Hello again folks. Sorry about the delays, but summer school is killing me, as I've got books to read, reports to write, and I need to rest my wrist after that 100 question exam I had on Friday. That, and I admit to going and treating myself to the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, though I now have the theme song stuck in my head, and I have an inexplicable urge to make wisecracks regarding fermented molasses.

As always, I want to thank everyone who's read the story, and I hope that I haven't put you off the Sonic franchise. To those of you who reviewed, I hope that I responded adequately, and thank you so much for all the help that you've given me.

Lawyers: see the previous twenty odd chapters. I grow weary of these disclaimers.

&

Divide and Conquer

They came in slowly, rifles and weapons pointing all around. They had seen something, something that definitely hadn't been in their briefing. A location had been called in, and a report that they were moving after the anomaly.

Operating on hand signals, they moved down into the alleyway. It was here, somewhere, whatever it had been.

The patrol stopped, and looked around again. Where had it gone?

The patrol leader suddenly flew backwards into the building on the left. A crack resounded through the alleyway and he slid to the ground. With a groan, he lifted his head, tried to call in a status report, but found his comlink jammed. Instinctively, he ordered his squad to move out. It was too late though. Blue fire rained down from a concealed position. Twenty shots in less than a second struck the group. Two dropped instantly, their nervous systems overwhelmed by the stunning rounds.

The commander's mind digested that strange tidbit as he saw the blurred form at the top of one of the buildings.

"Eleven o'clock high!" one of his men shouted, level his weapon and firing off a grenade.

He knew that form, and prayed they weren't already dead.

It jumped off the building, flipping around as it fired down at them. They sought cover, but those who were not fast enough fell. Five were gone from the fight. The blurred soldier landed, and a humming sound reached the commander's ears. He fired his rifle at the center mass. The humming sound came again, and he saw his shots go flying away. Parts of the alleyway exploded as head-sized chunks of material were vaporized and torn off.

One of his comrades fired a Buster rocket at the target, but some unseen force pushed it aside. It exploded, and fire and shrapnel filled the air, followed by the sucking of vacuum. None of it seemed to harm the demon that stood in front of them, though. It retaliated with more blue pulses, and a soldier that had been taking cover behind a stone stairwell fell just as he popped up, as if his opponent had known what was going to happen. The shimmering wraith blasted forward then, reaching the commander in less than a second. Fast as he was, he still had no time to react as it kneed him in the gut. He felt his lungs try to collapse from the force of the blow, felt his ribs crack and he fought the urge to vomit. Not that it mattered. He was dead now.

A roundhouse planted him into the side of the building, and his gun bounced away out of his reach. Through eyes blurred with tears of pain, the wolverine watched as he squad was gunned down. Another soldier took a barrage of the blue stunning rounds and collapsed like a sack of bricks. The team radioman, still desperately trying to call in what was happening, to burn through the jamming, was lifted up into the air by an unseen force and then violently slammed downwards. He was still coherent, and attempted to shoot his assailant, but he wasn't fast enough. Nothing could match the devil's speed.

"Get up!" the patrol leader hissed to himself. "Get up!"

He couldn't find the strength, but he remembered his pistol. The small sidearm packed a mighty punch, enough to blow a basketball sized hole in the chest of an unarmored person. He drew it, and leveled the weapon.

Sonic felt a mild tingling sensation as his shields took a shot from the weapon. A substantially larger push came a moment later as a Jurkardir rifle burst caught him in the back. His defenses held, though, already attempting to recharge. He fired off another stunner round barrage, dropping a partially concealed Neo Crusader where she stood. He flipped one of his energy blades over his back a second later, and caught the second burst, supersonic bolter rounds flying back and exploding next to the soldier who had fired at him.

He spun around and fired again, a five shot burst that caught the Neo Crusader dead in the face. He rushed towards the nearest wall as bolts zipped past him, superheating the air. One foot in front of the other, he started up. There was a certain exhilaration to doing this, something that made his heart soar despite everything. For one single second, right before he could feel gravity's pull upon him, he felt just like he had, before everything had gone so horribly wrong in his life. For a moment, he was eighteen again. For a moment, he still had his original arms and legs. For a moment, no haunting memories or screams of dying Mobians met his ears.

The moment passed as he pushed off of the wall. He arced over backwards, and lined his vision up with the nearest trooper. The Clone attempted to dive back behind cover, and almost made it. For all her speed, though, she couldn't match a creature born and bred to be the fastest thing on Mobius. She went down silently, no cry leaving her lips.

