The Best-Laid Plans
The helibirds were loaded up with their men and what few bodies were left after the skirmish and the Filii Rubrum set off for their base with the Freedom Fighters stowing away on several different ships. For almost all of them, they were surprised at how overall friendly the overlanders were being with them, actively engaging in conversations making jokes, and sharing war stories and small tidbits of history, what little they could recall. Trystan had even been offered the co-pilot's seat of the helibird he was traveling in, but he politely declined, as he didn't want any word spreading to the others about being given special treatment. He did, however, entertain a few of the soldiers with stories of his time in Knothole.
"...and then, I snuck around the back and slowly, carefully, stuck several grenades to the reactors of the factory.."
"Wait, wait, and you're telling us you did this all alone…?" another man interrupted.
"Hm? Oh, yeah," Trystan answered. "Don't tell any of my pals, though," he chuckled, "they'll beat my ass."
This was met with a small round of laughter from the listeners, which was interrupted by a message from helibird Zeus. "Attention, men. We are approaching the Megapolis city limits. All helibirds, give me a read out."
"Here," the pilot said. This was followed by twenty more calls of "Here" or "Ave."
"We'll be arriving at the appointed landing site in thirty more minutes," the pilot of Zeus replied to all the helicopters. "Until then, stay on course, and stay alert for any potential chaser drones."
The helibirds flew onward through the cloudy afternoon until, just over the horizon, small buildings came into view. Their placements on the ground didn't last long, as a wall made of solid steel appeared that was so tall that a few helibirds had to adjust their altitude in order to not collide with it. On the other side was a mess of buildings not unlike those of Robotropolis, except they were all far more decrepit. The metal was rusting, the windows were broken or gone, and even from this high in the air, there was visible litter blowing around on street level; however, it was hard to tell what the street level actually was, as it looked like hundreds of buildings had been built on top of each other like a massive pile of building blocks, connected with tubes of glass and steel overpasses.
Yet, over it all stood a massive citadel-spire, painted in light blue, and even though said paint was dulled from exposure to the outside, it was no less awe-inspiring against the grey sky in the background.
The helibirds all suddenly veered to the left and stayed in that direction for a few minutes more before another command came on over the inter-vehicle comms. "Prepare your landing gear and protocols. Landing site approaching in T minus two minutes."
And so the ships came down, onto a long stretch of concrete gardens that now served as a runway. In what felt like no time at all, the Freedom Fighters stepped out of the helicopters alongside the Filii Rubrum to find something almost more shocking than the fact that the army itself was fortified in a dead city…
"There's more of'em?" Sonic asked himself. The helipad they had all landed at was now being swarmed with hundreds of overlanders. They weren't wearing any armor, but they did wear grey, light blue, or white jumpsuits with red or blue accents and trim. All of them, however, were running around and taking armor, weapons, and gear from the Filii Rubrum, and doing quick maintenance checks on the helibirds, placing orders to repair things as necessary.
"Yep. We're all technically part of the Filii Rubrum, but these people are the Advena," one of the Verifexes explained. "Not in the militarized forces...at least, not yet...but just as important as the soldiers. They help keep us running." After meeting together, three-quarters of the amassed commanders and soldiers of the army disbanded, and said they would return to their quarters. The rest, however, instructed the Freedom Fighters to stay close, as they were going to escort them to the General.
"And keep your eyes on your friends more than the scenery," Verifex Thoms instructed. "It's easy enough to get lost in the central district alone."
"You mind tellin' us where we're goin'?" Sonic interrupted.
Thoms paused, then turned and pointed to the very top of the citadel that was currently towering over everything else. "Right there," he said. "That's where the General holds council. Now, we'd better get going; I imagine he'll want to meet you if someone else already radioed in that we had guests coming back with us." He and two squadrons of soldiers then marched into one of the towers that surrounded the citadel. The complex itself was mostly dark, even though it was midday, and the halls eschewed a design reminiscent of the many titanium-lined corridors of Robotropolis. Only, the feeling of constant dread was absent.
