogging towards a nearby turbo lift. "Come on, Norrack sounded like he was in a rush."

They found their way there soon enough. It was the only med bay with an open door. The ARC Trooper was there, a jurkadir rifle leveled at a group of occupied bacta tanks. His helmet was on, his weapons equipped and loaded, and his bolt caster up and pointed at the tanks.

Sally didn't understand his heavy armament until she stared at the occupants. A gasp came from her throat, and she stared over at him.

"A squadron of Cuy'val Dar. They chased me back from a convoy earlier this morning. Managed to capture them, but they almost got me... I had to fight dirty." He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Sir Charles. A surge of emotion threatened to overwhelm him, but the cyborg hedgehog kept it in check. He had more important things to worry about.

"I need your help…" He paused for a beat. "I want to save them."

"What do you mean… son." The old scientist looked ready to collapse, but he held out.

"They're no different than I was… slaves to a neural chip. I have what you'd probably need to operate on them over there on that table." He inclined his head towards several trays of spread out tools and medical assistance droids. But I'm a soldier, not a surgeon. Please… dad… I'm begging you. Get that thing out of them…"

Sally gently steered Saria out of the room, and left the two alone.

Sonic reached out and sealed the door, then reached up and unlocked his helmet. It came off a second later. Sir Charles stared upon the scarred visage of the soldier in front of him. The soldier that had once been a boy forced to grow up too quickly. He stared into the eyes, the burning, solid white eyes and he felt his heart try to tear itself in two.

How could he have done what he had? Tears formed again, threatened to spill over. He felt his knees start to shake, his body begin to tremble. The image was burned into his head. He had done that. He had made Sonic like that.

A pressure, strong and firm, but not painfully so, around his back. Metal pressed up against his fur and skin. He looked up. Sonic held him in a one armed embrace.

"Good to see you again, dad." His voice was cracking, his eyes shut.

"Oh, Sonny, how can you forgive me?" Sir Charles begged, a solitary tear staining his fur.

"What is there to forgive? You brought me into this world. You raised me as your own child, even though you didn't have to. You were the best father I could have ever hoped for." There was a smile on his face, warmth to his tone.

It faded in an instant as he heard a 'thunk' against the glass of a bacta tank.

Caster and jurkadir rifle were pointed at the group of Clones in a split second.

"Maybe we should save the emotional reunion for a little bit later, ey, father?" Sonci said with a wry smile.

"I think you're right, son." He looked over to the tools on the table, and the droids. "Let's get to work."

&

Okay, hope this was better than I thought it was, and not too terribly cliché. God, why am I overwhelmed by this feeling that I've screwed something up?

Well, at any rate, thank you all for reading this far, and if you have advice, constructive criticism, or the like, I would ask that you please offer it. Ideas for weapons, vehicles, and other such things are also appreciated.

That said, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and best of luck to you in whatever you do.