Just two left, then. The patrol commander, still firing futilely with his pistol, and a grenadier. The latter soldier took a chance, and two forty millimeter projectiles sped towards the ARC trooper. Sonic's mind warned him, and he twisted out of the way just as they would have impacted. Some seconds after the supersonic crack of their passing, he faintly heard an explosion.

He lashed out at the Clone, knocking him from his feet and following it up with another barrage of energy caster fire. Now only the leader remained. The hedgehog twisted and pounced like a hunting cat upon its prey. Another kick sent the pistol flying, and he made haste to disable the man before he could activate his armor's self destruct systems. Three cracks rang out, three energy pulses at point blank range. The patrol leader's head clunked against his armored chestplate.

Sonic looked around for a moment, and briefly admired his handiwork.

"Green to move in," he said, opening up a private comm. line.

A manhole lid popped up, and a dozen Neo Crusaders popped out. They rushed forward, grabbed the bodies of the fallen, and carried them back. The whole place was clean of life in less than fifteen seconds. The ARC trooper nodded his head in approval and he rushed down to join them. He'd just closed the lid back over himself when a burst of communications echoed through his helmet.

"They're breaking through the second line up here, we need armor support!"

"Armor support in route, Sergeant, hang on."

"We're losing our grip on the manufacturing district, there's too many of those ships coming in, and we can't knock enough down."

"Fierfek! Artillery here, Battalion Twelve is down to thirty percent, I repeat thirty percent. Those Ravagers are murdering us, where the hell's our top cover?"

"Trying to stay alive. Air Force casualties approaching fifty seven percent."

So it went. The cybernetic hedgehog's arms trembled, and he fought the urge to plant his fist into the wall to vent his frustration. He called up a map of the battlefield. Almost half of Station Square was under Neo Crusader control now. Antoine was coordinating his defenses well, but Jaster's troops were better trained, his tanks faster and more powerful, his aircraft shielded and capable of running rings around the best the defenders could field.

"Omega, are you in position?" he asked.

"Yes Sir," Shysa's voice answered. "Moving in and preparing to set off stun grenades. I just hope we brought enough."

"Once you've gotten another platoon, take them all back to the transports and prepare to get out of here. Leave one grounded just in case Antoine and the rest of the command staff can't get away in time. We can't afford to lose him."

I can't afford to lose another friend, he silently added.

"What about you, Sir?" he could feel the concern present in the Cuy'val Dar's voice. Again, he felt like he was back at Knothole.

He shook the feeling off. There was a time and a place for nostalgia, and it wasn't here or now. His heart clenched, as he remembered the war that raged above him. "I'm heading towards the center of the city. I'm still trying to find my brother."

"Understood, Sir."

He left the other Clones to ferry their unconscious fellows back to where they'd stashed their vehicles. The loss of the power generators had enabled them to slip the transport units in here, as their jamming systems were more than a match for the older backup defenses.

At the coast, nearly three hundred clicks away was a small armada of LAAT gunships, specially modified to carry larger vehicles. They'd ferry them home.

A bitter taste filled the hedgehog's mouth as he rushed down sewer ways. He could hear the rumbling up ahead as a Saber's repulsor lifts pushed against the tarmac. Faster, faster, had to move faster. Time was running out. It was only a matter of time before the battle was lost. He had to try and find Tails, had to make sure he was safe. Tails and Antoine. Nothing else mattered except for those two.

It was about two minutes later when Shysa reported back in.

"Objective complete, Sir. Heading back to the transports and then we'll take the last one up towards the GHQ."

"Any casualties?" he asked. Did he dare to hope that they'd defied the odds again?

"Our armor got a little scuffed, but nothing serious. They were expecting something, though." The husky sounded a little discouraged.

"Your siblings are smart." It made sense. Lose contact with a squad here, a platoon there. Send someone to investigate, find nothing but a shattered alleyway or plaza, and no bodies. "Stay low, and make sure you stay patched into the network."

"You really must thank the princess for us, Sir," Shysa's voice had a strange, joking tone to it. "I really didn't feel like trying to hack my way into the defense network. It would have been a pain in the neck without the codes."

"Try to stay alive so you can thank her yourself. That's an order." He turned down another tunnel. The sewer above him suddenly shook, and a few small bits of permacrete dinked off of his shields. Something big just hit nearby.