The amassed group eventually came to two steel doors, as tall as they were wide. Verifex Calico strode up to a panel to the right and bent her head to its level and said, "Requesting access..." The panel lit up red and a matrix grid was beamed over her eyes, cross-referencing its databases, and then stopped. The light turned green, and the door opened up to reveal an extra-large elevator.
Thoms took a step forward, and motioned for the Freedom Fighters to go inside. Every one of them looked back at him hesitantly (even Trystan), but entered anyway. Thoms himself and about seventy other soldiers stayed behind while the rest of them, along with Verifexes Amillius, Calico, and Lycus, among others, entered the elevator. The doors closed, and soon, everyone felt their bodies being dragged down by G-force as the elevator shot up. Only the Filii Rubrum showed little to no reaction, obviously used to it.
"Jesus," Trystan muttered. "This is uncomfortable...Hope we get off soon…"
"Give it about one more minute, man," one of the soldiers next to him whispered. "This elevator's going way faster than you think."
Antoine clutched his stomach. "I am not feeling so on top of things…" he groaned. Bunnie shook her head and put her hand on his back in an effort to calm him down. The ride up persisted for about a minute more before the elevator abruptly stopped and the doors slid open a moment later.
In front of them all was a long and narrow hallway with arched openings to the outside, letting the wind sail through. The only thing Amillius said as everyone left the elevator was "Follow us, please." The Freedom Fighters did as he asked, and although they were all still cautious about being in such an alien place, Trystan and Tails were still interested in the architecture around them. After a dozen or so feet, the group came to another door, though it was made out of brass and embossed with surprisingly intricate designs of swooping plant imprints and faces of what must have been long-dead overlander heroes. Despite the skill that must have gone into making it, it was starting to lose both its luster and the sharp edges of some of the design.
The verifexes quickly outstrode the Freedom Fighters and took up a post on both sides of the door. The soldiers, too, stood on the edges of the hallway. "Right through here," Calico said as she placed her hand on one of the door handles.
Everyone looked at each other, but soon enough, Sonic walked closer, inspiring Tails to follow him. It continued until Antoine was the last one in line, and in response, the commanders pulled the doors open for them.
They crossed the threshold into a room that was built more like a theatre than anything else. The ceiling looked as if it was built miles above them, and the walls were arched, giving it the feeling of an airy cathedral. In the back was a banner that had been turned around, and now bore the mark of the Filii Rubrum on its off-white back. In front of that was a semi-circular table with three chairs behind it, and slightly further back and off to the right stood three figures; two in flowing robes, and one in full body combat armor.
Upon hearing the doors creak open and the march of footsteps, the three figures turned around, and the man in armor quickly perked up and ran around the table. Getting a better look revealed he had a helmet with violet plumage that concealed everything but his mouth, chin, and the dirty-blonde goatee around it. The visor on said helmet also perfectly concealed what his eyes and face might look like. He was followed by the two others, a woman with platinum-blonde hair and another man with dark skin and short cropped hair. They stood at the first man's left and right.
Verifex Thoms approached and saluted. "General Praetorius," he said, the words coming out almost reverently.
"Verifex Thoms," the General replied. "...And the prestigious Freedom Fighters!" he added as he looked over at them. "I take it the mission was a success?"
"Resounding success, despite one or two complications," Thoms replied.
"I would expect nothing less," the General replied. "Go ahead and tell your men to disband," he said, speaking to every commander gathered, "and go get some rest yourselves. You've earned it."
"Ave Praetorius!" The commanders saluted again and filed out of the room, and after the doors closed, the muffled sound of heavy combat boots against the ground sounded out as the soldiers marched away.
There was a pause, but the woman at the General's side leaned over and asked, "Sir, should we…?"
"A good question, Blesse," he replied. "And my answer is, you may stay if you wish."
Blesse paused, nodded respectfully, and then walked forward and out of the room as well. She was followed very quickly by Emex. As he walked by the Freedom Fighters, Tails could have sworn he heard the man mutter something in disgust and turn his head away to spit on the floor.
The doors shut, and the only ones who remained were the General, the Freedom Fighters, and the airy silence of the room. It was an awkward silence for a moment, but the General quickly stepped forward, cleared his throat, and greeted his guests. "Well…" he began, "Here we are. Finally face-to-face."
"Was wonderin' what you guys actually looked like," Sonic replied. "And thanks."
The General scoffed in surprise. "'Thanks…?' What for?"
"For helpin' us out back there," Sonic said, flashing a smile. "It's not every day we get to see Robotnik's plans trashed so well...even by my standards." Sally rolled her eyes, and everyone else, save Antoine, laughed.
The General relaxed and walked back to lean on the semicircular table. "Well," he said, "I imagine you might have some questions, and you are free to ask them before I get into the details of why I want to talk to you."
"If you don't mind, sir: who are you all, how did you get here, why did you join the fight against Robotnik?" Sally asked in rapid succession.
The General stood rigid and was silent for a moment. "...The first and last questions go hand in hand," he commented bitterly. "We are the Filii Rubrum, as you know, but we come from New Pacific City. Every last one of us."
Trystan's eyes went wide and raised his hand up and was about to speak, but the General didn't notice and kept talking. "Robotnik turned New Pacific into a breeding ground for his evil ideas, and we were the only ones who escaped. It may look like a lot of us, but we're all actually living in this central area around the old office of authority for the Overlords of Megapolis." He turned his gaze over to a window, large enough to catch most of the city below in its view. "We all made for the north, as far as we possibly could and planned on either settling down miles away from Robotnik or dying with our freedom." He turned back to the Freedom Fighters. "Instead, we found the old Overland capital, the one the dissenting Houses ran from. Our ancestors. That's when we decided to set up shop here, and take the fight back to Robotnik."
Antoine shrugged. "Eenspiring enough…" he muttered to himself.
"And he never thought to come get ya?" Sonic asked.
"We never took an active role in fighting him," the General admitted. "In fact, my initial plan was to simply hole ourselves up in here, and wait until Robotnik had used up a vast majority of his resources, but it became quite evident to myself and my council that that might not happen until we were too old to fight." He sighed. "A cowardly idea at the start, definitely, but we quickly rectified it by reverse-engineering and fixing many of the old equipment either brought with us while we were still refugees, or left behind by the pureblood overlanders...wherever they went. After that, my plan was to put Robotropolis under siege after we had conducted efficient reconnaissance, but...well, you all entered the equation at that point."
"A'ight," Bunnie said as she walked forward, "Th' real question here is, how'd y'all find out 'bout us? Knothole was meant ta be invisible from all angles."
There was a smile on the General's face. "It's the same way we tracked these four on their way to fight Metal Sonic," he said, gesturing to Amy, Antoine, Sonic, and Trystan. He then brought his right arm up and pushed a couple buttons on a holoscreen that appeared, and there came a light tapping of metal against metal. They looked down to see a robot about the size of a thimble with eight legs and a cubic central body outfitted with an antenna, cameras, and small gyroscopes. It skittered over to the General and ran up his body, and perched on his shoulder. "Spider drone. They can attach themselves to just about any surface, and its lightweight frame means it's hard for someone to tell if it's on them." He chuckled. "With all the GPS systems we have installed on them, they can ping a position nearly halfway across the globe." He turned and placed the drone on the table before quickly shutting it down.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Trystan, Amy, and Antoine stared at each other. "Wait, wait...who was that thing stuck to?" Amy asked.
"I'm fairly sure the spider drone was hiding in Sonic's pocket," the General answered.
"No, I mean, how did that thing even get into Knothole…?"
"Oh, that…" the General said. He gestured to Trystan. "Thank this kid for it."
Trystan coughed after he nearly choked on his own spit. "Wait, I...me…?" he stuttered.
"Yes, sir. Oh, by the way..." the General continued, "Does that mean that factory you wanted to blow up is gone now?"