Shysa said nothing, but he knew that she understood his command. He kept monitoring the Royal Army channels. Tails' platoon was up there somewhere.

He would find his brother, and the Goddess have mercy on anything that stood in his way.

"Keep your heads down!" the two tailed fox shouted as he saw the flash.

The squad dropped to their bellies as the missile streaked in. It smashed into the side of a building, penetrated, and then exploded. Stone, metal, and transparsteel fell everywhere, sending soldiers left and right running for cover, lest they be crushed. Several hit the tanks that were stationed there, but they weathered the storm. Two of them fired downrange, and more rubble and debris flew into the air. Energy pulses streaked by, smashing into them as a Mandalorian Saber tank rushed in to try to take them out.

The tank was shaped like all Neo Crusader craft. Sleek, low to the ground, full of jagged angles, and bristling with weaponry. It fired again, and a pair of missiles launched from the tubes located near its base. The main cannon's purple beam of energy hit one of the tanks.

Tails saw half a meter's worth of plated, reactive armor crumple from the physical impact, before it heated white hot and started to boil away under the fury of the blast. The twin missiles connected half a second after the beam faded away. He ducked down instinctively as the tank's turret exploded. Any cries he might have heard were drowned out by the rumble of the blast.

Whiteness filled his vision as more Stinger missiles rained down. The infantry was closing on them, fast. He had to do something, had to get his squad out of here. Had to fight back too. He couldn't let this, his second battle, go to these unfeeling machines without a fight. Sonic wouldn't do that. Aunt Sally wouldn't do that. Aunt Bunnie, his father, and the countless others who fallen trying to kill Robotnik wouldn't do it.

Neither would he.

"Field of fire, vector two zero!" he shouted over the comlink as he stared at his recon drone's feed. Mina, Carmine, and Joshua gave their affirmatives, and popped up slightly.

Grenades, repeater fire, and blaster bolts all filled the street. Fire a burst, drop down, move, fire again. It all rapidly became a repeating cycle. Three soldiers to try to shoot at a single Neo Crusader, to try and breach that murderously tough shell that it wore and kill the living machine inside of it. Above all, he remembered Derrick's training, and fought the urge to shoot at that tank and stop its rampage. It was well inside the range of his Lancer rifle, but compared to the thick neo-steel hull that it was encased in, his blaster might as well be a child's squirt gun.

A missile streaked downrange from the platoon's heavy weapon squad. The large rocket hit the tank, and exploded. Bits of armor went flying to and fro, but even before the smoke cleared, the fox could tell that the armored behemoth was still active. Its coaxle weapons opened fire, ripping holes all out of the area, while its cannon fired again. Their own tank tried to maneuver out of the way, and partially succeeded. The cannon strike ripped off the left side repulsor lifts and the tank hit the ground and streaked along, tearing up pavement.

One more shot came from its gun, and then the hatch popped off. The crew leaped out, abandoning the vehicle. The Saber didn't let them escape. Its mounted machine guns cut the crew down as they fled to cover, while another pair of missiles streaked in to where Tails' heavy weapons squad was taking shelter. Fire and smoke belched out of the hole that it had made, and it sounded as if the world was ending.

A shriek, a one ninety seven passing over them, its heavy cannons scoring direct hits upon the armored attack vehicle. Armor was blasted off or melted, but the tank remained operational, and it was moving towards them with infantry support. Its small guns turning and targeting any Mobian who dared to raise his head. Neo Crusader grenade and Buster rocket fire filled the air, and a dozen fireballs erupted from around them.

Tails heard a scream echo over his comm. and he looked around to see one of the Beta Squad troops lying on the ground. The man's arm had been ripped off, and a portion of his chest armor was dented in and glowing.

"Sniper!" he called out, ducking down. "Mina?"

"On it," the mongoose replied. She slug out her sniper rifle, and scanned upwards.

Sure enough, almost five hundred feet off of the ground, she saw a Neo Crusader. The Clone's rifle was angled downward, ready to find another target. She squinted and sighted the foe up, only to see the rifle shift. She gasped and leapt away as an invisible bolt smashed into the pavement beside her, sending bits of rock flying and making several noticeable dings in her gray armor.

She fired upwards a couple of times, just trying to thrown the genetically engineered solider off balance. It fired again, and this time it was a Delta that dropped to the ground, a steaming stump all that was left of his head.

"Somebody take that fraker out!" Joshua yelled as he stuck his rifle up over his cover and fired in the direction of the Mandalorian forces.