Trystan froze. "Uh…" He noticed, out of the corner of his eye that Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie were eying him.
"What did you blow up…?" Sally asked slowly.
"...Nothing…"
Sonic crossed his arms. "You not tellin' us something?" he asked expectantly.
Trystan put on a very, very fake smile. "N-not tell who what...?" he stammered as every one of the Freedom Fighters stared him down.
"Approximately several weeks ago, the Gamma Rho squad saw you making your way to factory nineteen of the Alpha district of Robotropolis…" the General started explaining instead. "We had initial plans to contact you then, but as I understand it...complications arose, and that mission was abandoned."
Sally remembered that mission, all right. She stared dead into Trystan's eyes.
"After that, the squad was going to stake out, or return the following day to make contact and deliver a small case of weapons and comms as a 'peace offering,' but they caught sight of Trystan returning alone and opted to give him the weapons they had received instead. While he read a note I left in the package for him, one of our special ops soldiers planted the spider drone on him, which hid out in Knothole until today. And apparently, he put those weapons to good use, blowing up the entire factory you'd left behind hours before." He turned around to face the Freedom Fighters. Sally was glaring daggers at Trystan, and everyone else was standing idly by, dead silent. The General looked around worriedly. "...Am I...missing something?"
"Yes. Someone…" Sally began, "...wasn't very adamant on sharing that little episode with us." Trystan was still frozen in place, still trying to show off his best pleading smile. She tensed up, clenched her fists, and exhaled slowly. "So not only did you go back there, knowing full well there would be heavy security actively looking for you, but you lied to me about it!"
"...Please don't kick my ass…" Trystan pleaded.
Before anyone else could speak, the General interposed himself between everyone and Trystan and calmly stated, "Wait, wait. I should apologize, too. This isn't Trystan's fault. I ordered the weapons be given to him. I'm, honestly, the enabler here. Please, Princess Sally, don't be angry at him."
"I'm...I'm not angry…" she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Just disappointed, at this point."
"T'be fair, ya gotta give'im credit," Bunnie added.
"For what…? Endangering his life…?" Sally asked.
"Naw," Bunnie replied, coming closer to Trystan. "Ah mean, the man destroyed an entire fac'try. An' he ain't got anythin' like super-speed, 'r super-smarts, 'r cybernetics," she said. Bunnie paused and then looked directly at Trystan and asked, "Ah jus' don't know why y'all went back there so fast."
Still shaking and almost white, but smiling a bit more, Trystan answered, "I, ah...I couldn't just, y'know...let go of that failure, I guess."
The General chuckled. "Ah, yes. Overlanders. Getting things done against our better judgement since the dawn of Mobius." Trystan relaxed a bit more and even found the courage to look at Sally in the eye.
She definitely wasn't as frustrated as before, and was actually smiling. Slightly. "We'll talk about this later."
"I was afraid of that," Trystan whispered.
"Now," the General continued, "on to the official business. Just to be clear: which one of you here is considered the de facto leader?" Everyone pointed at Sonic, who was pointing at Sally. Everyone paused and chuckled. "Not really helping," he said with a smile.
"No kiddin,'" Sonic replied. He turned to Sally and commented, "Sal, you're the princess. You're the leader here."
"Sonic, I'm just the figurehead," she replied. "You're the one who keeps inspiring everyone to fight back."
Rotor crossed his arms and added, "Sally's right, man. We'd all be dead without you."
When he finished that thought, Sally turned to look back at Sonic and gestured to him with both hands, and smiled knowingly. He only shrugged back, and this prompted the general to laugh and take a step forward. "Well, in that case, both of you…" He motioned toward himself with his fingers. "Please, step forward."
Sonic and Sally glanced at each other and nodded, and came closer to the General. When they stopped moving, the general, to everyone's amazement, knelt down in front of them both. "In the presence of the leaders of The Freedom Fighters," the general recited, "I humbly request an alliance between our two factions. Should you find yourself beset on all sides, all you need to do is call out, and we'll take your back. We can only hope you will do the same." He brought his gaze to look up at them both. "Will you accept our help…?"