A crack came from Tails' rifle as he planted his electronic crosshairs right on the center of the enemy. He fired a burst, watched the bolts connect, and the trooper fly backwards. The Neo Crusader slumped out of sight, and didn't rise, but the two tailed fox was pretty certain that he was only down, not out. He hadn't breached enough of the armor to kill it.

A shockwave rattled the area as a Stinger came down and blew out the transparasteel windows of the entire block. He felt debris gong everywhere, and several members of the platoon were nearly buried under chunks of buildings.

The Saber tank fired again, but down another street. Even from here, the young fox was able to hear the sounds of the men and women screaming as they were vaporized by the intensity of the shot. He shuddered, and called for heavy weapons fire. More rockets streaked towards the thing. Hit after hit connected, and finally, it went dead, slamming into the ground and skidding forward a few meters before coming to a halt.

He double checked his surveillance droid. Kalzone and the rest of the repeater carriers were keeping the Mandalorian troops suppressed with a healthy volume of fire, so he kept his sights trained on the lid of the tank.

"Come on, come on," he whispered to himself. "Stick your head out."

The lid popped off of the armored behemoth, and he tensed, his finger going tight around the trigger to his weapon. A wrist popped up, he had to resist the urge to shoot then and try to blow it off, to try to let the Clone know some of the pain he'd been watching all day.

There was a whoosh as a Buster rocket took to the air. He fired instinctively. By luck, he hit the anti personnel weapon while it was still in midair, and the device went off. The explosion wasn't as spectacular as he'd expected, but it was close enough to singe the hand that had launched it. The Clone yanked its arm back down beneath the lip of the tank. Tails smiled.

His smile was short lived though.

"Command, this is Cobra Brigade, requesting permission to pull back before we're annihilated!" he heard what sounded like an artillery strike hit nearby. The Neo Crusaders were bringing their pieces closer to the battle zone to supplement close air support.

He frowned. Cobra Brigade was holding the line next to them, the first of their forces starting about three blocks down. If they pulled back, he'd have to order a similar withdrawal. Otherwise, they'd be in danger of being cut off and flanked.

A second shudder went up his spine. He didn't know if Neo Crusaders took prisoners, and he was in no mood to find out. Aunt Sally had never spoken much about what had happened during her short time with them, but judging by the way she'd change the subject every time it had been brought up, it couldn't have been pleasant.

"Everyone grab our wounded and prepare to fall back," he said as calmly as he could, while sticking his rifle out and throwing down automatic fire. "Command, requesting air support to block these guys off, they're starting to take to the roofs to begin sniping at us."

"We roger that, we've been getting reports of it from other units as well. Air support in unavailable though. We've lost too many of our fighters, and the few we've got left are in the process of trying to take out the Neo Crusader's artillery." The voice on the other end of the line informed him.

Tails bit back a growl of frustration and swore under his breath. He looked around. The Neo Crusaders were already sending their forces around to fill the gap that Cobra's units were leaving.

"Sweet mother of the Goddess!" he heard someone curse over the command channel. "Everyone, stay out of the plazas, they're sticking Ravagers down in the things and ripping us apart with 'em."

"Roger that, we'll keep our heads low." Tails said, before motioning to the rest of the squad. "Covering fire, prepare to fall back!"

They were off a few moments later leaving pulses of energy behind them.

Antoine stared down at the holo map before him and felt despair welling up inside of him. The Neo Crusaders were everywhere. More than fifty percent of the city belonged to them, and he knew that his defenses would not be able to hold out for much longer. The tanks under his command were almost gone, and the Ravagers had complete air superiority. The few pilots that were left were dodging and dancing about, trying to stay alive.

Even as he watched, one of them was reduced to a fireball as its opponent proved to be the better warrior.

Casualties were climbing higher and higher every second. Sectors were falling into enemy hands. The General saw a path before him. A path with a fork in it. Both were shrouded in darkness and he could see nothing of what lay along their trails.

To stay. To Flee. Could they hold? Could the military somehow muster a final second wind to try to throw the Neo Crusaders back? An artillery shot came in, and it landed within the heart of an industrial parks. Three tanks and a platoon of infantry disappeared in a flash.

To withdraw from this region would mean conceding most of Southern Mobius to Shadow's forces. Station Square was a central hub for transportation, communication, and logistics. If it fell, then all they had fought against, all they had tried to hold back, would be for nothing.

The clock was ticking. Another tank battalion was overrun in the southern sectors. Their infantry support cut to ribbons shortly thereafter. Calls for support were being turned down, as there weren't enough air, armor, or artillery assets left to manage the burden.

The coyote sucked in a breath, and then made the hardest call of his life.

"Priority command, all troops prepare to retreat," he closed his eyes, fought he urge to weep. "Soldiers to their evac stations, I want LAATs in position and ready to carry them out of here. Scramble civilians as well, as many as you can get." They had set aside some ships this purpose, just in case. Most had been destroyed, but there were still a few left. "Go, go!"

The die had been cast, the Rubicon crossed. No turning back. There would be another opportunity. The cold logical part of his mind processed the information. The Mandalorians would need time to consolidate their forces and get their winnings under control. That time could be used to further defensive fortifications and ready more troops.

"Forgive me, father." He whispered as he returned his attention to the holo map. Soldiers were pulling back from all positions, and the Mandalorians were slowly advancing. More troops fell as they tried to run. The predators were closing in for the kill.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked over to see Derrick. The Death Watchman was silent, clad in his armor, all of his weapons prepped and ready. Colonel Alexi was next to him, a sober look on his face.

"Sir, it's time for you to go," Derrick said as he brought his Charric up.

"I leave when my men leave." The General narrowed his eyes, frozen over with ice.

"Then may I respectfully request permission to lead a volunteer group to try and hold the entrance?" the artic fox asked.

"Request denied, Master Sergeant. You'll be needed back in Mobotropolis." Antoine said, shaking his head.

"You'll be needed more, Sir. Someone has to lead the troops." His tone was calm, peaceful, almost.

Antoine let out an aggravated sigh, and tried to think of a means by which he could stall. Much as he hated to admit it, the Mandalorian was right. Most of the training sessions that he'd been through had been recorded, and much of the necessary information downloaded out of his electronic mind. The need for him was not so great as it once was.

"Very well. A platoon of volunteers, to hold out long enough for the council to escape." He bowed his head again, his hair falling down out of place.

"And yourself as well, Sir?" Derrick cocked his head to the left.

"Awfully worried about me, aren't you?" Antoine asked as he watched untold thousands of people fleeing to aircraft in a desperate bid to get some distance between them and the Neo Crusader Juggernaut that was sweeping into the city from all sides.

"A commander can rally his troops to fight again," he said. "You've lost this battle. But wars are not won in a day."

"Fall back, hit them again while their still trying to maintain their hold here…" he rubbed his chin. "It just might work." He sighed and looked around the command room. The communications officers were still calling out orders and evacuation codes, directing the men and women on the ground to areas where it was still safe to retreat to.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked about one more time.

"I will return here."

The two men next to him nodded, and then went their separate ways.

The coyote frowned and tapped his foot for a moment, before turning to a lieutenant and pulling him aside.

"Get me a demo team down here, and have them wire this place up. Get people on the rest of the defense grid. Have them send the authorization codes to my PDA," he said, his tone brisk, short.

"Sir?"

"I will not leave Station Square's defenses and military power supply stations intact for the Clones to just waltz in and use," he growled, his eyes narrowed and cold. "Now hurry up, we're running out of time.

"Yes sir!" the man saluted, and then hustled over to a command station.

"Come on, move it!" the Corporal shouted, shoving another soldier forward. "The hospital's three blocks ahead. We make it there, and we get out of this SNAFU."

"Provided the sky jockeys can come through on their end, you mean."

"Carmine, shut up for five seconds, that's an order!" Tails said as he ducked behind cover.

A tank roared past them, all of its weapons blazing. The Neo Crusaders returned fire and a pair of anti-armor missiles blasted the craft. Belching smoke and flames, it continued to shoot back, tearing pieces of buildings down, sending vaporized materials expanding outwards and rendering the battlefield visibility to zero.

A third one hit the tank right in its turret. The reactive armor of the vehicle failed, and seventy tons worth of metal rendered useless as its main gun went flying off, taking half the crew with it.

Tails kept on running, rounding the corner. He heard another explosion a few seconds later, and said a small prayer for the brave men and women who'd just died for them.

There was nothing more that could be done, though, there was only retreat. Retreat, and hope to the Goddess they didn't get a bolter round in the back. He was somewhat grateful for where they were though. Mines of both the anti-vehicular and anti-infantry variety were covering these areas, making it harder for the invaders to traverse. While the Neo Crusaders themselves weren't impeded by the mines, due to their jetpacks, their vehicles had to find alternate routes, expose themselves to countermeasures. Still, they weren't home free yet.