Though initially surprised by the General's formalities, Sonic and Sally looked at each other and nodded slightly. "Sure thing," Sonic replied with a grin.
The General stood up, and though his eyes were hidden, the smile on his face denoted he was definitely a happy man. He extended his hand, which Sonic and Sally shook to seal the deal. The pause afterward lacked any more awkwardness, but Trystan, in spite of the previous argument, cleared his throat and stepped forward to get the General's attention.
"You need something, son?" he asked as he turned his head.
Trystan paused, as if unsure of how to ask his question, but said at length, "You...said the entire Filii Rubrum was made of...renegades from New Pacific, right...sir?"
The General nodded. "That's right. Somethin' bothering you…?"
Trystan took a deep breath. "Do you know what happened to my family…? Where's Armin, Decker, and Z?" he asked. "Are they…" He coughed, trying to choke down the lump in his throat. "Are they alive…?"
The General said nothing, but breathed in as if he was going to answer...then stopped. He paced across the room and looked out one of the windows for but a moment before turning back around and replying, "...I can't say much about anyone other than Decker."
Trystan's heart leapt to his throat. "Problem is," the General continued, "We barely know about what happened to Decker to begin with. See, not long after our exile, I grouped him into Squad Psi, and sent them to try and establish a base back in New Pacific by digging themselves into one of the main control centers for the city's manufacturing plants. A day passed, and Psi came back to us…" The Freedom Fighters all looked at each other; only Trystan kept his eyes fixed on the General as he continued, "I sent them in fifty men strong. Only twelve came back."
Rotor bit his lip and Sally exhaled quietly. That was a crippling blow if she ever heard one. "Worse yet, Decker wasn't among them, and when I asked what happened, they all said they got split up by Robotnik's automated defenses. They only found two bodies, which we buried, neither one Decker." The General sighed and went back to staring out the window. "If he's not dead, I honestly think he'd be better off that way, knowing what Robotnik's capable of."
The silence was deafening, and the Freedom Fighters shared worried glances. Trystan's eyes remained fixed on the General, unblinking and unmoving. The fact that his brother was playing Schrodinger's Cat and may or may not be in copious amounts of pain was a terrifying thought, to say the least.
"...I think we should go back home. We've...got a lot to plan for," Sally said. The General looked at her, nodded, and marched past her, opening the doors to the outside.
"We'll fly you back."
Robotnik was leaning back in his chair, drumming his fingers together, and a wiry but dark grin on his face as his personal skiff glided several hundred feet in the air.
"We're going to land in approximately thirty more minutes, Doctor Robotnik," Snively informed him.
The doctor sighed. "You could have told me that later, when it would actually be important, Snively," he corrected.
"My apologies, sir." They were both quiet for a couple more minutes before Snively asked tentatively, "Sir?"
Robotnik sneered. "What is it, Snively?"
He swallowed hard and stuttered, "I, erm, was j-just wondering, sir, if y-you...if you…"
"'If I what,' Snively!?" Robotnik shouted.
"If you thought that the Suppression Squad and Metal Sonic were enough to dispatch the Freedom Fighters, sir!" Snively exclaimed rapidly as he ducked and covered his head.
Robotnik let him cower for a moment before he sat back in his chair, and went back to drumming his fingers together. "Of course not, Snively," he muttered. "I do always hope for the best, but I am a realist at heart."
Snively went back to the pilot's controls. "A real blowhard," he muttered.
Robotnik's eyes shifted over his clasped hands. "Did I hear you...say something, Snively?"
"Of course not, sir!"
"I thought not," Robotnik murmured. "Now make this hunk of scrap move faster! We need to get to the excavation site before those nasty little vermin can even find out about it!"
He slammed his fist on the armrest, causing the skiff to lean heavily to the right side, but Snively did as he was told, throwing all power into the thrusters and making for New Pacific City.