He glanced up at his motion sensor. There was nothing near them that was hostile. Couldn't stop, though. The hospital was fifteen stories up in the air, and the two tailed fox knew better than to hope for a working elevator. The Neo Crusaders would hold an edge on his troops in stamina. They could still catch up.

He caught a flash of motion on his sensor, and then a burst of static came from his visor. He realized that his drone had just been blown out of the sky.

"Time to go," he said as he fired back over his shoulder.

He could sense him, he was close. He felt no pain, physically. There was war weariness, a pain in the mind, from the loss of fellow troops no doubt, but the boy himself was okay.

Sonic gripped his weapon and forced himself to move faster. He hung a right down one of the service tunnels and ran up along the sides for almost thirty feet before momentum and gravity demanded that he return to the ground. The ground above his head rumbled again. He figured it an air strike, but he didn't know who was attacking whom. The radio signals that he'd hacked into were telling him that the Royal Army was on full retreat. It wouldn't be long now before his other brother owned this city, and shortly after it, half the world.

Rage flared up inside the cybernetic hedgehog. His failures had brought this on. His failure ten years ago that had gotten him crippled in the first place. His failure to find a way to stop Shadow.

His failure to warn Sally and everyone else about this frak-storm years ago.

He was a born soldier, he should have realized that it would be impossible for him to do it alone. For one man to be able to make war against a machine the likes of which his brother had created. Should have realized that his sibling wasn't stupid, and would only have risked revealing himself to a wildcard after his position was strong and entrenched.

He snarled and shook his head as he made another turn. There was only one thing to do, now. Learn and move on. He couldn't let his fears hold him back anymore.

"Come on, move, move, they're right on our tails!" the Corporal shouted as they busted up onto the roof of the hospital. He scanned about. No ride. "Command, where the hell is our ticket out of here?"

"In route, Corporal, it's dodging Ravagers left and right." The voice at the other end said. "ETA is about ninety seconds."

"Fierfek," he muttered. "Take cover positions, now!" he gestured to the ventilation ducts and rises. The remaining members of the platoon moved out.

The two tailed fox grimaced. He had twenty five people left out of his group. Five of them were wounded. Two missing arms, three of them legs. Those ones we stashed carefully and told to stay down. He looked over to his right as he set up. Mina and Carmine were there. Their weapons were leveled at the door, twenty meters away.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he looked around for a moment. He could feel eyes upon him. The Crusaders were probably watching him through one of their drones. He could feel sweat on his forehead, and he shook himself to clear it so it wouldn't fall into his eyes. His heart thundered in his chest, it felt like it would burst at any moment. He tried to swallow, but couldn't' force the lump past his throat.

Where was that damn bird?

The doors blasted outwards, and a barrage of fire came from within. Men ducked down as the upper levels of their cover was vaporized. The two tailed fox reached for a grenade and hurled it. He felt the shockwave from the blast a moment later, but the fire kept up. He lobbed another, but whatever was shooting kept on.

Then he felt heat wash over him, followed by a pressure wave. Flecks of white and purple energy teased at the edges of his vision. The shooting stopped, and he carefully peaked up, ready to drop his head back below the lip of what was left his cover. What he saw made him gasp. Half the staircase block had been destroyed by something. Vapor from metal and permacrete filled the air, and bits of liquid rock teased at the edges of the blast radius. He looked over to his two squad mates, and then over to where Joshua, Terry, and Erik were. They shook their heads.

"Did anyone see who or what the hell that was?" he asked.

"Negative sir, but it came from the building across the street," a Delta Squad member said.

He twisted to see what it was, but found that he could see nothing. A explosion back in the direction of the rubble ripped his attention back to the stairwell remnants. The debris was blasted into the air, and small chunks raid down all around them. Two drones came stomping up, their Vulcan arms whirling and preparing to swiss cheese the defensive positions of his platoon.

There was a slight waver in the air, like a distortion from a heave wave. Shrieking metal, arcing electricity. The arm was ripped in half. Two more distortions followed in rapid succession. The machine staggered, but remained upright. It twisted its working arm in the direction of its assailant and let fly. A river of purple fire blasted into the building across the street. Its companion marched forward and a pair of missiles shot up into the air. Tails felt a curse welling up as he saw the Stingers come down. Then they suddenly exploded in midair and formed twin star bursts. His radiation meter spiked. He swore.

"We've got rad in the air, that LAAT better have med-tech equipment on board."

"Don't worry, ground pounder, I've got you covered. Sit-rep?"

"Hostiles trying to work their way up and overrun us, get down here!" Tails shouted into the com link. "Another friendly unit across the street. Not sure who it is, but we'll need to pick them up too."

Another distortion slammed into the machine. This time from a different angle. The machine staggered again, but kept firing, as did its companion, which had split its attention between Tails' platoon and the unseen sniper. A couple of grenades hit against them, damaging a few parts and causing a few servos to fail, but the machines were still combat operational. What did it take to drop those things?

A comet suddenly streaked in. Blazing like a star, it flashed before his eyes he saw it move in between the two droids, like it was going to miss them. Then it exploded like a fuel air bomb. His visor attempted to polarize, but he still had to avert his eyes to prevent himself from being temporarily blinded by the small sun that had leapt up. When the flash cleared, the drones were puddles of molten slag.

He twisted, trying to find out who had been helping them. He could see nothing, and switched to infrared. Still nothing. Holographic did nothing to help either.

"Whoa! What did you guys set off? We saw that from here." the pilot asked, and Tails could see him coming in, about one klick away form their position.

"Wasn't us. Now hurry up, we've wounded here, and a few people whose NBC is breached. They've probably picked up radiation from those missiles." The Corporal kept his head level, tried not to look out to the other building anymore. Their friend was there, whoever he was. The Neos were as well.

The distinctive double shockwave of a hypersonic aircraft reached the young man's ears and he threw himself flat on instinct. He looked up, saw the Ravager streak in and closed his eyes, preparing himself for death. He had no more SAMs, nothing that could possibly hurt the craft. He heard missile fire, and an explosion rattled his teeth. Then he opened his eyes, unable to believe that he was still alive. A ragged breath that he didn't know he'd been holding left his lungs. It was quickly replaced by a gasp.

The Ravager had blasted the other building, where the sniper had been hiding. Flames

billowed up into the air from the holes the weapons had made. Then he heard the sound again. The fighter was coming back for another pass. Tails watched in disbelief as the craft opened up with everything it had. Rotary cannons, missiles, and what appeared to be some form of cluster bomb smashed into the roof. Light flared up and even through his suit, he could feel the heat that the explosion radiated. There was a crack, a rumbling, and the smashing sound of the building partially collapsing. He looked and saw the upper fifth of the structure had collapsed on the lower sections.

He was tempted to lower his head and pause for a moment of silence. There was no way someone, anyone, could have survived that.

"Focus on the stairwell!" he ordered. They weren't out of this yet.

That Ravager hadn't come in to use up half of its ammo on an infantryman for the hell of it. That was a called in air strike. The enemy was still here, ready to move.

A grenade came up into the air, hit the ground, bounced twice and came to a rest. Tails, Carmine, and Mina all ducked down as the blast swept over them.

The shadow of the LAAT passed over them and came to a halt near the center of the room. The closest thing to safety was ten meters away from where they were.

"Gamma and Delta, you guys move, get the wounded in first. Beta, you and the rest of us will provide cover." He ordered into his mike. He fired a burst as he saw a Jurkadir rifle poke up over the edge of the destruction.

"Understood, Corporal."

Blaster fire streaked towards the stairwell. Bolters and grenade launchers responded, a beautifully deadly lightshow. It went on for ten seconds.

"We're ready for you guys," the pilot said. "Be sure to lay down fire as you come here though. We got a little cooked coming in and our point defense weapons are down for the count."

"I'll hold em," Carmine said as he double checked his underslung launcher. "The rest of you go."

"That's my job, Private." Tails said, giving him a look.

"Fraid I have to object sit. You're more important to the platoon and I've got the heavier weaponry here. Now please move, I'll be five seconds behind you."

He thought to argue, but turned and obeyed. Mina was right behind him, bent double at the waist, her sleek body showing its natural flexibility. There was boom behind them as one of Carmine's grenades went off.

Five meters to go.

"Fierfek, here they come." He heard. Two more grenades.

Three.

Blaster fire.

One.

He jumped up and turned around, firing off a burst from his gun. The Lancer kicked and struck near a Clone's head. The trooper turned his rifle upon the fox while his comrades covered him, and Tails ducked back behind the armored doors of the drop ship. The door shuddered as the rounds hit it.

"They're bringing up a SAM, move your sheb!" Carmine shouted.

The air craft started to rise as the soldier turned and dashed towards them, firing over his shoulder. Tails leaned out and fired off more rounds. His gun clicked empty, and he tossed it down before drawing a pistol. Mina and Joshua provided cover as well, but there wasn't enough to keep the Neo Crusader's suppressed.

Bolts of energy flew sideways across the roof top as Carmine leapt up. The Clone troopers ducked down before sending fire off at another building. Mina leaned down, extended her arm and grabbed the raccoon in mid leap. Carmine looked up, and nodded his head at her as the LAAT rose higher into the air.

More shots from across the street. The Mandalorians retaliated by firing off a SAM at the trooper. More of them fired up at the drop ship.

Mina gave a scream and fell backwards, clunking against the floor of the ship. Fearing the worst, Tails looked over to her. The mongoose was fine, but then he realized two things, first, that Carmine was nowhere in sight, and second, that the girl was holding something. It was a bloody stump. His heart leapt into his throat, and he dove to the side of the ship.

"Carmine!" he stared down, frantically looking for his friend.

Mina was at his side in an instant, just as Tails spotted him. The raccoon was down on the hospital roof, clutching at his right arm, now missing above the elbow. He was perilously close to the edge, and for a moment the fox feared that he would tumble over the edge in his writhing.

Gunfire from across the street again, the Neo Crusaders once more being forced down behind cover. They returned fire, sending a myriad of bolts across the street and ripping the top of the building apart.

"Move back down, we've got to grab him!" Tails shouted as he turned to make his way back up to the front of the cockpit.

"Negative, I've got target acquisition sensors pinging off of me, which means their fighters are going to be all over us in a few seconds. I'm not risking this bird and everyone on it for one soldier." The pilot said.

Even as he looked up, he could see another pair of Ravagers coming in, their blaster cannon filling the air with superheated energy. He dashed back to the cargo area, but they were already out of sight of his friend.

He saw the soldier drop and hit the roof. The cybernetic hedgehog winced, knowing what that kind of pain was like. He sighted up another Crusader, and fired off a burst of caster fire. The bolts slammed into the Clone before she could react, and she dropped to the ground, smoking holes in her chest.

A warning flash in his mind, and he dove to the side as a pair of rockets came in at him. They streaked overhead and smashed into the building. The whole roof shuddered as they detonated. A trio of stingers followed. A portion of one of the blasts caught him, and his shields dropped by a third. He growled and fired one of his own wrist mounted rockets back at the soldiers. He looked around for the Royal Army trooper that had been downed, and saw him hunkering down behind a slab of permacrete. The young man reached for his belt, drew out a grenade, armed it, and chucked it over the barricade that he was behind.

It detonated, catching a single Neo Crusader and killing him almost instantly. Sonic could tell they were shouting commands to one another, as not two seconds later a Mandalorian was laying down suppressive fire while one of his friends jetted up into the air. The ARC trooper went to track him and shoot him down, but the Clone's comrades had him covered. A storm of energy fire kicked up and forced him on the defensive. Both of his kaiburr swords were in his hands and working furiously to keep the bolter rounds from tearing into his shields. He kept dodging, trying to get clear, but saturation fire was too great and he couldn't get an angle.

It didn't matter. The soldier was already down, dropped by blue stunning rounds. Still, there was a chance…

He leapt off the building and let gravity claim him. The air rushed by his suit as the ground rushed up to meet him. The hedgehog twisted about, extending his claws and stabbing them into the side of the office building. He felt two thumps and the walls shook, right before fire blossomed overhead. They'd called in another air strike to try to take him out. The ARC trooper growled. The person in charge of the enemy platoon certainly knew what he was dealing with.

The Ravager that had fired the missiles streaked over head, pulled up and came to a dead stop in a fashion much more similar to a helicopter than an air superiority fighter. The machine oriented itself nose down, and opened fire. Apparently Clone pilots were nothing if not thorough with their work.

Another humming filled the air, and a Raptor came in parking itself above the top of the roof. A prisoner transport.

Sonic shook his head. There was nothing he could do for the poor sod up on that building. All that he could do now was try to get to where Antoine was, and hope to get him out safely.

Well, hope that everyone enjoyed it, and that it was better than the last one. As always, feedback is appreciated, and I would love to hear any ideas that you all might have.

So, until next time, fair well, good luck, and remember to go easy on the rum.